In light of the New Year, CES, the rollout of new devices and services, and the constant exchange of rumors, three major developments for Sprint and Clearwire are worth noting as they continue to increase their already impervious presence in the technology world.

Back in May 2008, Clearwire and Sprint first announced their intent to merge, combining Sprint’s 4G WiMax network (Xohm) with Clearwire’s existing pre-WiMax broadband network. In January 2009, the partnership, dubbed “CLEAR”, unveiled Portland, Oregon as its first WiMax wireless broadband market, allowing customers and businesses access to wireless Internet at broadband speeds. Since its Portland launch, CLEAR has expanded its 4G WiMax network to over twenty-five additional locations in major U.S. cities. Now, at the start of 2010, three new wireless devices and services provided by this dynamite partnership will be making waves.

The first is Sprint’s new Overdrive Router, unveiled at CES in Las Vegas just last week and ready for rollout. The nation’s first 3G/4G Mobile Hotspot by Sierra Wireless, it allows the user to connect up to five Wi-Fi enabled devices to Sprint’s 4G network simultaneously. Through a single connection via Wi-Fi, laptops, gaming devices, cameras and smartphones can all connect to a network that is up to ten times faster than current 3G speeds from any wireless carrier. The Overdrive creates a connection between the Sprint 4G network and virtually all Wi-Fi-enabled electronic devices owned by or available to customers today, leaving no need for consumers or businesses to wait for 4G devices.

“This device delivers the connected lifestyle to our customers in overdrive. The fact that it connects up to five Wi-Fi enabled devices is especially meaningful because at 4G speeds, customers can download and upload more data–gigabytes, not megabytes– in a matter of seconds. The Overdrive on the 4G network is made for the multitude of bandwidth-hungry applications customers want to access wireless, like video streaming. 4G beats 3G for speed and for value,” said Dan Hesse, Sprint CEO.

The Overdrive will be of use at home, in the dorm, on the go, or in a mobile office. A Sprint News release put the reality of this device into perspective –

“At home you can bypass your cable provider and stream HD movies from content distribution providers (Netflix, Blockbuster, etc) right to your TV, connect your Xbox 360 and game real-time with someone located across the globe, move pictures wirelessly from your camera to a digital picture frame and surf the Web on your laptop while streaming Pandora. If you work from a mobile office you can join a  video conference, download large files, conduct a virtual home tour and stay in constant contact with your office via unified communications.”

You get the picture.

A second interesting development involves a rumor of nation-wide WiMax rollout. The catch is that Sprint and Clearwire hope to partner with Wal-Mart, placing base stations in all Wal-Mart stores across the country. However far-fetched this plan may sound, it is a very real possibility given both the great number of stores and the great distances that WiMax would be able to reach – we are talking coast-to-coast WiMax. If this rumor becomes a reality and WiMax rollout occurs, a major perk would include the reduced cost of deployment for Sprint because construction of full base stations and implementation of zoning laws would not be necessary.

A third and final development involves rumors of a WiMax-enabled Android phone finally being confirmed. Sprint recently unveiled the new A9292 from HTC to be launched in 2010, though little is known as to exactly when it will hit the market. Unlike most wireless carriers, Clearwire’s WiMax network is data only, and this lack of a voice component leaves the company with two options – either customers use Clearwire calls via VoIP software or they can use a dual-mode device that offer both WiMax and support for another carrier’s voice network. A company rep reported that the smartphone expected later this year will almost certainly have voice service from Sprint, which is the obvious choice seeing as Sprint owns the majority of Clearwire.

Sprint and Clearwire’s choice to join forces as they make headway in the wireless world has proven to be an extremely successful combination thus far. The addition of new products from such a forward-thinking duo will further serve both the wireless industry and the respective service/product providers themselves. Collaboration, forward thinking, and high-quality products and services are and will be the key to future success for Sprint, Clearwire, and all major technology companies in the marketplace.