The number 3 cellular provider in the U.S. isn’t really known for having leading edge technology, however, lately it seems they are trying to up the ante.  This week the annual CTIA conference is being held at the Las Vegas Convention Center and one of, if not the, biggest announcements is expected to be made by Sprint CEO Dan Hesse.  The HTC Supersonic has long been rumored to be Sprint’s first 4G phone but many had given up hope.  Recently though, more rumors started to surface about the device and when it would be announced.  According to a Wall Street Journal article, the Supersonic will be announced either today or tomorrow at the CTIA conference.  As a Sprint customer, I’m definitely looking forward to the release of this phone.  This is definitely a flagship caliber device and could help Sprint stop the bleeding.

Now, a device alone isn’t going to bring the company out of it’s rut.  That being said, Sprint is working very diligently to bring its 4G WiMax service to cities all around the country.  A press release put out today announced 7 more cities to get WiMax before the end of the year.  Sprint is the first cellular company to deploy, market and offer 4G service to its customers and they’re a good deal ahead of any other competitors.  AT&T, T-mobile and Verizon have yet to even start their deployments.  Many have scolded Sprint for choosing WiMax over LTE, however, almost all of their WiMax infrastructure can easily be converted to LTE by a simple software change if Sprint ever decides they need to go that route.  4G technology is something to be excited about.  It gives consumers yet another choice for home broadband and Sprint is encouraging consumers to try 4G out at their home.  With the speeds it offers, it’s a very enticing offer.

On a lesser note, yesterday Sprint announced their first Push-to-Talk, Android powered phone.  It’s the Motorola i1 and it’ll be running Android 1.5 which bothers me a little as there are already 3 newer versions of Android that have been released.  However, it does look like a durable phone for the PTT crowd and it’s “de-blurified” MOTOBLUR interface is actually very nice looking from the few pictures I’ve seen.

Here is a video clip of Mike Rowe holding the phone and generally being a goof ball…he’s such a funny guy.