The Motorola Droid Bionic is Verizon's flagship smartphone on the 4G network. Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com
LAS VEGAS — Just as TV manufacturers have been hawking 3-D TVs with barely any 3-D content to watch, carriers are heavily promoting 4G devices for networks that have spotty coverage at best.
After years of hyping up its fourth-generation cellular network, Verizon on Thursday announced 10 4G devices that will be rolling out this year. AT&T also said this week that it plans to release 20 4G devices by end of 2011.
Both companies have made only initial steps in deploying their 4G networks, so if you buy one of their high-speed devices today, you’ll probably be using it in the slower 3G mode more often than not.
That’s not stopping company executives from making grand pronouncements.
“During this three-year journey, from acquiring spectrum to launch, we not only transformed our network, but also our business,” said Dan Mead, president and CEO of Verizon Wireless. “The result is true magic — the sum of a powerful network, applications, software systems and devices that bring 4G LTE to life.”
It’s probably not going to seem very magical when your brand-new 4G smartphone can’t find a signal.
To date, Sprint is the only carrier that actually has a widespread 4G network. Sprint started deploying its network in 2008, and it currently offers 4G coverage in 70 markets and through 17 4G devices, including phones and netbooks.
AT&T, on the other hand, is only beginning to launch its 4G service, planning to roll it out widely by sometime mid-2011. Verizon just last month started its 4G network in 38 major metropolitan areas. That means for AT&T and Verizon customers, 4G coverage this year will only be available for a few dozen cities.
Succeeding 3G networks, the 4G network operates under a cellular standard called LTE, or Long Term Evolution, that carriers are adopting internationally. (If you haven’t already, read Wired.com’s full explainer on 4G.)
Verizon and rival AT&T both highlighted their 4G networks at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show. Both carriers are promoting flagship Motorola 4G smartphones: the Atrix 4G on AT&T and the Droid Bionic on Verizon. Each smartphone features the brand-new, dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 processor.
Verizon has partnered with manufacturers HTC, LG, Motorola and Samsung to serve smartphones on the 4G network. Additionally, the company is working with Motorola and Samsung to offer 4G tablets.
The rest of Verizon’s 4G lineup includes the Motorola Xoom — a tablet that will ship with Honeycomb, Google’s Android OS modified for tablets. Also, the already-released Samsung Galaxy Tab will work on Verizon’s 4G network, too.
The remaining devices are Android smartphones from LG, HTC and Samsung that include the older 1-GHz Snapdragon processor.
Releasing 10 devices can be considered a punch in the face to AT&T, which only listed three 4G smartphones during CES. However, AT&T did say it expects to have more than 20 4G devices released by the end of 2011.
But no matter how many devices the companies toss into the 4G world, they can’t change the fact that their 4G networks are far from mature.
