Best of What's New 2011

Gadgets

Verizon Wireless 4G LTE

The fastest network yet

Gadgets 3 of 11

HTC Thunderbolt, SpeedTested Dan Nosowitz

Verizon’s Long-Term Evolution (LTE) network already reaches half the country with towers that transmit data 10 times as fast as other cellular systems. The network has sufficient bandwidth to transmit large packets of data in solid chunks on pathways dedicated to specific types of information—data has its own “lane,” and so on. For consumers, this means that starting a video stream on any LTE-ready phone or modem takes half the time of most 3G networks. But the implications can be even broader: LTE-enabled broadcast cameras, for example, can send live feeds back to the studio without a satellite hookup.

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Tested

The HTC Thunderbolt is important for one reason: 4G. But that one reason promises to change the way mobile phones are used, the same way that the move from dial-up to broadband at home led to a completely revolutionized computing experience. The Thunderbolt is, on the whole, a really nice phone: it takes proven hardware and taps it into Verizon's ludicrously fast LTE 4G network. But should this be your next smartphone? Well…maybe not. Read more

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GeeWillikers

12/26/11 at 3:56 pm

I wish all the cell phone companies would just convert to IP and be done with it. We could call all around the world for a cost of pennies and digital clarity. This is so long over do.

Computers can do this. Device like net magic and other devices can do this. I just feel this technology is being suppressed from the phone companies, because it will reduce their profit level.

Here is hoping a 3rd party cell phone startup breaks this barrier.