Would you look at that. Verizon’s ongoing press conference has been accompanied by the appearance of two 4.3-inch LTE handsets coming to the network. Both HTC’s Thunderbolt and LG’s Revolution were pretty well known in advance, but hey, now we have big luscious high-res pictures to gawk at. The Revolution will come with Android 2.2 preloaded while the Thunderbolt has Skype video calling integrated right into HTC Sense. The latter device also boasts a Super LCD display, 8 megapixel camera with HD video recording, DLNA, Dolby Surround Sound, and the honor of being a Verizon exclusive in the US. Now that the devices have been made official, we also know that the Revolution can stream, play and record HD video, perform video chat with a front-facing camera, and share its 4G connection with up to eight devices through its built-in hotspot functionality. Jump past the break for the full announcement.
Update: Hop on past the break for the Thunderbolt specs, courtesy of our friend Peyton (and HTC).
We just got to spend a few minutes with the HTC Inspire 4G, one of the new AT&T 4G devices announced here at CES. Unfortunately, the particular unit on hand here didn’t have a battery, but since it’s rocking Android 2.2 with Sense, the software experience shouldn’t be too different from HTC’s other offerings. That 3.6 4.3-inch WVGA display eats up most of this slim phone’s facade, and there’s a fairly pronounced lens for that 8 megapixel shooter around back. We actually heard HTC reps chatting about how the software is still not finalized and AT&T needs to sign off, which could be part of the reason no batteries could be found. We’ll do our best to follow up later in the show, but for now feast your eyes on some glorious hardware shots in our gallery below.
Yet another of the many announcements at today’s AT&T Developer Summit, the Inspire 4G is a 4.3-inch monster from HTC that looks ripe to do battle with its counterparts on Sprint and Verizon with the very latest version of Sense first launched on the Desire Z and Desire HD a few months back featuring a lost phone finder, cached maps, fastboot, and more. As with the other “4G” phones that AT&T has announced today, the Inspire 4G doesn’t support the carrier’s upcoming LTE network — it’ll top out with HSPA+. More details as we have them!
HTC’s worst kept secret (this side of the Thunderbolt) has popped up online again, this time as part of some RadioShack promo materials, which list its price, launch date, 4G capabilities, and screen size. Earlier indications had this Android slider launching on January 9th at a $150 price point with a two-year contract and now, lo and behold, both data points seem to have been confirmed. $450 is the price for the EVO Shift 4G sans any carrier obligations, though you’ll probably want to stick with Sprint to make use of that WiMAX radio contained within. Bring on 2011 already!
Certainly seems like Canadian carriers are a good deal more friendly toward launching European handsets than American carriers are, doesn’t it? Motorola’s Milestone and HTC’s Desire Z are both prime examples — and now it looks like another hot HTC, the Desire HD, is on its way. MobileSyrup appears to have scored a shot of a Desire HD running Telus firmware, claiming that it’s currently tracking for release in either January or February — presumably with most or all of the specs that grace its European cousin: 4.3-inch WVGA display, HTCSense.com integration, a 1GHz second-generation Qualcomm Snapdragon core, and 8 megapixel camera, just to name a few luscious spec line items. Unfortunately, the skeptic in us doesn’t think January / February gives either HTC or Telus enough time to turn out a skinner Gingerbread firmware here — but considering what a minor release Gingerbread really is, we’re sure plenty of buyers will be able to overlook the indiscretion (particularly with a little help from xda-developers, if you catch our drift).
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.
Can’t have enough Androids in your life? Well, here’s another one! Alternately known as the Knight or the Speedy, HTC’s upcoming Android device has made a couple of premature photo appearances in an effort to help sell some cases for its future self. The guys at HTCPedia report they have all the cases in their imagery in stock and confidently identify the Speedy Knight as a 3.7-inch QWERTY slider, while the phone’s UI and rear inscription leave no doubt about it running HTC’s Sense skin for Android. The likeliest scenario for this phone’s retail future is that it’ll be dubbed the EVO Shift 4G and exploit Sprint’s WiMAX airwaves, leaving the only unresolved issue as a one-word query: when?
Of course, the fact that a high-end smartphone can be scored for free on a European carrier should come as no surprise to anyone — but in the case of the Desire Z on Vodafone in the UK, you’ll be looking at a minimum monthly spend of £35 (about $55) on a two-year contract if you don’t want to spend anything upfront, scaling up to £199 ($310) for the phone on a £25 ($39) plan. The specs are the same ones that you’ve come to know and love (or hate) — QWERTY keyboard mounted on a crazy hinge, 5 megapixel camera, 3.7-inch SLCD, and access to HTC’s new cloud-based Sense features — so if that gets the hairs on the back of your neck to stand up, run on down to your local Voda shop now and have at it.
Of course, the fact that a high-end smartphone can be scored for free on a European carrier should come as no surprise to anyone — but in the case of the Desire Z on Vodafone in the UK, you’ll be looking at a minimum monthly spend of £35 (about $55) on a two-year contract if you don’t want to spend anything upfront, scaling up to £199 ($310) for the phone on a £25 ($39) plan. The specs are the same ones that you’ve come to know and love (or hate) — QWERTY keyboard mounted on a crazy hinge, 5 megapixel camera, 3.7-inch SLCD, and access to HTC’s new cloud-based Sense features — so if that gets the hairs on the back of your neck to stand up, run on down to your local Voda shop now and have at it.
