Sprint Nextel announced plans to add four new LTE-equipped devices to its portfolio, including a tablet, a pair of smartphones and a wireless modem. Launch details and pricing of the new devices were said to be coming at a later date.
Sprint Nextel currently offers just a handful of LTE-equipped devices compatible with its recently launched network, though that lineup does include Apple’s latest iPhone 5 device.
The new devices include the first LTE-equipped tablet device to its portfolio with the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1. Samsung had initially launched the device earlier this year beginning in the United Kingdom. Samsung, which recently won a court ruling allowing it to again sell its tablet devices in the United States, noted that launch details of the LTE-equipped device to Sprint Nextel would be announced at a later date.
Sprint Nextel does not currently sell a tablet device that is compatible with its cellular network, instead offering customers a pair of Wi-Fi-only tablets in the form of the Motorola Xoom and Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 at unsubsidized prices of $400 and $500 respectively. Verizon Wireless currently sells a 7-inch version of the Galaxy Tab 2 compatible with its LTE network for $350, as well as the previous generation 10.1-inch model also running across its LTE network for $630.
In addition to the tablet, Sprint Nextel also announced the LG Optimus G, which runs Google’s Android operating system, sports a quad-core processor and includes a 13-megapixel camera; and the LG Mach, that also runs Android, features a slide-out keyboard and it targeting the entry level market.
The wireless modem includes support for the carrier’s 3G and LTE networks as well as the WiMAX offering currently provided through network partner Clearwire.
Sprint Nextel noted that its LTE network was currently available across portions of 24 markets with coverage across most of its current footprint expected by the end of next year. The carrier’s rollout plans was recently taken to task by an engineering firm that claims network coverage in launched markets pales in comparison to rivals as well as the carrier’s legacy CDMA-based network.
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