Verizon Wireless made a splash when it finally announced the availability of the iPhone on its network. The much-anticipated announcement came two days after the close of the 2011 International CES.
But the iPhone just scratches the service when it comes to new devices from this Tier 1 carrier. Verizon and Motorola Mobility introduced the Motorola XOOM, the first device on Google’s new Android 3.0 Honeycomb OS. Honeycomb is designed specifically for tablets and features a dual-core processor, with each core running at 1GHz, a 10.1in HD display and performance that is upgradeable to 4G LTE in Q2 of this year. The device also features a front-facing, 2-megapixel camera for video chat; a rear-facing, 5-megapixel camera for 720P video capture; Google Maps 5.0; and access to 3 million Google eBooks and a growing number of apps in the Android Market.
At its press conference at CES, Verizon Wireless chief executives introduced the following 10 4G LTE devices that will be available by mid-2011:
In the smart phone category, the HTC Thunderbolt, which is exclusive to Verizon Wireless, features a 4.3in display, 8-megapixel camera and HD video recording. The LG Revolution offers HD support for streaming, playing and recording video; 4.3in touch screen; and mobile hotspot capability to share a 4G connection with up to eight WiFi-enabled devices. The DROID Bionic 4G offers Android with Adobe Flash and HTML5; 4.3in HD screen; and a rear-facing, 8-megapixel camera. The Samsung 4G LTE smart phone features Google Search; Google Maps; Gmail; YouTube; 4.3in Super AMOLED Plus touch screen; HTML5 Web browser; and both a rear-facing, 8-megapixel camera and front-facing, 1.3-megapixel video chat camera.
For 4G LTE tablets, in addition to the XOOM, Samsung launched the 4G LTE-enabled Samsung Galaxy Tab, with its 7in display with 1024 x 600 WSVGA resolution; rear-facing, 5-megapixel camera; and front-facing, 1.3-megapixel camcorder for video chatting.
MiFi and mobile hotspot options come from Novatel with its MiFi 4510L intelligent mobile hotspot and Samsung 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot. For notebooks, the Compaq CQ10-688nr and HP Pavilion dm1-3010nr are 4G LTE-ready.
