| First U.S. EVDO-A phone? |
Mar. 10, 2008
 Sprint has announced what it claims to be the first U.S. EV-DO Rev. A phone, supporting data rates of 3.1Mbps downstream and 1.8Mbps upstream. The newly revised HTC Mogul also boasts WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, a 2MP camera, QVGA display, and the Windows Mobile operating system.
(Click here for a larger view of the HTC Mogul)
Like CDMA phone market rival Verizon, Sprint has previously offered EV-DO (Evolution-Data Optimized) Revision A to laptop users, through a "Mobile Broadband" services that work with wireless modem cards. However, the new Mogul is said to be the first available phone to support the faster rates.
When Sprint first announced the Mogul in June 2007, the device came with EV-DO Rev. 0, rated for downloads averaging 400 to 700Kbps and peaking at 2Mbps. Now, an available ROM firmware upgrade brings support for Rev. A to the phone, while also adding support for the GPS receiver built into the phone's 400MHz Qualcomm MSM7500 chipset.
New or ROM-upgraded Moguls remains backward-compatible with Rev. 0, since Rev. A is not available in all markets, Sprint acknowledges. Where Rev. A is available, though, they can download data at average speeds from 600Kbps to 1.4Mbps, peaking at 3.1Mbps, according to the company. Uploads are said to average from 300 to 500Kbps, peaking at 1.8Mbps.
Additional wireless interfaces include 802.11b/g wireless networking, and stereo Bluetooth 2.0. The phone has 64MB of RAM, 256MB of flash memory, a 2.8-inch QVGA display, and a slide-out QWERTY keyboard.
Sprint lists the following key features and specifications for the Mogul: - Processor -- 400 MHz Qualcomm MSM7500 chipset
- Memory -- 64 MB of RAM; 256 MB of flash
- Display -- 2.8-inch QVGA TFT, 16-bit color
- Camera -- 2 megapixel pixel with 8x digital zoom, flash, and auto-focus. Up to 30 seconds of video capture with sound
- Wireless:
- WAN -- dual-band CDMA -- 800 MHz and 1900 MHz
- WLAN -- 802.11b/g
- PAN -- Bluetooth v. 2.0 with stereo support
- GPS
- Other I/O:
- 1 x IrDA
- 1 x 11-pin mini-USB port
- Expansion -- Micro SD slot; supports up to 2GB
- Dimensions -- 4.3 x 2.3 x 0.7 inches (110 x 59 x 19 mm)
Another version of the same basic HTC device is offered by Verizon as the XV6800. When it was released last November, Verizon touted its EV-DO Rev. A upgrade potential, but has not yet joined Sprint in making this available.
Availability
Sprint says the Mogul is available now, priced at around $200 with a two-year contract. For those who already have a Mogul, the GPS and EV-DO Rev. A capabilities can be enabled via a ROM upgrade, scheduled to be available later this week from the HTC website, here.
Related Stories:
(Click here for further information)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
news feed
