HTC Thunderbolt Release Date

[Anthony Is So Fly]

A few questions and comments from an excited, hopefully soon to be, one day or another...T bolt user.

1. Can the bolt be used without the 4G/LTE sim card? If so...that's their claw. If it can be used as a phone and data device on 3G without the SIM, they can sell/market it another way. If not...they've got a fight on their hands if they're going to charge a premium for LTE service in non-LTE areas.
2. I think they should grandfather unlimited data on the TBolt for two reasons. One, it'll give those who've been waiting for it a long time something to feel good about...and two, it'll give them a little better grasp on how much load/strain will be put on the network. A few LTE modems/USB cards out there do not put the strain/load on the network like thousands upon thousands of phones will. Or...for any original T Bolt owner, a soft cap after 5GB of data a month. You can have unlimited and full bandwidth up to 5GB, then it ratchets down speeds.

They will make more customers happy who have waited for this device and want to experience LTE first hand by giving in just a little.

Keep this LTE policy in place for 30 days upon the launch of the first LTE phone. Give the others a chance to get a phone to market in that same time frame to grandfather others users in....

I don't think it could run without the sim card if I remember what the guy from the wirefly video said :/

but I definitely agree with you on this


I also agree with Ilikemymoneygreen on this, it would be stupid not to sell a flagship unit nationwide ... that's discrimination! lol but also why not make an extra buck by selling it to everyone and let them keep their 3G unlimited data plan. *fingers crossed*

I don't agree with traveling to a 4G area, are you insane!? have you SEEN gas prices?! I think there is seriously one 4G area in Va and I'm definitely not driving hours to go use it

@It's Twix and also if you don't even have 3G in your area from Verizon what do you do? YOU SWITCH CARRIERS! , noone's that stupid to pay for something you don't have yet, especially 3G -->which in turn means Verizon loses customers/money

yes, my friend did pay for 4G(wimax) with sprint but he had access to 4G within the first couple months of it coming out so it didn't really make a difference

on the other hand, LTE takes time to roll out hince the project has been going on since '07

I agree with the toggle, I can turn on wifi/bluetooth/phone on my omnia so why would it be any different with 3G/4G with 4G handsets?

plus my friend's evo and girlfriend's epic have the feature, verizon would want to keep up with the competition yes?

 

[Its TwiX]

@It's Twix and also if you don't even have 3G in your area from Verizon what do you do? YOU SWITCH CARRIERS! , noone's that stupid to pay for something you don't have yet, especially 3G -->which in turn means Verizon loses customers/money

It's not literal...Pretty simple to understand. I have 3G. I was making a comparison. If you don't have 3G in your area, don't buy a 3G phone. If you don't have 4G in your area (and don't travel to a 4G area), don't buy a 4G phone.

Verizon won't cater to anyone just because you don't have 4G in your area.

If you want good 4G, switching carriers won't do much. The only other 4G as in 2 seperate antennas for 3G and 4G, is WiMax. And yeah... nuff said.

If the phone comes without 4G toggle (highly doubt it), developers will create one. Shouldn't be something you should worry about too much. There's probably 3 or more toggle apps you can use for the EVO and it already has a 4G toggle.

 

[cereal killer]

Comparisons to the Evo's toggle are null and void. Evo is not over a true 4G newtwork. WiMax is a whole other animal.

I don't know the tech behind these LTE devices but I would assume it defaults to whatever is available at the time thus the lte sim card. No toggle. I could be wrong but it just makes sense to default to LTE or 3G when in those areas. Toggle would be a pain and inconvenient.

Sent from my Droid

 

[pc747]

@It's Twix and also if you don't even have 3G in your area from Verizon what do you do? YOU SWITCH CARRIERS! , noone's that stupid to pay for something you don't have yet, especially 3G -->which in turn means Verizon loses customers/money

It's not literal...Pretty simple to understand. I have 3G. I was making a comparison. If you don't have 3G in your area, don't buy a 3G phone. If you don't have 4G in your area (and don't travel to a 4G area), don't buy a 4G phone.

Verizon won't cater to anyone just because you don't have 4G in your area.

If you want good 4G, switching carriers won't do much. The only other 4G as in 2 seperate antennas for 3G and 4G, is WiMax. And yeah... nuff said.

If the phone comes without 4G toggle (highly doubt it), developers will create one. Shouldn't be something you should worry about too much. There's probably 3 or more toggle apps you can use for the EVO and it already has a 4G toggle.

Even if you have 4g in your area or you dont. Some people, like myself, will buy an LTE phone for when I do go in an LTE area. If I am in an LTE are I do not need LTE on all the time because 3g works just fine and fast enough for me. You are not going to want to have lte running the entire time because that speed will kill that battery. The evo is experiencing the same issues and they have a bigger battery. That is why I think vzw is going to tier their lte so if you do not use it as much you can get a cheaper plan. But I expect them to make lte phone purchase an lte plan.

 

[hogowner]

Not sure if this was posted yet....


HTC ThunderBolt 4G Smartphone Might Debut from Verizon this Week

 

[rage151]

Comparisons to the Evo's toggle are null and void. Evo is not over a true 4G newtwork. WiMax is a whole other animal.

I don't know the tech behind these LTE devices but I would assume it defaults to whatever is available at the time thus the lte sim card. No toggle. I could be wrong but it just makes sense to default to LTE or 3G when in those areas. Toggle would be a pain and inconvenient.

Sent from my Droid

I understand what you're saying, CK. But to be clear, WIMAX is not the only one that isn't a 4g network.

