Sprint's LTE plans detailed: phones, tablets and modems coming by 2012

If you were holding out hope that Tuesday's Apple announcement would be trumped by an exclusive iPhone 5 on Sprint, prepare to be disappointed. The company's confirmed that no new handsets would be shown off at its Strategy Event today. Instead, the carrier is focusing on how it intends to bundle all of those separate radios -- CDMA, LTE, WiMAX -- into a future device line up. Emphasizing the need for an enhanced user experience over 4G technology marketing, the operator stressed a commitment to supporting existing WiMAX subs. Dual-mode CDMA / LTE products are set to launch in the middle of next year, with tablets, smartphones and modems across both the high-end and mid-range to be on offer. Motorola's Sanjay Jha appeared in a taped segment to confirm his company's involvement in the production of these 3G/4G products. Of course, Sprint plans to support current CDMA and WiMAX products, offering them for sale throughout 2012. As for Direct Connect, three of those Push-to-Talk handsets will hit the carrier in the last quarter of 2011, with additional devices planned for 2012.