Sprint announced back in October that it was planning to launch an LTE network, and since then new details on the impending switch have trickled out, most recently with the naming of its first four LTE markets and the news that its first two LTE smartphones will be the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and LG Viper. Today Sprint's VP of product realization David Owens talked to PC Mag a bit more about the carrier's LTE plans as well as what the switch means for any future WiMAX smartphones. (Hint: There probably won't be any.) Owens said that although the Galaxy Nexus and Viper will be hitting other carriers before they arrive on the Now Network, Sprint will differentiate its models with things like Google Wallet support. It's also possible that we'll see other LTE handsets by the middle of the year, which Owens explained means that Sprint is basically finished with releasing any new WiMAX-capable smartphones.

Owens also talked a bit about Windows Phone and why Sprint has only released one device (the HTC Arrive) running Microsoft's mobile OS thus far. "We have a Windows device in our lineup, but honestly, it hasn't done well enough for us to jump back into the fire," he told PC Mag, adding that the number one reason that the Arrive was returned to stores was the user experience. Sprint director of product development Lois Fagan chimed in by saying that the carrier wants to take part in selling the devices, but that Microsoft needs to help build excitement around the platform. Owens said that Sprint is considering giving Windows Phone another shot around the "August-September period."

Obviously Owens' statements about Windows Phone are kind of a bummer for fans of the platform, especially ones that can't or won't leave Sprint for another network. Sprint isn't the only carrier that doesn't seem particularly excited about Windows Phone, though, as its CDMA compatriot Verizon has also only released one of the platform's products to date. Right now the go-to carrier for Windows Phone folk looks to be AT&T, especially with the recent introductions of the HTC Titan II and Nokia Lumia 900. The good news is that we've heard that Microsoft may be planning to release the next major version of Windows Phone, codenamed Apollo, around the same timeframe that Owens said Sprint may try the platform again, so both Sprint and its customers could have some new Windows Phone goodies to check out by the time that that August/September window rolls around.

Via PC Mag