14 DAY TRIAL // One of the Android-based mobile phones that wireless carrier Verizon Wireless is expected to launch in the near future is that HTC Merge, a device spotted for the first time a few months ago, but recently rumored to be set for launch as soon as this month.
The mobile phone was spotted in a recently leaked roadmap for the wireless carrier, which confirmed that it would arrive with Google's Android operating system on board, and can be admired now in a leaked user manual.
Just as expected, the user manual confirms that we're looking at a world phone, meaning that HTC Merge should arrive on shelves both with GSM and CDMA connectivity options.
Basically, this would make it a great option for world travelers, and this is exactly what the aforementioned user manual states.
At the same time, the leaked user manual confirms the presence of Bing Microsoft’s Bing solution on this device, which doesn't seem to be as appealing to users as one might have expected.
Verizon and Microsoft partnered last year on mobile search, and many handsets at Big Red came to shelves with Bing services instead of Google's solution, including a series of Android devices, such as the HTC Merge, or the recently released Samsung Fascinate, the carrier's flavor of Galaxy S.
Due to this feature, some suggest that HTC Merge won't be included in Big Red's DROID family of devices, which sports only Google services.
No further specs on this device emerged at the moment, but previous rumors on it did unveil a series of details on its internal circuitry, including the fact that it would boast a 1GHz processor, or that it would come with a touchscreen display backed by a sliding QWERTY keyboard.
If rumors pans out, the Android-based Merge, which was also spotted under the name of Lexikon, would be put on sale sometime during October.
Until more info on this emerges, you should have a look at the leaked user manual for the handset, available courtesy of Droid-Life.
