Ordinarily this is the type of story we'd save for our weekly
Rumor Recap posts, but this rumor is big enough that we felt it warranted its own post.
Behold:
Pictures of the upcoming HTC Thunderbolt. This device will be the first 4G phone on Verizon (even HTC
admits it). The pictures were obtaind by Droid-Life and very clearly show that this device is headed straight for Verizon's new 4G network. Verizon's network uses LTE technology, which has extremely high theoretical speed capacities. Look for a future post here about the various 4G technologies and how they work.
Any Android nerds no doubt noticed that this device looks nearly identical to the
HTC Desire HD. And indeed, it shares nearly all the same specs as the Desire HD, with the addition of a kickstand and Verizon's 4G frequency, obviously. It is rumored to feature the same 1GHz processor, 4.3" screen, front-facing camera, 8MP rear camera, HDMI-out, and the new version of
HTC Sense.
Be sure to
visit the post on Droid-Life to view all 12 of the leaked pictures. This device is expected to be announced on January 6 at CES.
That looks like a very nice device. HTC fans have been clamoring for a 4.3" model on another carrier for a very long time (the only HTC device that big is the Evo on Sprint), and this certainly fits the bill. It's also the first 4G device for Verizon, and the first LTE device as well. Sure it's on Verizon, and is a standard slate phone with no crazy specs, but it is a definite milestone in many respects, and for that reason, it's very exciting. As for the name, I think it's okay. It sounds a tad cheesy, but it fits perfectly with Verizon's
recent 4G marketing campaign, and we've gotten used to
much worse names, so I think it's fine.
The phone itself is completely unappealing to me. I mean, it definitely looks nice, but that's about it. The LTE thing is a big deal, though. And even though Verizon has been slow getting on the bandwagon with 4G, I think the wait is probably going to pay off for them big time. They're going to be leaving everyone else in the dust in a few years' time. I'm not really looking forward to that, personally, because there's probably no way I would ever switch to Verizon, but it's definitely good for them.
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