Sprint Bringing Out Another CDMA/GSM Smartphone - a BlackBerry

Engadget reports a potential BlackBerry phone that is arriving to Sprint's network that is supporting both CDMA and GSM. If this is true, then it will be the second phone in its smartphones lineup to feature dual mode. Me like it!

Sprint Samsung IP-830W (CDMA and GSM Support)

Sprint International Smart Device IP-830W by Samsung

As I was pulling some smartphone data for a previous entry. I noticed a new phone in Sprint's lineup: Samsung IP-830W. I recall reading about this phone a while back, but didn't realize it has been added to their lineup.

This phone is very interesting, for starter, it offers 'digital quad-band'. In layman's term, this is an international phone allowing you to use it in North America, Asia and Europe. It supports both CDMA network (currently Verizon and Sprint) as well as GSM network (currently Cingular and TMobile).

This phone is physically identical to Verizon's 2 year-old Samsung SCH-i703. However, it uses Microsoft's latest Windows Mobile 5.0 with an upgrade adaptation kit (AKU 2.6). The phone offers EV-DO 3G network support, SDIO/MMC slot, a slider-design which uncovers the full QWERTY keyboard. According to this CNET review, it even ships with a SIM card for your convenience.

My immediate complaint is the lack of integrated WiFi like its predecessor; however, this can hopefully be worked-around through the usage of a SD WiFi Card. In addtion, Sprint's data plan is pretty reasonably priced at $15 to $25 per month.

I think this phone has a lot of potential and I think this is one of the best smartphones avilable today. If it had WiFi integration, it could have been the perfect smartphone!

Slash Phone Review
Phone Scoop Review
CNET Review