ORLANDO, Fla.--Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S) continued the evolution of its Evo line of devices with its first 3D smartphone, the Evo 3D. Sprint also unveiled its second tablet, the Evo View 4G, a EV-DO/WiMAX tablet. Both gadgets had been the subject of rumors after the blog Engadget speculated about their existence earlier this month. 
Sprint CEO Dan Hesse took the stage here at the CTIA Wireless 2011 to both trumpet the carrier's relationship with HTC, which grew extremely tight last year with the launch of the original HTC Evo 4G, as well as highlight Sprint's 4G device lineup, which runs on Clearwire's (NASDAQ:CLWR) mobile WiMAX network. Hesse said both devices run on"4G, not faux-G," a clear knock against T-Mobile USA and AT&T Mobility (NYSE:T), which have branded their HSPA+ networks as "4G." Both devices will be launched this summer; Sprint did not disclose pricing.
The HTC Evo 3D is the first device in the U.S. to sport a qHD 3D display, delivering a "Glasses-free" 3D viewing experience. The phone captures 3D video in 720p via dual 5-megapixel cameras and can play it back in 1080p. Users can easily toggle between 3D and 2D capture and the gadget also has DLN and HDMI support, so users can share content wirelessly with an HDTV as well as share 3D content via a separate HDMI cable.
The smartphone runs on Gingerbread, the latest version of Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android 2.3 platform, as well as HTC's latest version of its Sense user interface, which features a rotating 3D user interface. The phone has a 4.3-inch display, dual-core 1.2 GHz Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) Snapdragon processor with asynchronous processing, meaning that the two cores operate independently of one another. Farid Adib, Sprint's VP of products, said that this factor will give the Evo 3D a leg up on other high-end smartphones.
Sprint also took the wraps off the Evo View, which is essentially the HTC Flyer, a tablet HTC unveiled last month at the Mobile World Congress trade show.
The Flyer runs a new version of Android, 2.4, and features a 1.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 7-inch screen with 1024x600 resolution, 5-megapixel camera and 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera for video chatting and 32 GB of internal storage. Both the Evo 3D and the Evo View have the ability to serve as mobile hotspots and share a WiMAX connection with up to 8 Wi-Fi-enabled devices.
One of the main selling points of the Flyer is HTC's Scribe technology. The tablet comes with a pen and has e-ink technology throughout the UI design, allowing users to write notes via their own handwriting. For instance users can write on a web page and share that page with friends. Another feature called Timemark enables users to capture the audio of a meeting in line with their written notes, so that tapping on a word in the notes instantly takes the user back to that exact place in time in the audio recording of the meeting. Additionally, notes are integrated with the Flyer's calendar so when there is an appointment reminder users are automatically prompted with an opportunity to begin a new note. The Flyer also features built-in synchronization with Evernote.
For more:
- see this EVO 3D release
- see this Evo View 4G fact sheet
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