US wireless carrier Sprint recently announced that it will launch its first WiMax mobile handset – the HTC EVO 4G – in the US on June 4. The Android-based handset will be priced at $299 with a two year contract; and will also be available for a reasonable $199 after a mail-in rebate.

Noting that the EVO will be the first phone to use Sprint’s WiMax wireless network, which the carrier has been testing for use in several US cities, Sprint chief executive Dan Hesse: “HTC EVO 4G is a fantastic 3G device, but when you use it in our growing 4G coverage area, it becomes a multimedia powerhouse.”

The HTC EVO boasts some enviable features like a 4.3 inch display; Android 2.1 operating system; and 8GB of removable storage, which further room for up to 32GB.

In addition, the handset, powered by a 1GHZ Qualcomm processor, will also feature two cameras – a front-mounted 1.5-megapixel camera for video chat, and a back-mounted 8-megapixel camera.

With Hesse saying that the 4G experience on EVO can be compared to a shift from “TV to HDTV”; the launch of the EVO will essentially mark Sprint’s first step forward in the brewing face-off between two upcoming high-speed broadband formats – Sprint’s WiMax format and the Long Term Evolution (LTE) format being developed by some other carriers.