Sprint has sold more than 1 million LTE devices, CEO Dan Hesse said yesterday. LTE smartphones at Sprint including the Motorola Photon, HTC Evo, Samsung Galaxy S III and the iPhone 5. The company’s LTE network is currently only available in 19 cities but it plans to launch in more than 100 new markets in the coming months. It announced earlier this month that construction was underway in a number of key markets including Boston, Chicago, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
HTC took the wraps off its “signature” Windows Phones yesterday, the 8X and 8S. The smartphones are loaded with Windows Phone 8 and sport a wide-angle front camera and an upgraded rear camera. Both phones have a unibody design with a matte finish, and Gorilla Glass screens. The 8X has a 4.3-inch super LCD display and the 8S has a 4-inch LCD display. AT&T, T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless will carry the phones in the United States when they launch in November. Pricing has not been announced.
MetroPCS has come out with its latest LTE smartphone, the ZTE Anthem. The handset is the first LTE Android smartphone from ZTE available in the United States. It comes equipped with a dual-core 1.2 GHz Snapdragon processor, 4.3-inch WVGA touchscreen and a HDMI connector for video output. MetroPCS is selling the phone for $219 after a mail-in rebate for a limited time. Customers must pay an extra monthly fee to turn on the phone’s mobile hotspot capability.
Interop Technologies has announced contracts with three regional wireless providers ahead of the Competitive Carriers Association conference in Las Vegas next week. General Communications, Inc. Chat Mobility and Northwest Missouri Cellular are each bringing a number of Interop products on board, including a WAP gateway, over-the-air provisioning system and service centers for text and multimedia messages. GCI is scheduled to launch the technology during the fourth quarter.
Mobile Posse, provider of mobile home screen messaging and consumer insights, has announced the appointment of two key sales positions within the organization. The company adds Daniel Fowler as executive vice president of national advertising sales and Sharon Kelley as vice president of sales, western region. These additions to the sales team come on the heels of the company’s recent major milestone of reaching 15 million subscribers and closing $5 million in Series C funding.
