Nexus Prime Sprint LTE

[jcoolkatzerg]

I read somewhere that the Nexus Prime will have both CDMA and GSM radios in it, and thus can transfer between the systems. As Sprint is transitioning to LTE next year, do you think the Nexus Prime for Sprint will have a dual WiMax and LTE radio, or will the lovers of Google phones on Sprint be stuck with WiMAX until their next upgrade?

 

[Andrew Ruffolo]

Wimax... different lte bands

 

[ManBearPig618]

No one knows. I don't think we've seen anything pass through the FCC with WiMax. Sprint may not even end up seeing this phone until Q1-Q2 of 2012.

 

[ShiZero]

Plus, do you really think they would cram both a WiMAX and LTE radios on such a thin device? Don't really think so. Either Sprint will get the LTE version for its upcoming switch or Sprint users will have to stick with WiMAX.

 

[deesugar]

jcoolkatzerg,
You talking about a "World Phone" which isn't about 4G data at all. It wouldn't go from CDMA to GSM here in the states. It's only for people that travel overseas. It wouldn't even include all the frequencies you need in the US.

There is no such thing as 4G roaming right now and it's not clear if there ever will be.

 

[DataHawg]

Sprint announced a few weeks ago the only devices with both LTE and WiMAX will be their portable WiFi hotspots available next year sometime. No phones will have both. Yes we are stuck with WiMAX until we get new phones. They also announced we should be seeing LTE phones around the middle of next year but they're also going to sell WiMAX phones until the end of 2012 so apparently WiMAX will be working for awhile after that. Who knows for how long, but I'll be replacing my SGS2 before the end of 2012 with a Sprint LTE phone.

 

[Officerpolabear]

I don't care if it comes with Wimax or LTE, I want the phone. NOW!

 

[kharrigan]

IIRC, Verizon and Sprint use different frequencies for LTE. As such, there won't be phones that use both frequencies for a while.

-KLH

 

[STC09]

IIRC, Verizon and Sprint use different frequencies for LTE. As such, there won't be phones that use both frequencies for a while.

If ever. Because, you know, that would mean..."competing."

</hushed tone>

 

[VideoEngineerAJS]

I don't know how in the world AT&T and Sprint will be able to compete with Verizon on LTE as Verizon has 90%-95% of the 700Mhz spectrum right now.

 

[ReaganDee]

I don't know how in the world AT&T and Sprint will be able to compete with Verizon on LTE as Verizon has 90%-95% of the 700Mhz spectrum right now.

As far as the actual speed goes I am sure Verizon will still win, but Sprint is being smart by tagging along on the LTE brand that Verizon has already put so much money into marketing and making common cell phone terminology (most people even Sprint customers would be lost if you talked about wimax). The majority of people don't care what the actual speed of their data is they just want it quickly.

 

[DataHawg]

I don't know how in the world AT&T and Sprint will be able to compete with Verizon on LTE as Verizon has 90%-95% of the 700Mhz spectrum right now.

But don't forget Sprint has the 800 MHz spectrum that Nextel's Iden Network runs on. They have plans to phase out Iden and use the bandwidth for LTE in the future.

 

[gadget_hero]

I don't know how in the world AT&T and Sprint will be able to compete with Verizon on LTE as Verizon has 90%-95% of the 700Mhz spectrum right now.

Actually Verizon only got 1 of 5 blocks of the 700mhz spectrum, the same as AT&T, who is also going to use the T-Mobile 1700mhz. AT&T is also in the process of buying Qualcomm's block of 700mhz. In the end AT&T will end up with double the 700mhz, plus the 1700mhz band. Which will probably end up faster with more capacity than Verizon, it will just take longer to setup (past Verizon's 2013 end date which also happens to be Sprint's end date.)

 

[STC09]

Actually Verizon only got 1 of 5 blocks of the 700mhz spectrum, the same as AT&T, who is also going to use the T-Mobile 1700mhz. AT&T is also in the process of buying Qualcomm's block of 700mhz. In the end AT&T will end up with double the 700mhz, plus the 1700mhz band.

But...but...but that could mean direct competition between AT&T and VZW once VOLTE arrives! <gasp>

 

[Officerpolabear]

Do you think it may be possible that they will launch this phone in the winter and just have an LTE radio already in it, ready for use but just deactivated? And then once they get their LTE network, can't they push out an update to activate that LTE radio to use the LTE network?

 

[TheOnlyMorgan]

Do you think it may be possible that they will launch this phone in the winter and just have an LTE radio already in it, ready for use but just deactivated? And then once they get their LTE network, can't they push out an update to activate that LTE radio to use the LTE network?

I'm sure it's possible. Question is if they will do it really. An interesting tidbit that I found from someone else, is there's 5 model numbers apparently for variations of the Galaxy Nexus, and only one of them is CDMA + LTE while the rest are all GSM variants, if the 'leaked' specs from a few nights ago are to be believed.

Need A Reason To Watch Tonights Samsung, Google Event? Check Out The Newest Galaxy Nexus Leaked Specs

Not one bit of WiMAX, but you never know.

 

[Officerpolabear]

I'm sure it's possible. Question is if they will do it really. An interesting tidbit that I found from someone else, is there's 5 model numbers apparently for variations of the Galaxy Nexus, and only one of them is CDMA + LTE while the rest are all GSM variants, if the 'leaked' specs from a few nights ago are to be believed.

Need A Reason To Watch Tonights Samsung, Google Event? Check Out The Newest Galaxy Nexus Leaked Specs

Not one bit of WiMAX, but you never know.

Another flaw with my theory is if it is true, they're putting an LTE chip in there but just don't have it activated for the first couple of months until the actual LTE rollout happens, is if Sprint is going to advertise it as a 3G or 4G phone.

 

[TheOnlyMorgan]

Another flaw with my theory is if it is true, they're putting an LTE chip in there but just don't have it activated for the first couple of months until the actual LTE rollout happens, is if Sprint is going to advertise it as a 3G or 4G phone.

Could say it's '4G LTE Ready'. Which could be kinda confusing for consumers really. But if they ordered promotional materials for stores earlier in the week, perhaps Monday or Tuesday they could be officially announcing the phone coming to Sprint.

 

[Bestphonever]

Been thinking about the options in my head for a while and these are the most logical solutions to me.

Option 1: You guys remember the xoom on verizon? 4g upgradable is what they were advertising and I think that's where sprint is going to go IF this device will have LTE. Except the hardware won't need to be sent it, it will have the radio built in. (november release)

Option 2: 3g only, hopefully they get the new cdma radio in there, the one the Epic/evo 3d have. (november release)

Option 3: CDMA Wimax (2012 release)

Option 4: LTE CDMA (2012 release)


Personally, I think that option 1 is the best case scenario. I wouldn't mind not being able to use wimax for ~8 months in order to get the phone sooner.

 

[cert15z]

As much as I want this phone, I will not buy another sprint phone until they put LTE in them.