Short term EVO
It's good to see there are still a few surprises left after Mobile World Congress. CTIA is the US equivalent, is underway right now and HTC has managed to grab the most attention so far with yet another Android launch.
The HTC EVO 4G has actually been launched by operator Sprint. It's exclusive to Sprint in the US at launch and we're hoping to bring you news of its international availability soon.
One of the main reasons for the US focus will be the 4G element. For most, the default standard for next generation wireless is LTE, but Sprint is a primary investor - along with Intel (and Google) - in Clearwire, a network company specialising in WiMAX. The US will be the only place there is a WiMAX network worthy of the name, so this will be a significant moment in the evolution of wireless technology.
"Sprint continues to lead the 4G revolution as we introduce HTC EVO 4G to give our customers an experience that is unlike anything available in wireless to date," said Dan Hesse, Sprint CEO. "Not only is this feature-rich device incredible on our Sprint 3G network, but Sprint 4G speeds will take mobile multimedia, including live video streaming, gaming and picture downloads, to a whole new level."
4G aside, the EVO seems to be a hybrid of the HD2 and the Desire, sticking with a Snapdragon SoC. It has the HD2's massive 4.3 inch screen, but runs Android 2.1 with the HTC Sense UI on top. Other enhancements include an 8MP camera capable of shooting 720p video - and exporting it via an HDMI port - plus a front facing camera for video calls, or whatever, too.
UPDATE - 14:00 24 March 2010 - We just heard from HTC that it has no current plans to bring the EVO to Europe.
