A couple of weeks ago, Nextbit took the wraps off of the Robin, its new Android phone with a unique storage system that learns how you use your phone and saves stuff that you don’t frequently use in the cloud. The Robin is a GSM phone with no CDMA support for Verizon and Sprint, but apparently Nextbit has received enough interest in a CDMA version to warrant considering the creation of a compatible model.
On its official Kickstarter page, Nextbit says that it’s “investigating an alternate version” of the Robin that includes support for Verizon and Sprint’s networks as well as “a few other spots around the globe” that the regular Robin won’t work. Nextbit also says that it will now ship the Robin to Australia.
While most flagship smartphones from major device makers are now released across all major US carriers, handsets from smaller companies like Nextbit are typically released only in GSM form. That’s kind of a bummer for Verizon and Sprint customers, but that’s the way that it’s always been because of those carriers’ use of CDMA tech, and that’s the way that it’ll continue to be until they release LTE-only phones. That said, it’s nice to see Nextbit looking into creating a version of the Robin that’ll work on Verizon and Sprint. Whether or not that phone will ever actually be released remains to be seen, but this does give Verizon and Sprint customers a glimmer of hope.
