Mobile Phone News

We normally wouldn’t post news about a Sprint device in the FCC without any juicy details on decent specs, but hear us out — this one’s kind of engaging attention. As our tipster noted to us, the prefix “SPH” on Samsung phones typically means that particular model is heading for Sprint, and an SPH-M920 got FCC approval not long ago. A quick search reveals that the M920 appears to be christened the “Transform,” suggesting that this phone… well, transforms somehow. Of course, that could be as simple as a sliding keyboard or as strange and unique as Verizon’s LG Versa — we really have no idea — but it’s notable that the Transform has a WiFi certification under its belt for 802.11b / g / n, so we can assume the phone’s no slouch and might even fall into smartphone (read: Android) territory. Any educated guesses out there?

Right on time, US Cellular’s CDMA-flavored version of the HTC Desire is at this time available for a nickel under $200, making it the undisputed big dog in the regional carrier’s lineup (its first Android device, the Samsung Acclaim, launched a few weeks back). What you get for your hard-earned money in this place is a surprisingly accurate recreation of the GSM Desire the rest of the world has been enjoying for much of this year, with the same optical pad, 3.7-inch display, 5 megapixel cam, Sense, 1GHz Snapdragon core, and identical industrial design (which, considering how good the original looks, is just fine with us). With the Droid Incredible on tap, Verizon doesn’t really need this thing — but it’d be kinda nice if Sprint picked it up to slot under the EVO, wouldn’t it? Follow the break for the full press release.

Continue reading HTC Desire hits US Cellular today for $200

Samsung Epic 4Gs earmarked for product advocates at Sprint retail locations — folks whose job it is to know everything about key devices — apparently started to roll in on Monday of this week. So the good news is that your local store Truly possibly does have an Epic 4G lying around somewhere, but the bad news is that unless you get close enough to the advocate to pickpocket it, you can’t have one just yet; we’re told the retail units should be shipped “within the week.” On a related note, our tipster also tells us that Sprint is geared up to roll out WiMAX in Boston the week after the Epic 4G launch, so that should be a nice little foil to the LTE trial Big Red’s been running there this year.