Sprint says it will carry HTC and Samsung Windows Phone 8 devices -- by summer 2013

Sprint was the only of the four major carriers to not offer a Windows Phone 8 smartphone in late 2012, but the Now Network today announced that it will indeed join the Windows Phone party. Unfortunately for Sprint subscribers who are fans of the Live Tile-based UI, the carrier isn't promising to deliver a smartphone until the summer.

Sprint and Microsoft jointly issued a press release stating that Sprint has selected HTC and Samsung as the first manufacturers to deliver Windows Phone 8 handsets on Sprint's 4G LTE network. The company failed to share any information about device names or features; in fact, the release spends a great deal of time discussing Sprint's 4G LTE network and its Everything Data Plans, and how the latter is a bargain compared to Verizon.

HTC and Samsung will supply smartphones running Windows Phone 8 later this year. Sprint has not released any solid information on a timetable for the release other than to say that the phones will be available by this summer. That means Sprint may have Windows Phone 8 smartphones available as early as May, but there's no guarantee the company will stick to that release schedule.