With companies pushing 4G, it’s no surprise that HTC is making sure that their label gets planted on as many devices, on every carrier they can. With that in mind, the company has officially unveiled the brand new HTC Inspire 4G, which, as you can imagine, will be able to access AT&T’s 4G network when it launches a little later this year. HTC managed to focus on more than just the 4G tech, though, and put a few extra features inside for good measure.
The HTC Inspire will be the first device from HTC in North America that will feature HTC’s New Sense User Interface (UI), which will add plenty of features, like more customization, to the proprietary skin over Android 2.2. With the new Sense, you’ll also be able to use GPS to find a lost phone, as well as use cloud services to back up your text messages. There’s an 8MP camera on the back of the device, with a unibody aluminum design for the chassis. Under the hood, you’ll find a 1GHz processor.
Pricing hasn’t been finalized yet, and the release date is tentatively scheduled for some time in the first quarter of 2011.
Press Release
AT&T Announces Plans to Deliver Nation’s Most Advanced Mobile Broadband Experience
Nation’s Fastest Mobile Broadband Network Getting Faster with 4G; Accelerates LTE network build — to be largely complete by YE 2013. Completes HSPA+ deployment to virtually 100% of network, enabling 4G speeds with expanded backhaul; widens lead in smartphones & devices — 20 4G devices planned for 2011, including industry-leading Android lineup; expands lead in Mobile Apps with new initiatives to speed collaboration, development.
Las Vegas, Nevada, January 05, 2011
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AT&T* today said it is building the nation’s most advanced mobile broadband experience by pursuing three key initiatives:
NETWORK: AT&T operates the nation’s fastest mobile broadband network today, and it’s getting faster in 2011 with 4G. AT&T is the only U.S. company committed to delivering 4G using both HSPA+ and LTE technologies – providing a faster and more consistent experience for customers. The company announced plans today to accelerate its LTE network build, to be largely complete by yearend 2013; AT&T plans to begin its launch of LTE service in mid 2011. Additionally, the company said it has completed its deployment of HSPA+ to virtually 100 percent of its mobile broadband network which enables 4G speeds when combined with Ethernet or fiber backhaul. The company is rapidly expanding Ethernet and fiber to cell sites nationwide — adding new cell sites weekly — and by yearend, expects that nearly two-thirds of its mobile broadband traffic will be on expanded backhaul.
Today, AT&T is already seeing 4G speeds on its existing HSPA+ network with enhanced backhaul in areas of key markets. In these areas, AT&T is seeing network speeds up to approximately 6 Mbps** — and expects these speeds will increase as it accelerates its LTE build and further deploys expanded backhaul.
SMARTPHONES & DEVICES: AT&T is the leader in smartphones and devices, and expects to widen that lead in 2011. The company plans to introduce 20 4G devices by the end of the year, some on an exclusive basis. The company today announced a new commitment to deliver an industry-leading Android portfolio, including more than 12 new Android devices in 2011. AT&T expects to offer two 4G smartphones in the first quarter which will join its two existing 4G-compatible laptop cards, available since last fall. AT&T plans to offer five to seven 4G devices in its lineup in the first half of 2011.
APPLICATIONS: AT&T provides its customers access to more mobile applications than any other carrier. In 2011, the company plans to expand its leadership in apps with new initiatives to speed collaboration with apps developers and further open AT&T’s network capabilities to the development community.
” The key to delivering a true 4G experience is to have the combination of network, devices and applications, which together will give our customers the best and most advanced mobile broadband experience — today and tomorrow,” said Randall Stephenson, AT&T chairman and CEO. “Recent tax law incentives, along with other policy developments, have allowed us to accelerate the capital investment — beginning in 2011 — to largely complete our LTE network build by the end of 2013. This will not only benefit our customers, but will, we hope, benefit the economy as a whole.”
Nation’s fastest mobile broadband network getting faster with 4G
Ralph de la Vega, president and CEO of AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets, said AT&T has the nation’s fastest mobile broadband network today, according to independent expert testing, and its network roadmap will distinguish AT&T as the industry moves towards 4G/LTE technology over the next several years. He spoke at AT&T’s Developer Summit, held annually in conjunction with the 2011 International Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas.
