MetroPCS and Samsung Release the First LTE phone

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Today, MetroPCS revealed that they would hold their promise to be the first to offer LTE services by releasing the Samsung Craft, the first LTE enabled phone. An interesting note about this launch is that Samsung actually provided the LTE infrastructure, and it is only avaliable in Las Vegas, NV. Omar Khan, chief strategy officer for Samsung Mobile, stated the following in the press release:

“It is extremely gratifying to introduce the Samsung Craft as the world’s first commercially available LTE-enabled handset operating on infrastructure by Samsung as part of the first LTE commercial network and services to be offered in the U.S. The Craft combines 4G speed and a multimedia device packed with full Web, entertainment and productivity features.”

Don't get to excited about this news though. This is not an Android phone as many would have hoped. In fact, its just a BREW-based feature phone. The phone does have a number of decent specs though, with a 3.3 inch AMOLED touchscreen, sliding QWERTY keyboard, WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth, 3.2 megapixel camera, and a microSD card slot (comes with a 2GB card).

The Samsung Craft is avaliable in the Las Vegas area in stores and online for a price of $299 after a $50 instant rebate. However, coverage is restricted to just Las Vegas, and good luck getting any 3G services outside of Dallas and Detroit. However, MetroPCS does say that more LTE covered areas are coming soon, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Dallas, and more.

This exciting news for LTE, as now we finally have a supported device. However, with MetroPCS's coverage, I think I would rather wait until Verizon rolls out their LTE service in the next few months.

AT&T to Roll Out LTE mid-2011

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Following Verizon's announcement, stating that they would be rolling out LTE to 30 cities by the end of 2010, AT&T announced that they are working on their LTE network, and expect it to roll out by mid-2011. That said, don't expect AT&T to be nearly as quick as Verizon in rolling out their network, as they have plans to upgrade their HSPA (3G) network to HSPA+ (3.5G) by the end of the year.

Many people would be happy if AT&T would stick to improving their 3G network though, as it has been a major problem for AT&T in terms of reliability. Even iPhone users complained that their biggest problem was AT&T's spotty network.

AT&T is continually working to improve the network, but how long, if they will ever, will it take for them to catch up to everyone else?

*Note: I apologize to anyone who is offended by the AT&T image above, but you have to admit, its pretty funny in light of AT&T's network troubles.

Verizon to Roll Out LTE Network in 30 Cities in 2010

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Verizon has announced that they will be rolling out their LTE (4G technology) network in 30 cities by the end of the year. To give you an idea of where the service will initially be rolling out, Verizon has said the 30 cities will be   "National Football League Cities". This would be a surprise to those in large cities such as New York and San Francisco, as they typically are skipped in the initial roll out new services, to avoid too much congestion at start up and allow for time to make sure that they network is operating smoothly.

Speeds for Verizon's new LTE network are 5-12 Mbps downstream and 2-5 Mbps upstream. These speeds are significantly higher than current 3G capabilities, in which Verizon is capable of producing less than 2 Mbps downstream. That means that we will see significant differences in the ability of Verizon's network to run quickly.

This all makes the rumor of a Verizon iPhone, expected in Q1 2011, much more interesting. When and if it comes, will if be capable of the 4G speeds of the LTE network?