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You may recall the news that recently came out regarding a certain filing for an HTC EVO Shift 4G trademark, and it looks like the handset maker and Sprint want to make it a brand. New rumors suggest the handset currently known as the HTC Knight will acquire the new EVO name and offer buyers a smaller alternative. This smaller version doesn’t pack less punch, with a slide-out QWERTY and bigger battery. No front-facing camera, though, so take that as you will.
A smart move on Sprint’s part. The EVO was one of their biggest phones in a long while, and the brand could certainly sell a few more units in the future.
[via Engadget]
no front camera? Thats one main reason the Evo beats its competitors is its ability to video chat. Stupid.
WOuld be worth a look once all the specs come out. Anyone heard when?
Yea, a front facing camera would of been better in my opinion. I hope they do look into that display again though. I’m sure Sammy will push that out to carriers as it becomes popular. Taking on the Evo brand is pretty nice. It’s like when Verizon took on the Droid brand. So we can definitely expect other Evo like phones. This is opening up the variety.
Fake and Gay!
I could give a crap about a front facing camera. Looks like a great build and the keyboard is a very attractive bonus. Interested in seeing the final build and keyboard design. I wish they would ditch the soft touch keys. A track pad button like the G2 would be nice.
Wish my Evo were a little smaller too. Don’t care about a keyboard though and so far haven’t found anyone to video chat with.
I currently own an HTC Evo 4g…. love it just the way it is.. this phone here the evo shift- is a downgrade…why call it an Evo? its a cheap G2 knockoff… doesn’t look like an Evo or do what an Evo does- they are dumb as molasses.
I’m going to buy my wife and son REAL Evos before this trash comes out!
I bought my Evo and rock it- cuz it is the sexiest, most awesome phone on the planet! It makes heads turn!
This piece of crap evo shift isn’t sexy or head turning… its a clone of other phones I didn’t want.
What are they thinking?
I really pray this article is bs. I don’t want the next gen Evo to be this piece of crap!
@keller
Why do you care arent you on tmobile anyway because you were bitching for weeks about how the mytouch 4g was project glacier or w.e?
@ Kelller….”fake and Gay”? Serious?
I don’t like the slide out keyboard if this is real. I still can’t figure out why no one has made a clone-ish iPhone competitor. As much as I hate Apple now, I do love the form factor of the iPhones, and my EVO with iPhone physical specs would be just what I want.
And yeah…after 4 months I still haven’t used my front facing camera, so I could care less about that.
I haven’t used my FFC or my 4G yet (Southern California, the forgotten land), but, I’m glad I’ve got them for when these services are available. I am not one of those people who changes phones every month, I will stay with my EVO for a while. I don’t find it too big, either. And, I did not want a keyboard, so, I think it is great. If you want a smaller version of the EVO with a keyboard, get an EPIC. I say ditch the keyboard and add the FFC.
evo with iphone physical specs? the fuck? So you pretty much want an iphone… with android… LMAO
If this is going to have the 4G branding then it will have the 4G fee. So why would I choose this over the Evo or Epic? Confused.
well there goes all hope in it being non 4g. -_-
i refuse to pay sprints 4g tax period. i’m seriously leaning towards the htc pro win 7 phone.
@nvbozo: If you can get a similar plan as a plan with Sprint and it’s “tax”, then by all means go for it.
For me, $80/mo ($70 for 450 all data +$10 for “4G” phone)get’s me unlimited mobile to mobile, 450 mins to land lines, unlimited text/web. Maybe where you live, you can get a better deal. Where I live, thats the lowest price for that type of plan.
Seems I was on the money about FFC being a novelty. More users chiming in all the time about how infrequently it’s used. When Tmo took it off the Vibrant lots of people went nuts. Since it’s been a couple months I wonder what their opinions are now.
Too bad the EVO Shift will be the Knight. I was hoping for something up-sized.
I would prefer a smaller phone without a keyboard. I like one that fits it’s nice in my pocket.
Front facing cameras, while a nice feature, aren’t a deal breaker for me. There currently aren’t enough people that have OR use them to make it a make or break issue. Plus, most FFC on the market today are such low resolution, its not worth the trouble. If you’ve ever used video chat on a cell before, you’d know you have to hold the camera perfectly still to prevent camera shake and make it a pleasant experience. (And if you think about it, how often do any of us sit perfectly still while talking on the phone? Not too many of us) I think once all 4 main carriers update and expand their networks to true 4G speeds, only than will video chat via ones cell begin to really take off.