“AT&T is the only U.S. company committed to both HSPA+ and LTE technologies,” said de la Vega. “Today our customers are benefitting as we repeatedly increase speeds on our mobile broadband network. As we accelerate our LTE network build, our customers will have blazing fast LTE speeds and when they go off LTE, they will still have faster mobile broadband speeds with HSPA+ — something our competitors will not be able to match.”
Additional information available at www.att.com/network (website available after 10 a.m., PT on Jan. 5)
Industry-leading device portfolio expands with powerful 4G devices
On the device front, de la Vega said AT&T plans to offer 20 4G devices in 2011. In the first half of 2011, AT&T plans to feature a best-in-class portfolio of HSPA+ devices; in the second half of the year, it plans to also add LTE devices, including a leading collection of smartphones, tablets, modems and mobile hotspots.
“Today we are the clear leader when it comes to offering the most extensive line-up of handsets and devices,” he said. “We plan to strengthen our portfolio with powerful 4G devices and a major new commitment to offer an industry-leading portfolio of Android devices.”
“The upcoming lineup of 4G Android smartphones from AT&T is truly cutting-edge,” said Andy Rubin, vice president of Engineering at Google. “These devices coupled with the recent deployment of carrier billing as an Android Market purchase option for AT&T customers
are great examples of AT&T’s commitment to smartphone leadership.”
With over 100,000 applications available in Android Market plus carrier billing, AT&T customers can more easily shop for the latest apps for Android smartphones.
The Motorola ATRIX™ 4G Android 2.2 smartphone will be offered exclusively by AT&T and is the world’s most powerful smartphone. Featuring a 1 GHz dual-core processor, ATRIX 4G delivers a remarkable combination of application processing power, 4G network speed and a high-resolution qHD display. It will be complemented by breakthrough accessories that include a revolutionary, super-thin laptop dock — for which ATRIX 4G is the “engine” — and an HD media dock that uses ATRIX 4G’s HDMI video output capabilities and processing power to enable a revolutionary browsing, application and media experience. For more information, visit www.att.com/atrix4G (website available after 10 a.m. PT on Jan. 5). This device is slated for launch in the first quarter of 2011, only for AT&T customers.
The HTC Inspire™4G is a stunning, 4.3-inch super LCD smartphone running on Android 2.2 smartphone and the first in North America to feature the next-generation HTC Sense™ platform with cloud services. The new Sense platform can pinpoint on a map a lost phone, send a command to sound an alert on the handset, and remotely wipe the phone’s data with a single command through http://www.htcsense.com/. Inspire 4G also delivers an 8-megapixel camera and a HD video recorder. The HTC Inspire 4G will include a 1 GHZ processor, while also boasting a premium, aluminum unibody design. For more information, visit www.att.com/inspire4G (website available after 10 a.m., PT on Jan. 5). This device is slated for launch in the first quarter of 2011, only for AT&T customers.
The Samsung Infuse™ 4G will be the thinnest Android device and feature the largest screen — at 4.5 inches — in AT&T’s smartphone lineup. The device delivers a brilliant display using Samsung’s next-generation Super AMOLED™ Plus technology which features 50% more sub-pixels for better contrast and outdoor readability. The Infuse will be powered by a 1.2 GHz application processor and run the Android 2.2 platform. This device is slated for launch in the second quarter of 2011, only for AT&T customers.
< 4G Tablets – AT&T plans to launch two 4G tablets, including its first LTE tablet, by mid summer. Additional LTE tablets are planned for the second half of 2011.
Additional device specifications and images are available at www.att.com/ces-news.
AT&T’s Mobile Apps Initiatives deepen relationship with developers, speed collaboration, innovation
AT&T also announced that it is building on its leadership in mobile applications by expanding collaboration opportunities with the development community — with a focus on speeding innovation to customers.
