Sidecut Reports

Before we take a little end-of-summer break here at Sidecut Reports, a quick recap of some of the 4G news breaking this week:

CLEARWIRE’S MYSTERY MARKET REVEALED: Credit to the always-digging Tricia Duryee at mocoNews.net for uncovering an SEC document that shed some more light on Clearwire’s announced announcement next week. Of course yours truly speculated somewhat correctly when asked earlier about the pending news. Still would like to hear more about Clearwire’s WiMAX phones, though!

METROPCS LTE COMING IN SEPTEMBER? That is the word on the street, with services in Las Vegas and perhaps Dallas/Fort Worth, according to various reports. Without pricing and data-cap information, however, it’s hard to get too excited about any LTE plans or try to compare them to the WiMAX-based 4G services now being sold by Clearwire, Sprint and partners. Still, the more 4G the better, we say!

VERIZON’S POCKETSPOT ADS — GOOD! Caught some of the new Verizon TV ads this week, specifically the ones touting the “pocketspot” capabilities of the new Droid phones from Big Red. While you could quibble about how fast five people might use up the 5 Gb monthly limit on Verizon 3G data plans, the ads are well done and explain the Wi-Fi “cloud” feature very well with some special-effects cloud magic. Just a small hint of what could be forthcoming in the way of 4G marketing from a company with admirable assets in that department.

Call it the intersection of preparation and opportunity — Clearwire today took a swipe at the network troubles that have been limiting the communication features of Apple iPads and iPhones with the introduction of the “iSpot,” a personal 4G/Wi-Fi hotspot that has an introductory service price of $25 per month for unlimited data use.

The device, in a white case to match the signature Apple casing, is a rebranded version of earlier devices from Clearwire that connect to the provider’s 4G WiMAX wireless broadband network on the back end to provide a Wi-Fi “cloud” for up to eight other devices.

While the device’s retail price is $99.99, Clearwire is offering it online for sale until tomorrow for the price of $29.99. The contracts advertised are month-to-month with no long-term obligation.

Though we haven’t spoken to Clearwire yet about the device, it is clearly designed to take advantage of the hobbled cellular data plans available for Apple devices like the iPhone and iPad via Apple’s exclusive agreement in the U.S. with AT&T. Though the device is marketed as an iPad/iPhone/iPod touch companion, we are guessing that any other device with a Wi-Fi connection can use the services made available from the portable router. UPDATE: According to the Clear blog, the device is actually locked for iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch use only at the $25 rate; to use other equipment it needs to be unlocked by Clearwire folks and you will pay the regular service fees. From the Clear blog:

There has been some confusion out on the interwebs about what devices the iSpot can work with. To clarify, if you take advantage of the $25/mo service plan, your iSpot will only work with iPod touches, iPads, and iPhones. If you want it unlocked to work with any wi-fi enabled devices (laptops, Macbooks, smartphones etc) our Customer Service team can unlock it it you decide to go with the same monthly service plan that is available for the CLEAR Spot 4G.

The Sidecut take says — why lock this thing at all? The more open the better, why introduce the confusion? After all, it’s not like people who buy Apple products are necessarily budget-sensitive, so why give them a better deal than other device holders?

There’s no pricing or ship date yet, but the folks at Sprint have officially announced the “second WiMAX phone” for the company’s 4G network. Engadget has a full rundown on all the specs which by now seem to be the opening ante for the advanced-smartphone market: Front-facing extra camera for handheld videoconferencing, big fine-grain viewing screen, etc. And we assume you can hold this one any way you want without downgrading the antenna, if you know what we mean.

Not having seen or held the Samsung WiMAX entry the feature that may appeal more to us is the slide-out QWERTY keyboard, something we here at Sidecut central have become somewhat addicted to on our current phone of choice for faster texting. Like the HTC EVO 4G this phone will also sport a built-in Pocketspot or portable Wi-Fi router capability, though it will only support five additional devices as opposed to the EVO’s eight. We’ll have to try a pocketspot shootout between the devices sometime this fall.

Though there isn’t any mention of it in the press release we are guessing the Epic launch is the stick-a-fork-in-it moment for the late great Samsung Mondi, the original WiMAX mobile Internet device that we rightly wronged for being overpriced and underfeatured. It will be interesting to see whether the new WiMAX phone parade coupled with the additional WiMAX markets being launched by Clearwire and Sprint will result in more business use of WiMAX as 2010 winds into late summer and fall. And though there is no “official” launch date for the Epic, we will hazard a guess that this phone will be available when school starts again… in stores near more of you, if you know what we mean.