The HTC Evo 4G LTE smartphone hit the Sprint network the middle of last year, and offered the Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) 4.0 operating system out-of-the-box. The handset was updated to the Jelly Bean 4.1 operating system at the end of last year, and recently, an unofficial Jelly Bean 4.2.2 custom firmware update has appeared on the web. Bear in mind, this is a highly customized and feature-rich CM10.1 ROM firmware upgrade to Jelly Bean 4.2.2, but it is still going through the development phase, and is not the official version recommended by HTC or Sprint.
Brave HTC Evo 4G LTE owners can download the update online at their own risk, but the good news is, when decent unofficially sanctioned operating system upgrades are plentiful, the official carrier-approved OS upgrade is usually just around the corner. Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean delivers multi-user support, gesture typing, a lock screen widget, new camera applications, as well as the new Daydream feature and Miracast display experience.
In light of this unofficial but attractive operating system update, neither Sprint nor HTC would comment on a time frame for the officially “okayed” version. The HTC Evo 4G LTE smartphone hit the Sprint network back in June of last year, and Sprint launched their first ever 4G LTE system a few weeks later in July. That speedy 4G LTE network now claims more than 58 major markets in the United States, and the skinny (0.35 inch, 8.9 mm) HTC Evo 4G LTE smartphone is perfectly matched for that LTE network with a speedy 1.5 GHz Snapdragon S4 dual core processor.
The HTC Evo 4G LTE handset also offers a unique built-in kickstand, which provides perfect hands-free viewing opportunities on the large 4.7 inch Super IPS LCD2 capacitive touchscreen. More than 16 million colors and 312 pixels per inch are found on the display, which is protected by a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass against scratching and chipping. Display resolution runs 720 x 1,280 pixels, and on the new Sprint 4G LTE system, the handset can deliver as much as 9.0 hours of talk time from a full battery charge.
The system chip powering the handset is a Qualcomm MSM8960 Snapdragon model, with a separate chip handling all graphics processing. 1.0 GB of RAM memory and 16 GB of storage are built into the HTC Evo 4G LTE phone, with a microSD slot provided for extra storage space. That rear camera runs an 8.0 megapixel sensor, and features simultaneous HD video and image recording. Image capture is nearly instant, at 0.7 seconds, and up front facing the HTC Evo 4G LTE user is a 1.3 megapixel chat cam. A Stereo FM radio with RDS, Beats Audio full range sound system and YouTube video player are present in the handset’s multimedia package.
