Last weekend, we told you about AT&T's shiny new Inspire 4G and its apparent lack of HSUPA capabilities. It's not the first, or last, AT&T Android to lack the ability, as the Captivate and Atrix 4G don't have it either. Today more information on the situation may have come to light, courtesy of a source speaking with Engadget. That tipster explains that ATT requires all of its phones to "handshake" with 3GPP Release 5 tech, which was the last of the 3G specs without any HSUPA support. Release 6, which has support for high-speed uploads, is currently used by AT&T's iPhone 4, but none of the Androids use it. No one is sure why this is the way it is, but the source believes that Release 6 certification will happen in the next month or two.

All of this news is pretty upsetting if you're an Android user on AT&T, especially if you pick up a device like the Inspire or Atrix and expect speedy downloads and uploads. Thankfully, as AT&T works more on improving its backhaul and spreading its 4G network, I'd be willing to bet that the situation is going to change and ATT will enable HSUPA on its devices. There's no telling exactly when that'll happen, but I'm sure ATT wants to get things going as quickly as possible. We'll update you as more info is made available. What do you all make of the situation? Is the lack of HSUPA something you'd be upset about?

Via Engadget