What is the sense of a 4G device in a city that doesn’t have 4G? Well Sprint new tri-fi mobile hotspot is compatible with 4G LTE, 4G WiMax and 3G worse case scenario. Check out the new Tri-fi mobile hotspot after the jump.
Here at CTIA Wireless 2012, even the CEOs of the major U.S. carriers agree that 4G is just too confusing for consumers to make sense of. Since it began its ascendance in 2010, the term “4G” has been slapped onto a grab bag of wireless networks and devices, to spur sales — often at the cost of clarity. After driving home this point in a keynote address yesterday, Sprint has just announced the 4G LTE Tri-Fi hotspot, a handy little gadget that can convert LTE, WiMAX, and 3G alike into a wifi signal for web-hungry devices like laptops and tablets.
After launching its WiMAX 4G network back in 2010, Sprint is now opting to shift its weight toward LTE, a new 4G standard pioneered by Verizon in 2011. With Sprint’s new hotspot, you don’t need to worry if you’re traveling to a city that doesn’t yet have a 4G LTE network — or even a 4G network at all. The device can flit between 4G flavors and even hook into 3G, taking the guesswork out of the entire process.
Sprint’s LTE network won’t be rolling out until this summer, but that isn’t stopping the carrier from readying its hardware arsenal now: The Tri-Fi hotspot, manufactured by Sierra Wireless like Sprint’s Overdrive 4G hotspot, will go on sale for $99.99 with a 2-year contract (and a $50 rebate) on May 18. If being away from the web gives you separation anxiety, a cleverly signal-agnostic tool like the Tri-Fi might be just what the doctor ordered — but those hotspot data overage fees can still kill you if you aren’t careful.
