Evo 4G coming June 4. Mobile future included.

For $199 plus contract, device offers two-way video chat via Qik, wifi hotspot capability

Technology trends and news by Matt Bowman
May 13, 2010 | Comments
Short URL: http://vator.tv/n/f9b

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This morning brings a glimpse of the near mobile future.

Two announcements—one about Sprint’s Evo 4G Phone and one about Android’s next version—paint a picture of what this summer holds for early adopters with cash to burn.

First, Sprint released more details on the two-way video chat functionality of the Evo 4G, set to go on sale June 4th for $199 with a Sprint subscription. The video chat, enabled by a front-facing camera, will be run on Qik, a third-party app and early developer of mobile video streaming. The functionality will cost users a Qik upgrade, which will probably be negligible compared to the monthly data connection.

For an extra $29, users can also turn their Evo's into wifi hotspots for up to 8 devices.The phone comes with a mandatory $10/ month fee for premium data service (regardless of whether owners are using a 4G or 3G network).

The phone runs on Android 2.1 for now, but that could change soon. Over in Mountain View, CA, Google employees placed a sculpture of an oversized frozen yogurt on the company’s front lawn Thursday.

The Android team names each new release of Google Android with a confectionary alias. Cupcake was 1.5, Donut was 1.6 and Eclair was 2.0. It turns out that 2.2 is Froyo. Froyo will allow users to turn their phone into a portable wifi hotspot and tether it via USB to share the data connection with a laptop. It also has full Flash support.

The new sculpture means an official announcement is likely at Google’s I/O event next week in San Francisco, just ahead of Evo’s release June 4.



Related companies, investors and entrepreneurs

Plogo_qik
Qik
Startup/Business
Description: Qik is a little piece of software that enables you to stream videos directly from your phone to the Web. Use it to stream engaging videos...

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