In an announcement which sent excitement all around, Sprint-Nextel Corp., has confirmed that it is launching its first ever netbook and expanding the coverage of its WiMax network.

The Sprint netbook being offered is the new Dell Inspiron Mini 10. Initially starting sales in the San Francisco area only, the netbook will be priced at $199.99 and come with a two-year mobile data service contract and a mail-in rebate of $100. Reported average download and upload speeds are 600Kbit/second and 1.4Mbit/second and 350Kbit/second and 500Kbit/second, respectively.

As for the second good news by Sprint, WiMax coverage has been expanded by the firm to cover 10 new cities. Most notable out of the newly covered areas are Chicago, Dallas and Charlotte. In future, WiMax is expected to be expanded to other major cities including Honolulu, Philadelphia and Seattle.

The netbook and WiMax news have taken the focus of gadget junkies away from Apple and the likes for some time and put Sprint at the forefront. For the coming year, the company has many new plans, launches and expansions up its sleeve.