Remember that
Touch Pro2 we
saw in Sprint livery yesterday? A leaked roadmap indicated that this would be a global roaming device packing both CDMA and GSM radios -- and Telus' inventory system certainly
corroborates the existence of such a device. Further proof now comes to us in the form of an FCC filing for yet another variant of the Rhodium (HTC's codename for the Touch Pro2), and while only CDMA is being tested here, there's also some assurance from HTC that the FCC needn't worry about the locked-down GSM radio lying dormant in there. In other words, it'll only be used outside US borders -- places the FCC doesn't give two flips about. Even better, there are actually two versions being referred to here -- the RHOD400 and RHOD500 -- which could very well represent separate bodies for Sprint and Verizon. As if you needed another reason to upgrade from the
original Touch Pro, Sprint folks... well, here you go.
posted May 20th 2009 6:10PM
cool
gsm disabled? not cool.
f-ing cell cartels.
If sprint had an unlocked dual cdma gsm (smart)phone operable in the USA and internationally I probably would still be paying them.
frack you cell cartels frack you
Here's a video of Sprint Mogul vs. HTC Touch Pro2 (both running some variant of WinMo 6.5)
YouTube HD link - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwqaGumWJgQ (1280x720 @ 30fps)
In the Description, there's a link for 60fps!
This is for Sprint/Verizon world phone device line up since CDMA is very limited beyond out borders.
Thats Very .. with a "V".
eek! CDMA .. didn't they use smoke-signals wiv that?
CDMA only is not totally worthless outside the USA. Now, this is from VZW fliers, but CMDA countries account for about 60% of American's vacation destinations. Not perfect, but not totally worthless anyway.
CDMA is out there. Mexico and parts of Central and South America, China, New Zealand, South Korea (I think, they moved towards the GSM evolution path so fast they're probably on LTE). The main issue is that Verizon and Sprint seem incapable of making roaming agreements - something that is a problem in the CDMA world... CDMA IS having some importance in Eastern Europe, but at 700mhz...
60% of American's vacation destinations? What does that even mean, lol? Do you have any examples?
"Mexico and parts of Central and South America, China, New Zealand, South Korea (I think, they moved towards the GSM evolution path so fast they're probably on LTE)"
Whaaat? CDMA is not ubiquitous, AT ALL in China. If you're lucky to be in a limited area w/coverage, you'll have to use an inflated 'roaming' agreement partner network. I would expect the same story in Mexico, and Central and S. America in general. S. Korea and Japan are entirely 3G W-CDMA/UMTS and are not compatible with this AT ALL.
If Sprint/Verizon CDMA were common overseas as you and the other one portend, do you really think they'd put GSM radios in all their 'international phones'?
China Telecom operates a pretty good CDMA network in major cities and is increasing their network hoping to have 100 million users by 2011 (http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2009-02/13/content_7475432.htm). Mexico has a large CDMA network, Canada of course does too. Brazil did, but it's being shut down. I am not trying to say CDMA is great for roaming, I actually think the CDG shot itself in the foot in terms of CDMA by not making R-UIMs a mandatory part of the standard, but roaming does exist. I agree with you that if the roaming agreements even exist where you wanna go, they're extortion.
Dunno about C. and S. American, but don't care enough to check. China 'expect's 100 millions CDMA users by 2011? Link from article says the 'small' Chinese Telecom only has 27 million customers in 2008... half full/half empty? For a nation of one a quarter billion, that's next to nothing. Plus, they mention their numbers will increase by virtue of 3G so they could be talking about UMTS/CDMA. Combine the fact that not all CDMA overseas is even compatible with U.S. CDMA (e.g. Japan AU's CDMA 2000 for instance) and yeah, one has to be pretty confused if they think Sprint/Verizon CDMA has any palpable worth overseas...
No Pre for me thanks, I love customizing the crap outta my phones via PPCGEEKS and XDA, bunch of nerds getting together and sharing ideas and helping each other out. Its like we're smart phone hippies.
lol, amen. Now if only we'd get a decent WinMo build this decade.
I like them too, and I've been part of XDA devs and PPCGeeks and the ROM cooking community since the HTC Apache, but I'm getting frustrated with constantly flashing my phone, builds that don't work, stuff like my alarms never going off, little things that don't work...
It's great for a while, but after a certain amount of frustration and tinkering, the fun really wears off. It's for that reason that I think I'm going to ditch Windows Mobile and go back to Palm with the Pre.
Ditto ...
Touch Pro 2 is a TRUE geeks phone.
I love the smell of a freshly-cooked ROM.
Every ROM had it's little annoying glitches that it became WORK to make the phone function fast and proper.
