HTC Cripples GSM On Sprint’s Touch Pro II To Pass FCC

Remember back a couple of weeks ago when we reported that HTC was dropping the Rhodium, aka the Touch Pro II in on Telus? One of the surprises was that it would be the World Edition having both CDMA and GSM modes included. Now it appears that the Sprint Version of the Touch Pro II that we reported yesterday will definitely have the Dual Mode World Edition Feature, but have the GSM Mode disabled by firmware.

While this is a bummer and not unexpected for our US Carriers, there is some good news. The good news is that the hardware is included and that it is firmware locking out the GSM mode on the Sprint TP2. It would not surprise me if someone at PPCGeeks or XDA Developers had the firmware cracked within days of the release of the TP2. I will say that from a few conversations with XDA Legend Olipro, who has been supplying us with CID/Security/SIM Unlockers for a long time time that HTC continues to step up their security to prevent unlocking their devices. We’ll just have to wait and see, but the safe money is on the guys like Olipro to unlock the Dual Mode CDMA and GSM goodness for us. And I’ll be the first one in line to buy them a “cup” of coffee!

More to come so stay tuned!