A leader in the application development community said AT&T’s strategy makes sense: “AT&T is moving quickly to open its network to developers in unprecedented ways,” said Sam Ramji, vice president of strategy for Apigee. “Our work with AT&T will give developers easy access to network capabilities and billing tools. AT&T’s commitment to working with the developer community makes the company a leading platform for innovators.”
AT&T CTO John Donovan said AT&T, in collaboration with others, is investing $70 million to build three innovation centers worldwide – an effort considered unprecedented in working with the app developer community. He said the first center is planned to open in the first quarter near Dallas. The other two – in Silicon Valley and near Tel Aviv – are slated to open later this year. The centers are designed to foster collaboration and improve project cycle time from idea to market by threefold.
David Christopher, CMO, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets, announced plans for a series of apps initiatives including:
A renewed commitment to providing more “Apps for All’’ by utilizing Brew Mobile Platform on all of its new quick messaging phones – which a sizeable segment of consumers who aren’t ready for smartphones rely on today. AT&T announced plans for the first of these popular devices — the HTC Freestyle, available next month — and said it planned to introduce five additional new quick messaging phones this year. By installing Brew Mobile Platform across quick messaging phones, which traditionally have had operating systems specific to each device maker, developers can write an application once and be able to offer it to all Brew Mobile Platform based phones from AT&T. AT&T also announced that America Movil and Rogers Wireless have agreed to use Brew Mobile Platform, giving developers access to customers throughout the Americas.
An opportunity for developers to apply to join a new Alpha Program for developing apps for AT&T’s award-winning U-verse® TV – allowing selected developers to collaborate with AT&T to influence the way in which mobile, Web and PC-based apps can be created and integrated in homes with U-verse services (www.developer.att.com/u-versealpha). At the event, AT&T’s Peter Hill, VP of ecosystem and innovation, demonstrated how U-verse Mobile Application Development Technology can effectively enable a mobile device to interactively share media, content and apps with the TV. This technology could lead to the creation of apps that enable AT&T customers to shop, vote and play games via their wireless devices and TVs.
Plans to go live in March with a Beta program for an HTML5 development toolkit for AT&T devices (www.developer.att.com/HTML5). HTML5 enables developers to create apps that work on multiple operating systems instead of just one – which is frequently the case today – and will spur app proliferation. By the second half of this year, AT&T expects the majority of its new smartphones and a number of quick messaging phones will support current HTML5 standards. AT&T is a founding member of the Wholesale Applications Community, or WAC, and HTML5 is at the core of the community’s 2.0 specifications.
A first-of-a-kind agreement with Open Feint that makes AT&T the first and only U.S. carrier to offer a social gaming platform that can work across wireless networks. The agreement opens API’s for the popular Open Feint social gaming platform for AT&T smartphones, and the SDK is available at no charge on the AT&T Developer Program web site for Android developers (www.developer.att.com/gaming). Open Feint allows developers to tap into a social gaming engine to build games that allow a user to compare scores, challenge each other and even compete head to head — capabilities that can be costly to build independently.
More information on AT&T’s developer program is available at http://www.developer.att.com/. For additional information on today’s announcements, please visit www.att.com/ces-news.
*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.
**4G speeds delivered by HSPA+ with enhanced backhaul. Will be available in limited areas. Availability increasing with ongoing backhaul deployment. Actual speeds experience will vary and depend on several factors include device, location, capacity, facilities, and other conditions. Android is a trademark of Google, Inc.
About AT&T
AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) is a premier communications holding company. Its subsidiaries and affiliates – AT&T operating companies – are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and around the world. With a powerful array of network resources that includes the nation’s fastest mobile broadband network, AT&T is a leading provider of wireless, Wi-Fi, high speed Internet and voice services. A leader in mobile broadband, AT&T also offers the best wireless coverage worldwide, offering the most wireless phones that work in the most countries. It also offers advanced TV services under the AT&T U-verse® and AT&T | DIRECTV brands. The company’s suite of IP-based business communications services is one of the most advanced in the world. In domestic markets, AT&T Advertising Solutions and AT&T Interactive are known for their leadership in local search and advertising. In 2010, AT&T again ranked among the 50 Most Admired Companies by FORTUNE® magazine.
Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at http://www.att.com. This AT&T news release and other announcements are available at http://www.att.com/newsroom and as part of an RSS feed at www.att.com/rss. Or follow our news on Twitter at @ATT. Find us on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/ATT to discover more about our consumer and wireless services or at www.Facebook.com//ATTSmallBiz to discover more about our small business services.
Cautionary Language Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
Information set forth in this press release contains financial estimates and other forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results might differ materially. A discussion of factors that may affect future results is contained in AT&T’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. AT&T disclaims any obligation to update and revise statements contained in this news release based on new information or otherwise.
We’ll warn you that we have nothing but the word of an alleged Sprint employee that this is the real deal, but we don’t know what else it could be — if it walks like a duck and quacks like an EVO with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, we’re inclined to believe it’s the HTC EVO Shift 4G. Factor in the noticeable lack of front-facing camera, silver trackpad and those throwback flat keys, and we’re even willing to forgive those hastily penciled watermarks on the keyboard and on top of the clearly ‘shopped screen. Even if this shot is legit, we haven’t seen the full device yet — it sure looks like this Knight is wearing a suit of plastic armor around the edges.
In possibly related news, Android Central nabbed an alleged screenshot of a Sprint database showing an “HTC A7373″ handset coming to Sprint on January 9th, and while one Russian e-tailer seems to think that codename refers to the GSM-friendly Desire Z, we have to imagine a Knight / Speedy / EVO Shift release is far more likely than a T-Mobile G2 redux on Sprint’s CDMA frequencies.
Update: Just to be clear, there are a few things about this image that irk us, not least of which that pasted-on screen. We’re inclined to think this might be a dummy unit that was touched up to look like a real phone.
We’ll warn you that we have nothing but the word of an alleged Sprint employee that this is the real deal, but we don’t know what else it could be — if it walks like a duck and quacks like an EVO with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, we’re inclined to believe it’s the HTC EVO Shift 4G. Factor in the noticeable lack of front-facing camera, silver trackpad and those throwback flat keys, and we’re even willing to forgive those hastily penciled watermarks on the keyboard and on top of the clearly ‘shopped screen. Even if this shot is legit, we haven’t seen the full device yet — it sure looks like this Knight is wearing a suit of plastic armor around the edges.
In possibly related news, Android Central nabbed an alleged screenshot of a Sprint database showing an “HTC A7373″ handset coming to Sprint on January 9th, and while one Russian e-tailer seems to think that codename refers to the GSM-friendly Desire Z, we have to imagine a Knight / Speedy / EVO Shift release is far more likely than a T-Mobile G2 redux on Sprint’s CDMA frequencies.
Update: Just to be clear, there are a few things about this image that irk us, not least of which that pasted-on screen. We’re inclined to think this might be a dummy unit that was touched up to look like a real phone.
HTC’s come a long way since its first ever portrait QWERTY slider phone Blue Angel (O2 xda IIs, Vodafone v1620, Sprint PPC6600, etc.) circa 2004, the legacy of which is carried by the TyTN, Touch Pro, G1, myTouch 3G Slide, and many more sliders albeit in landscape form. The cumulative phone-building expertise leads us to the Desire Z, which is probably better known as the European alter ego of the T-Mobile G2 (which we’ve already reviewed). The difference? As far as hardware goes, the two Androids are practically identical twins; but for software, the AWS-free Desire Z comes tattooed with HTC’s Sense UI, and packs a handful of extra goodies. So will this phone trump its American cousin? Read on to find out.
HTC’s come a long way since its first ever portrait QWERTY slider phone Blue Angel (O2 xda IIs, Vodafone v1620, Sprint PPC6600, etc.) circa 2004, the legacy of which is carried by the TyTN, Touch Pro, G1, myTouch 3G Slide, and many more sliders albeit in landscape form. The cumulative phone-building expertise leads us to the Desire Z, which is probably better known as the European alter ego of the T-Mobile G2 (which we’ve already reviewed). The difference? As far as hardware goes, the two Androids are practically identical twins; but for software, the AWS-free Desire Z comes tattooed with HTC’s Sense UI, and packs a handful of extra goodies. So will this phone trump its American cousin? Read on to find out.
