Well, there's no direct evidence to support this, though we've heard rumors internally that this was coming real soon in addition to this new tidbit: MS_Nerd is reporting that Sprint will begin pre-orders for the much anticipated Sprint 7 Pro on Wednesday, December 8th.
Notice that's exactly 30 days after AT&T and T-Mobile begin to sell their stock, so either someone is making a good connection or we see a reasonable pattern here. It also sort of jives with the FCC certification recently that suggests a 7 Pro release is getting quite close. Combined with Sprint and Microsoft being cozy recently at Sprint's Developer Conference and we think CDMA D-Day may be fast approaching.
No word on actual release date, though we can guess.
Update: BGR is reporting that this pre-order is happening, but only for Microsoft employees. That's certainly a new one on us, though perhaps it has to do with those 89,000 devices they have to give out. We also think that a public pre-order can't be to far behind this one.
Source: Twitter (@ms_nerd)
Reader comments
Rumor: Sprint taking pre-orders for HTC 7 Pro December 8th [Updated]
The fact one CDMA phone got the FCC certification ready suggests WP7 is almost ready in terms of SW. What I find puzzling is that we have seen/heard about only one CDMA phone (HTC 7 Pro). How come we are not seeing leaked information of *mulitple* models like we did for AT&T and TMO leading up to the launch?
When I spoke with Samsung, they said they were in talks with *all* carriers in the U.S. That doesn't mean they will sell anything on Sprint, but with the Epic 4G doing well, I think Sprint/Samsung have a future together. So I would expect a Focus-like device on CDMA in the future. Re: FCC, the lack of public info is not necessarily indicative of much, there are ways of keeping things under wraps.
Great post! Just a heads up. Sprint and Samsung have been buddies way before the Epic. In fact, Sprint went with Samsung to release the Instinct remember. This was supposed to be the phone that would make Sprint relevant during the iPhone's early years.
We will see a Galaxy S type WP7 device for Sprint but look for these devices to have a little something extra (feature wise) the other carriers don't have.
I am wondering the same thing. It's great Sprint will be getting the HTC 7 Pro, but it is anything but a Pro phone as it does not include global roaming. I think HTC really missed the mark with this one. Now please, someone make a global roaming phone for Sprint! I can't move to WP7 until that happens.
This makes sense if we expect that WP7 OS update in "early 2011" to mean January like people expect, then preorder in Dec and ship sometime in Jan makes sense to me.
To me too. We may not have the device in hand by December but knowing the device will be shipping soon after and with the new updates is reason for calm.
*** I still wouldn't mind seeing it before the holidays.
So I think it's between this and the Dell Venue Pro, which I would have to switch to T-Mobile for. Not against T-Mo, since I have HSPA+ coverage here, but have been a happy Sprint customer for years. Will have to see what happens.
Hey VZW...
You can use a good WP7 in your lineup...
HTC 7 Pro is looking good....