Will the real 4G please stand up? | Signal Strength - CNET News

 

[Anthony Is So Fly]

@It's Twix and also if you don't even have 3G in your area from Verizon what do you do? YOU SWITCH CARRIERS! , noone's that stupid to pay for something you don't have yet, especially 3G -->which in turn means Verizon loses customers/money

It's not literal...Pretty simple to understand. I have 3G. I was making a comparison. If you don't have 3G in your area, don't buy a 3G phone. If you don't have 4G in your area (and don't travel to a 4G area), don't buy a 4G phone.

Verizon won't cater to anyone just because you don't have 4G in your area.

If you want good 4G, switching carriers won't do much. The only other 4G as in 2 seperate antennas for 3G and 4G, is WiMax. And yeah... nuff said.

If the phone comes without 4G toggle (highly doubt it), developers will create one. Shouldn't be something you should worry about too much. There's probably 3 or more toggle apps you can use for the EVO and it already has a 4G toggle.

true true, I guess I'm just pissed that I waited for the "HTC Incredible HD" ---> and then this blunderbolt came into play and now I've been waiting forever to get something new and still nothing has come out

I guess I'll probably just wait for the Incredible 2 if I have to pay for 4G *sigh* at least it has a front facing camera and bigger screen dancedroid

 

[UNC]

OK after reading the above posts. If I get a 4g phone and I already have the unlimited data plan then as I see it, there shouldn't be any changes. Because the plan doesn't say unlimited 3g, 1X or anything else. It is unlimited data! Right?

You're paying for unlimited data over a 3G network. You will pay tiered pricing for using data over their LTE network GUARANTEED.

This blows lol. So what youre saying CK is even though there is no LTE in 96% of their coverage area, they are going to upcharge anyone who desires this phone? My area wont even have LTE until late next year, so for me, I would literally being charged a premium for a service that I cannot use. Is this a correct assumption?

Remember when 3g came out? It wasn't (and still isn't) available everywhere, yet if you buy a 3g phone you must have a 3g plan... I don't see why everyone is crying foul over paying for 4g. If your area doesn't have LTE why would you even want the TB? A better bet would be to wait until 4g is available for you, and then buy the best LTE phone available. If LTE isn't available for you, just wait a couple of weeks and get the PSphone...

 

[UNC]

Comparisons to the Evo's toggle are null and void. Evo is not over a true 4G newtwork. WiMax is a whole other animal.

I don't know the tech behind these LTE devices but I would assume it defaults to whatever is available at the time thus the lte sim card. No toggle. I could be wrong but it just makes sense to default to LTE or 3G when in those areas. Toggle would be a pain and inconvenient.

Sent from my Droid

CK the EVO has a 4g toggle because WiMax (and LTE from my understanding) KILLS your battery. They added the toggle to the EVO because of the battery complaints. If its not on the TB I can see many angry consumers on the horizon!!!

I honestly think the reason it hasn't rolled out yet is twofold A) changing the print ads to remove Skype as an out of box feature and B) trying to get an OTA patch readied to add the 4g toggle.

 

[kodiak799]

I think he meant by the end of 2013...its 2011. Still got a couple years till that planned 2/3 is in effect. He states it funny but "By the end of 2011, they are expecting to be in at least 140 markets and covering 2/3 of the U.S. once 2013 finishes up." so that makes me think they are upgrading now, and in 2013 thats when they will be at 2/3. Thats how i'm reading this at least....

He does have some sort of grammatical error there, but I believe the current 3G footprint is supposed to be converted by the end of 2013. So it makes sense that the 2/3 number is after 140 markets have it (the initial 38 markets covered 1/3 the market, so stands to reason the next 100 will be another 1/3).

 

[EgooEspada]

I'm positive you can turn 4G on/off. Will HTC include a way to toggle

Sent from my Droid

 

[EgooEspada]

I'm positive you can turn 4G on/off. Will HTC include a way to toggle it is a different story though. I would hope so.


Sent from my Droid

 

[jkhonea]

If they don't I am also certain seeing widgets you can add on your own that does this.

 

[Horst3]

Anyone have an idea when the DInc2 is supposed to show up? I'm trying to decide between that and the TB.

 

[kodiak799]

In any case, all of this is just speculation about the cost, as we don't know yet what the 4G pricing will be.

Yeah, everyone is freaking out over being "gouged" even though prices have not been announced.

Also, it's pretty clear when they move to tiered pricing it's going to apply to 3G as well. They said point-blank that they only extended unlimited 3G data to lure IPhone customers from AT&T.

Sprint no longer charges a premium for 4G - or more accurately I believe they now charge the extra $10 for all smartphones. They're 3G mobile broadband plan is $60 for 5gigs ($10 more than VZW) while their 4G mobile broadband plan is $50 for unlimited.

VZW kept their plans basically the same for LTE mobile broadband (1 or 2 were actually cheaper).

LTE plans are going to be capped, and that appears it will apply to 3G as well. So when you sign your next 2 year contract for a subsidized phone, more than likely you'll lose 3G unlimited as well. All signs point to a 2-5gig plan for $30, and that's going to be the same price for LTE or 3G (they will get you for $50-$100 more for the LTE phone).

VZW has also talked about speed tiers, so in the future top LTE speeds may cost you more. But I think the worst case scenario is people will lose unlimited data (data the vast majority don't use) but gain a little better speed for the same price.

There's just no evidence, based on VZW mobile broadband plans and competitor pricing, that LTE is going to cost you $40-$45 for 2 gigs. They're getting you on the price of the phone - 3G phones will be cheaper so that's your difference in cost.