Tonight’s a bit of a phone night, and we really can’t explain why. But, as you know, it happens. But, in any event, welcome to the eve of the rest of the week. In tonight’s edition of The Daily Slash, tucked away in The Best of R3 Media, we’ve got what HTC calls plans for the future of Android and HTC Sense, the coolest ceiling fan in the history of ceiling fans, and the Droid Incredible’s (shocker) been pushed back again. And then in the Dredge ‘Net, scientists have created a ridiculously strong battery, the original Kindle patent spells doom and gloom for the competition, and some lucky Droid X pre-orderers are getting their devices early.
The Best of R3 Media
Android 2.2 Expected for Most HTC Sense-based Devices by Christmas: When it comes to getting updates ready and released for devices, HTC and Motorola are in a pretty high-stakes tie for frustrating their customers the most. But, at least if you take the word of one HTC exec, then it looks like HTC’s got a clamp on Android 2.2 hitting their devices in the future. They actually expect to have all of their devices upgraded and ready to go by Christmas — so that’s not that bad at all. Then again, if you think about the rumors that Google’s all set to announced Android 3.0 around the same time . . . well, then we guess it’s a whole other story. [via Android Community]
Ribbon Ceiling Fans Should Win All of the Awards: We’re not sure how many aesthetic awards are out there, let alone awards for designs or anything else remotely connected to a ceiling fan, but the Ribbon Fan should win them all. It’s not only the coolest looking fan in the history of fans, but apparently the designers expect this bad boy to actually come out in the market some day. We can just hope for soon. And by soon, we mean sooner than that. Like, tomorrow. The helical blades work to push the air throughout the room and not just straight down, and it actually uses less energy, too. So, a win-win for everyone. [via SlashGear]
HTC Droid Incredible Pushed Back into August: If you were someone who pre-ordered the Droid Incredible, then you’ve got this whole “sit and wait” thing down by now. But, if you were thinking that maybe the whole situation had been figured out by now, and you were planning on heading into your local Verizon store and getting your pre-order on, you might want to take a moment and think about it. According to Verizon’s site, the Incredible’s been pushed back to the first week of August, and if we’re going off the past at all, that’s probably a trend that’s not going to stop any time soon. Even if we are hoping. [via PhoneMag]
The Dredge ‘Net
Scientists Create Super Battery: Ever heard of Xenon Difluoride? It’s okay if you haven’t. Basically, on a normal day, it’s just a normal chemical that’s not known for doing much outside of looking good. However, if you were to, say, crush it with the pressure of 1 million times our atmosphere, apparently it does something super. That’s right, it actually becomes a super compound, and thanks to some crazy science, that energy that was used to actually crush the chemical gets stored in its chemical bonds. That results in a ridiculously powerful storage device. Or, if you’re creative enough, a battery. It’s not all that easy to recreate all the time, but right now, the little metal-looking cube is the most powerful non-nuclear storage device ever created. And that’s some pretty unreal, yet fabulous news if you ask us. We can thank the scientists at Washington State’s chemistry lab for this great find, by the way. So, if you’re in the area, might want to buy them a round or two. [via DVICE]
Amazon’s Kindle Patent Finally Accepted: It’s actually been awhile since Amazon put their patent for the design of the Kindle. Actually, it dates back all the way to 2006. And it’s actually general enough that competitors like the nook and Alex could very well be in some for troubled water in the future. You see, Amazon’s patent definitely makes mention of a dual-screen piece of hardware, and if you’ll recall, the nook and Alex flaunt those dual-screens like there’s no tomorrow. Of course, there’s all sorts of reasons that Amazon remained silent when those devices hit store shelves, or were even announced, and we can’t presume to know what they are thinking. What the patents tell us, though, is that Amazon was clearly just looking into the future of eReaders, and they wanted to make sure that they covered their bases for all of the hardware they planned, or ever thought they’d plan on releasing. We’ll see if this gets interesting soon enough. [via CrunchGear]
