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CDMA Nexus One passes FCC, could be on Verizon soon

By: , IntoMobile
Friday, February 26th, 2010 at 1:53 PM

It looks like Verizon Wireless customers won’t have to wait long for the Nexus One, as a very similar handset just passed the FCC and it’s rocking dual-band CDMA EVDO radios. While the FCC filing doesn’t specifically out the HTC handset as Google’s “superphone,” its model number, PB99300, is very similar to that of the Android-powered Nexus One, PB9910.

During the official Nexus One announcement, Google said it would be bringing the handset to Big Red in “spring 2010.” While passing the FCC doesn’t mean a launch is imminent, handsets that jump through the governmental hoops are generally no more than a month or two out. The smartphone will likely be sold through Google’s online store but I don’t see the point of it being unlocked because it’s nearly impossible to hot swap between Sprint and Verizon. The Nexus One has had relatively poor sales so far because there have been connection bugs, poor customer support and T-Mobile is the smallest U.S. carriers. Getting in front of Verizon’s 91 million subscribers should help goose sales.

This means Verizon will be able to offer another cool smartphone to go along with the Motorola Droid, HTC Eris and Palm Pre Plus. But I have to wonder if the company’s network will be able to stand up to a horde of data-hungry users. Voice and data service on my Droid have been phenomenal over the last few months but a recent 3G performance test conducted by PCWorld indicates Big Red’s data network is being hammered by its new smartphone users. Regardless, the Nexus One is a sweet device and it’s miles ahead of the Droid in terms of responsiveness thanks to the Snapdragon processor. The handset continue to get better too, as Google is pumping out feature-rich software updates at a steady pace.

[Via Phonescoop]

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About The Author

Marin Perez

Marin Perez has torture tested cell phones and smartphones for industry leaders like CNET and InformationWeek. He remembers when 4G was just a screen on PowerPoint presentations and is fascinated with the amount of innovation out there. Marin has spent a lot of time with BlackBerry and Android but he finally broke down a bought an iPhone to see what all the hype's about. He also has too many tablets.

  • AusFest

    Sweet. I hope they got all the bugs fixed. I’d pick one up but I’m still in love with my Droid.

  • me

    sweet… btw the FCC link isn’t working

  • Marin Perez

    Thanks, the FCC link should be fixed now.

  • mrbill

    Buyers Beware. The existing version is loaded with problems that GOOGLE is ignoring and refuses to fix. Worst customer service I have ever had. The media is also ignoring the problems and refuses to report on them. They are probably afraid of losing the GOOGLE ad revenue. If you have not done so already, check out the GOOGLE help forums.