Hasta La Gadget!

Sure, Verizon’s holding a press conference tomorrow, but unless they’ve got a secret LTE smartphone or tablet (we can only hope) we’ve got a fairly good idea what the company will say. We’re hearing Verizon will flip the switch on its LTE network on December 5th, unveil a pair of hot new USB modems to take advantage of those supposedly stellar speeds, and launch the SIM cards required to make LTE function in the first place. The gadgets include the LG VL600 thumbstick we’ve seen before, but also this marvelous-looking Pantech UML290 key, which has not only a slick swiveling case but also a dual-jointed USB port beneath. We doubt we’re going to have any trouble getting this one plugged into even the slimmest of port-abhorring slimline computing machines. See where one of the SIM cards goes in the gallery below.

Update: The populace has spoken, and “sexy” is no more. Shall we call them “transforming” modems, then? They most certainly are.

[Thanks, Anonymous and JT]

Verizon launching LTE on December 5th, two transforming 4G USB modems hitch a wild ride originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Nov 2010 20:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Seems like Sprint wants to get every last lick of 4G coverage in before Verizon flips the switch on LTE — today, its joint venture with Clearwire is launching WiMAX in the City of Angels a day ahead of schedule. Lest you think Los Angeles is getting special treatment, five other cellular markets can now also get a taste of 5Mbps to 7Mbps download speeds, including Miami, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus and our nation’s capitol, Washington D.C. That brings the total number of regions where you’ll get some mileage out of that $10 surcharge up to 68, in case you’re keeping track. What’s next? If the press release after the break is correct, San Francisco will finally satisfy its need for speed on December 28th. Not that any of these locales haven’t been secretly enjoying 4G already, of course.

Continue reading Sprint and Clearwire deliver WiMAX to Los Angeles, Ohio, Miami and Washington DC, promise SF on December 28th

Sprint and Clearwire deliver WiMAX to Los Angeles, Ohio, Miami and Washington DC, promise SF on December 28th originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Nov 2010 01:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

It’s not every day that a new HTC phone with CDMA and WiMAX support swings through the FCC’s labs — so even though we don’t really know what this is, we thought we’d better point it out. Odds are it’ll be headed to Sprint considering the unique combination of technology, and the test report lists it as a “Smart Phone” — Windows Phones from these guys usually say as much, so we’re thinking this is probably Android. The elephant in the room would have to be the Knight / EVO Shift 4G we’ve been hearing about lately… and considering that there are mentions of tests in the “slide off” and “slide right” configurations, we wouldn’t doubt this is it. Any crazy theories out there?

HTC phone with CDMA and WiMAX hits the FCC: the EVO Shift 4G, perhaps? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Nov 2010 18:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  FCC  | Email this | Comments

Paying for data overage is the new hotness in the wireless biz, and Verizon was the latest to dive head-first into the nasty world of usage-based pricing for its wireless data plans just a few weeks ago. But how about paying for speed instead? Seems both outgoing Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg and CFO Fran Shammo commented today that the company’s shiny new LTE network could support charging different rates depending on the speed subscribers select — just like in the landline internet business — though they wouldn’t commit to implementing such a system just yet. Speaking of LTE, Seidenberg also mentioned that he “expects” Verizon’s first LTE phone to launch in February (likely the LG we saw or HTC’s Mecha, if we had to guess), coming in on the early side of its 1H 2011 plan — and what’s more, he’s saying more LTE-equipped devices will launch than originally anticipated. We certainly won’t complain about that.

On the undying topic of the iPhone, Seidenberg’s basically holding the same line he’s maintained for some time, which is that the companies’ “interests are coming together” and that the phone will come when “Apple thinks it’s time.” The gem, though, is that Seidenberg specifically says that Verizon’s adoption of LTE has attracted Apple’s attention and helped it score the iPad — and seeing how Verizon’s cobbled-together iPad / MiFi bundle doesn’t support LTE, we can only assume it was a peace offering to help the two companies come together and prepare to work together more closely down the road. Question is, just how soon would Apple like to play the LTE card?

Verizon execs propose speed-based pricing for LTE data plans, say LTE has ‘drawn the interest of Apple’ originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Nov 2010 20:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  WSJ  | Email this | Comments

If you weren’t so keen on that LTE-enabled LG handset for Verizon that we saw recently, feat your eyes on this puppy. What we’re looking at here is allegedly the HTC Mecha — which may be known at retail as the Droid Incredible HD — and from the looks of it, it’ll be the first true EVO 4G equivalent from HTC for Big Red. And yes, when we say “EVO 4G equivalent,” we mean 4G network support, too: you’ll notice a little “4G” symbol up there toward the right side of the status bar, suggesting this will likely be among the company’s inaugural LTE phones early next year. Android Central‘s source says that the phone is getting 9Mbps down and 5Mbps up in testing right now… so let’s just hope those speeds hold up when the network actually launches.

HTC Mecha / Incredible HD pictured for Verizon with a fancy ‘4G’ symbol originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Nov 2010 18:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Android Central  | Email this | Comments