AT&T will finally provide users of its small LTE network its first smartphones that support the standard on Sunday, November 6. The company announced today that those phones will be the HTC Vivid and the Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket. In addition, AT&T will expand the LTE network to four more cities in the US: Boston, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and Athens, Georgia.
Both the HTC Vivid and the Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket sport 4.5" screens, eight megapixel cameras and 16 GB of onboard storage. The HTC Vivid has a 1.2 Ghz dual core processor and will sell for $199.99, while the Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket has a 1.5 Ghz dual core processor and will sell for $249.99.
AT&T"s adoption of the LTE standard for its next wireless network upgrade is welcome news for its subscribers, who have complained for years about dropped calls and generally poor reception. However, Verizon still has the upper hand with its own LTE network. It launched in late 2010 and now can be accessed in well over 100 US cities. AT&T launched its LTE network in September in just five cities, but the Sunday expansion will bring that total to nine metro areas.
With Verizon and AT&T"s LTE networks now growing and Sprint announcing earlier this month it would launch its own LTE network in 2012, the stage is set for the next version of Apple"s iPhone to finally support the faster speeds provided by its wireless carriers in the future.
In the meantime, AT&T has released a very colorful YouTube video that attempts to explain LTE to the masses. It"s basic message? "It"s faster... what more do you want?"
Image via AT&T