Sprint bows HTC Evo Shift 4G QWERTY slider

The widely leaked slider version of the popular HTC Evo 4G finally gets official, along with a revamped MiFi portable hotspot that's compatible with Sprint's 4G WiMax data network. Set for release January 9 at $149 with a two-year Sprint contract, the Evo Shift (which has been popping up all over the Web in the past week or so) is essentially a smaller take on the jumbo-sized Evo 4G from last summer, with the key difference being the Shift's slide-out, four-row QWERTY keypad.

The Shift's 3.6-inch WVGA dispay probably won't inspire the gasps that the Evo 4G's mammoth 4.3-inch display did, while the slider's mid-range, 800 MHz Qualcomm MSM7630 processor won't pack the firepower of the dual-core Tegra 2 smartphones that we're expecting to see at CES later this week. There's also no front-facing camera for video chat, although the rear 5MP lens is capable of 720p-quality video capture.

That said, the Android 2.2-running Shift will connect to Sprint's speedy 4G network, just as the original Evo does, and it will also double as a portable Wi-Fi hotspot for up to eight other Wi-Fi-enabled devices. The handset also arrives with a two-year contract price that's $50 cheaper than the Evo 4G.