Some Droid X Pre-Orders Landing in Customer’s Hands: Well, shucks. Good news for those who pulled the trigger on the latest juggernaut Android-based device from Motorola, though. Apparently, some of these 4.3-inch bad boys are actually showing up on people’s doorsteps. And, what’s more interesting about the whole thing, is the fact that the official Droid X Twitter account (@DroidLanding) might actually be telling all those who follow it where, exactly, those are landing. We originally thought it was a scavenger hunt, but considering the similarities of the posts, and where the devices are showing up, it’s a bit too much of a coincidence to overlook. In any event, it looks like Motorola might have a super-sneaky plan up their sleeve, and if that’s the case, then those lucky folks should start thinking the company at large. [via Droid-Landing]
It’s summer. It’s hot. Naturally, everyone wants to lick some frozen dessert in one form or another. Shortly after the Nexus One got its absolutely official Android 2.2 update, HTC has once again leaped out to tell us of its own Froyo offering. The Taiwanese mobile giant has informed Recombu that it’s expecting “several of our 2010 models including Desire, Legend and Wildfire” to join Google’s latest green bot party “beginning in Q3.” We went to the trouble of confirming this with HTC ourselves, and while this isn’t really much of an update from the company’s previous statement in terms of time frame, here’s hoping that at least some of its customers will get the delivery before the summer fiesta ends.
If phones could make babies, then this HTC Wildfire would indubitably be the love child of the Desire and Nexus One. But of course, the humdrum reality is that ’tis just an Android 2.1 replacement for the entry-level Tattoo — same 528MHz Qualcomm MSM7225 processor, 3.2-inch 320 x 240 capacitive LCD touchscreen instead of 2.8-inch resistive, 384MB RAM instead of 256MB, and a 5-megapixel camera instead of 3.2 (although quality matters more, obviously). So can this affordable handset provide enough bang for the buck to satisfy Europeans and Asians? Can the aging processor keep Sense UI well oiled? All will be revealed after the break.
Last time we heard about ExB’s PTPT (pronounced “petite petite”), the software startup was just beginning to show off the basics of its touchscreen interface; since then, the small German company has been polishing up the UI and prepping it for Android phones and tablets. According to the CEO Ramin Assadollah, the company is in talks with a “major hardware manufacturer” that’s planning on skinning its Android products with the incredibly unique software. We got to see PTPT running on an Android 1.6-powered Acer Liquid while at the Netbook Summit, and though it took us a few minutes to understand how the interface worked, it’s definitely interesting and responsive. The input starts with three circular icons representing people, places, and things and then a bar that represents time.
You can simply select an individual person — you can import contacts from a variety of sources, including, Twitter, Facebook, and so on — from the halo that appears, and then drag them up to a specific time to get various updates or e-mails from that person. The custom predictive text keyboard in the e-mail interface was very snappy — it’s also just nice to see a change from the stock Android input. Then, you can drag that person to things to see pictures of them. And just like in the original demo, you can then move the pictures icon to a point on the timeline to see pictures from that time. Though the phone and tablet demos we saw didn’t have widgets on the homescreen, we were assured that they can be added. We promise this is all better explained in the demo video below, so mosey on down after the jump. We’ll be here, wondering what Android devices this software may pop-up on.
Following the Legend, HTC continues its Android 2.1 lineup with the Desire — a gorgeous cousin of the renowned Nexus One. We can trace our drool all the way back to the Desire’s leak in December, but there have been some changes since then that made it slightly less desirable — DivX support and 720p video capture never made it to the final build, but it’s not like the company laid down any official promise on them, right? Anyhow, there’s still plenty to be loved here, namely the speedy 1GHz Snapdragon, the large AMOLED screen, and HTC’s latest revision of Sense UI that we’ve already seen on the Legend. Now, there are probably two questions floating in the minds of our readers: is the Desire worth the extra moola over the Legend? And is it any better than the Nexus One? Let’s all find out together.
Update: commenter NigelL pointed out that HTC will push out DivX support in a future update. Thanks!
