Evo 4G coming June 4. Mobile future included.

Matt Bowman · May 13, 2010 · Short URL: https://vator.tv/n/f9b

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

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.


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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 to your friends in Facebook, Twitter, etc. or as your camcorder to capture entertaining and special moments. Qik enables you to share moments of your life with your friends, family and the world - directly from your cell phone!

Keep your world in the know, share a laugh, tell engaging stories. Just point your cell phone and stream video live to your your friends on Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, etc. OR use your cell phone like a camcorder and stream hours and hours of video without worrying about storage on your cell phone.