Mobile phone connections over 3G are like so yesterday. HTC obviously knows this and so has developed what could well be the world’s first WiMax-capable phone.

HTC's T8290 could be it's first WiMax phone

Picture of the handset, said to be called the HTC T829, have leaked out and, unless some good-quality Photoshop trickery’s involved, a series of pictures online show the device connected to a wireless network at 13.8Mb/s.

This is a wireless speed that far surpasses the connection capabilities of HSDPA 3G, which top out at no more than 7.2Mb/s.

13.8Mb/s? Holy smokes!

Various icons on the mysterious HTC device also appear to show it connected to a network called Yota, Russia’s 802.16 WiMax network that – as of early October – covered central Moscow.

Another picture shows how the phone’s WiMax connection can be switched on and off at will.

You can turn WiMax off, you know, if you want

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In addition to WiMax connectivity, the T8290 is also rumoured to be able to connect over 802.11g Wi-Fi networks. Although it would be disappointing if the device couldn’t connect over 802.11n.

The phone’s said to have a 3.8in, 800 x 480 display and sport Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity too.

A launch date or price hasn’t been leaked yet.