So the Knight is basically the Evo with a keyboard, smaller screen, and minus a ffc? I can officially scratch the Knight off my list.
Love my EVO 4G, it’s perfect. Slide out keyboard is ok, but i prefer a virtual qwerty…and yes there are people that prefer software to hardware. I’m confused about them striping the FFC away tho. If it’s a 4G phone, it should come equipped with all the current available features to maximize the 4G experience. Regardless of how many 4G markets there are…it can still use the technology dammit! True a lot of ppl don’t use it often, but i do. My best friend has an EVO, 6 other ppl i know have one…and for all of those that don’t….the new Yahoo video addon for messenger takes care of them. Calling my cell from any pc with messenger and having a face to face is good enough for me…….oh yea and Sprint’s “4G tax” really isn’t that bad. My plan is loads cheaper than rival plans with the $10 fee, and i get waaaaaaaaaaaaaay more for my money.
Sounds like an Android powered 7 Pro. Nice to have more options, now how about a full throwdown with the Epic, 7 Pro and Knight… Then add a keyboardless S series,the Evo and a nice 1Ghz WinPhone 7 touch only device to the mix.
And for those complaining (still) about the extra $10 a month, how about we take away all the features that require the extra data on the Evo/Epic and see how cool they are… Flash – gone… FFC – gone… HD YouTube – gone… Heck, while we’re at it, let’s go back to he day of mobile site only browsers… that will sure cut down data consumption and keep things cheaper! Get over it already. $80 a month for everything is pretty darn cheap and even cheap at $30 a line for 3-5 on a family plan!
@lost and waazzuppp
nope. im fine where im at. $70 is already pushing my budget. i like sprint so i naturally want to remain a sprint customer and where i live sprint is the best. ill bitch whenever and wherever i want. we don’t get 4g here and just barely 3g so why should i pay for something i can’t get yet. i like choices and having a mandatory fee just to get a cool phone is retarded. i bet i use just as much data as if i were with a non 4g phone. and btw the htc pro is a going to be a sprint phone. its not like i want to jump ship.
It will be interesting if the bit about Sprint having an EVO line is true. Could be a great marketing play for them. Verizon has Droids, Sprint may have their EVOs. At least we’d have an identity of some sorts.
This sounds like a phone I can finally upgrade too. My phone lives in my pocket, and the current high end Sprint phones are just too big and bulky to consider. I don’t need/want a 4+” screen … give me a phone that is no more than 4.5″ by 2.4″ and fits nicely in my pocket.
Dear Sprint, kick the physical keyboards already! Jeebus! Can you tell I don’t care for sliders? lol Rant over.
I always thought that if u start a line of something each one that comes out is post to be better then the last now u start taken away the ffc and now app developers are starting to add the ffc in there apps now well that’s gona clash a lot of people use they video chat capabilities alot more then u think when u think of a new type of evo well your first thought is man its gona blow the first one out the water not wow they took away from it fyi if u take away form what makes the evo a evo then it should just be that a Knight shift a shift behind evo please don’t dumb down the evo name don’t think that would be good evo 2 with 2.3 gigahertz snapdragon and a HD 3d screen now that’s a evo2 lol
The slider kick from sprint is getting a bit annoying. The evo and the hero are the only droid phones on sprint that aren’t sliders.
its funny, everyone complains that there are no android phones with slide out qwerty keyboards. now sprint has a bunch of them and everyone complains there is too many.
Will not buy another cell without front facing camera! Already own 2 evo’s. I agree dumb move by sprint
Iowadave-There was a time when a select few people cld text only problem was finding someone else who cld. Give it time, we gotta let the rest of the world catch up to us. And trust me when u do VC the first time it will b amazing.
The LG Optimus does not have a keyboard and runs Android. It is a lower end phone as far as specs but has a very nice form factor. I wish Sprint had a new high end phone that was basically the same form factor as the Hero or Optimus. I would buy it. I am still using a flip phone and will not switch from sprint but am waiting for them to get something like a Hero with Evo or better specs.
I hate sliders