Too bad HTC couldn't be bothered to put a 3.5mm headphone jack in there while Samsung was able to put one on their phones.
why would they want to disable GSM with firmware?
The FCC or HTC? It's obviously not a choice...
Because Sprint (or VZ), who are selling the phone, don't want to have to pay roaming fees to at&t or T-Mobile in territories where they operate a perfectly good network?
why would a user want to roam on somebody elses network if the area is covered by his usual provider?
sorry for asking stupid questions, but i don't understand how this stuff works in the US
@epsilon
But the SIMs VZW and Sprint use (for GSM roaming) have US roaming disabled already... no US GSM provider would get roaming revenue because of this. So, that can't be the real reason why HTC disabled the entire GSM radio.
I think whichever carrier is getting it intentionally disabled it so they could only have to worry about it being unlocked for CDMA use only, HTC didn't want to have to worry about getting the item completely reviewed before release (which could be soon), or HTC plans to make product differentiation depending on the radio type enabled.
Maybe I'm misreading the legalese, but I think that's exactly the firmware they're talking about... the phone has a GSM radio, but the software will always disable it while it's in the United States, so they don't need to bother testing that with the FCC. It doesn't mean the GSM radio is disabled outside the country, just in the areas the FCC has jurisdiction over.
Mmm...yes please! This would be great, since I travel out of the country once or twice a year but love my SERO plan with Sprint.
Damn you Sprint for not letting me get the Pre with SERO! Bless you Sprint for having SERO in the first place!
So it's just a matter of time for the XDA guys to unlock GSM chip in it, since it is disabled by firmware, and I'll be a happy camper :o)
So is it okay if I call him?
The GSM is locked down? Does that mean you cannot roam with AT&T or TMobile? Only with overseas providers?
That's right. Sprint has a national network or CDMA roaming agreements.
Its too bad Verizon wont see theirs anytime soon....Hell, i wouldnt be surprised if Sprint gets the Tour soon either...then that will determine whether i get this or that.....But after launching the New Instinct, Pre (6/6), Pro 2(June), and Snap/Cedar in less than 2 Months, maybe they will bust it out in July
Hmmm Palm Pre or Touch Pro 2? Decisions...
The TP2 is more powerful from a hardware perspective. Although, Im curious to see the new Palm OS and synch abilities. WinMo 6.5 is probably more robust in terms of 3rd party software support, etc.
I'm leaning toward TP2 unless the Pre really surprises me. I have to admit, I had Treos but I am VERY curious about the Pre.
Current Touch Pro owner - very pleased. Best phone Ive ever had.
has HTC really packed any significant hardware improvements in this over the Touch Pro? I'm pretty sure the memory and processor are the same, and the first Touch Pro struggled a bit with slowdown. I can't imagine adding a bigger screen and using Windows Mobile 6.5 are going to improve that at all. From a hardware standpoint, the Pre's OMAP3 and capacitive touchscreen seem like the stronger choice to me.
I thought the touch2pro will be coming to t-mobile? is this just another build for verizon/sprint? as i want tmobile wing II (touch pro 2).
it would be nice if they would just sell it unlocked for everyone and not have to keep customizing it for specific network.
They need to make this unlocked so they can sell it to all carriers
That's exactly the phone I was looking for. I assume it will be just a matter of time that the firmware gets hacked to enable GSM.
At least it runs Android...
Yawn, call me when Sprint and Verizon change to the real global standard and stop using non GSM family signals.
GSM is weak compared to CDMA when it comes to sound quality and CDMA doesn't make my speakers go nuts when I get a call.
Plus, CDMA EV-DO is more suited to American spectrum allocation than UMTS.
Though, that might just be because the FCC is screwed up.
lol. Verizon's got a much larger 3G network in the US than AT&T. Their service is generally more reliable. Don't get me started on calls dropping when switching from 3G to EDGE.
why they make the screen smaller? the hd has 3.8" screen this one is a 3.6"
guys, check out the "Test Rpt HAC T Coil" report, the last one, it has a picture of the phone :)
Did you notice in that picture that it has the front-facing camera? I know that's not for Sprint or Verizon. What's going on there, I wonder...
I think it is only the unit they tested!
Gimme already, I want to see how this matches up against the pre.
With the antiquated Windows Mobile engine? It's no match for WebOS.
So does this mean the HTC Touch Pro 2 will be coming to Verizon?
Verizon's holding off on releasing it until the Touch Pro 3 is announced.
OMG TOUCH PRO COMING SOON
ooops tp2 that is lol either way mmmmm finally a new phone for me soon
Wooo!
As long as tmo gets a slice of it, I'm good. I was gonna settle for the X1 but , the touch pro 2 won me over :)