HTC is prepping a GSM and CDMA phone

PHONE MANUFACTURER HTC is readying a dual radio smartphone that should be just the thing for travelers.

The phone, which has both GSM and CDMA radios, was spotted at the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) getting a once over before approval. The model at the FCC looks like it'll be off to US mobile operator Verizon though with both radios it could be used on the AT&T or T-Mobile networks as well.

While in Europe GSM is the network of choice, other parts of the world, notably Japan, use CDMA wireless technology for their mobile phone networks. Having a dual radio phone will forgo the need for renting a mobile overseas and give the ability to keep the same mobile number, something that is particularly handy for business folk.

The HTC smartphone looks to be geared towards business with a slide-out keyboard, and the FCC report shows that the usual combination of WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity is present. There's no word on what processor it uses or what operating system it'll be running, but given the Verizon livery and the firm's support of the Android OS, it's likely to be the Linux based operating system.

It'll be interesting to see if mobile operators in the UK carry a CDMA phone. Three's data network is WCDMA, so in theory it could be the perfect outlet for the phone and with Vodafone part owning US CDMA network Verizon, there is the possibility that the firm might want to avoid lining the coffers of its rivals when its subscribers are over in the States.

There's no information on when HTC's dual radio phone will tip or for how much, but it could be one of the more truly useful smartphones released this year. µ