Sprint set to release a 4G enabled tablet "with another OS" in 2011

Tablets and "4G speeds" are the two latest crazes in the high-tech world and it seems Sprint is aiming to take the leadership in the 4G tablet business with a new tab not powered by Android. That leaves RIM (QNX OS), Windows Phone 7 or even webOS as the possible options for the new, 4G Sprint tablet's operating system.

The folks at Sprint were the pioneers that launched the first 4G-enabled handset back in 2008 and it's only fitting that the third-largest carrier wants to take the lead in the world of the 4G tablets. That's understandable as there is considerable interest in tabs, particularly from the business world, which sees tablets as perfect replacements of the notebooks. This is only confirmed by Paget Alves, Sprint’s President of Business Markets, who says that "the adoption rate for tablets in the business sector is much, much faster than we expected", claiming that 70 to 80% of the CIOs he has talked to express interest in deploying tablets for a sizeable part of their employees. According to Alves, the key is in attractive data plans and that's why "lots of different prices are being tried right now."

Do you think this is Sprint's subtle way to say that it's getting the PlayBook? Or probably HP is targeting the tablet business more than the smartphone one? Or this probably means that WP7 is more optimized for tablets than phones? Tell us with your comments.

source: Reuters