Up to five LTE Android handsets by May 2011

May 18, 2010 17:01 GMT  ·  By

Mobile phone carrier Verizon Wireless is gearing up for the commercial launch of its LTE network in the United States, and a few more details on the matter have just emerged into the wild. The company previously announced that it expected for its first LTE-capable handsets to hit the market in the first half of the next year, yet it seems that things should go better than expected.

Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam reportedly stated that the carrier would aim at having “up to five” LTE handsets available one year from now. Moreover, he also named Motorola, LG, HTC, and RIM as the mobile phone makers aiming at helping the operator reach its goal. For the time being, no specific details on what these devices will be capable of are known, but more should be unveiled in the near future.

The news on Verizon's upcoming LTE devices comes from a recent article on Reuters, which also states that Lowell McAdam mentioned that the carrier would plan “for multiple new devices starting with a selection of tablets to compete with Apple Inc's iPad. He plans to sell most of these gadgets, which run on Google Inc's Android software, in the fourth quarter.”

Motorola, Samsung and LG are the companies that might help Verizon in its attempt to offer an iPad competitor to its customers, it seems. The first tablets are expected to run under Google's Android operating system, something reported on not too long ago. According to Engadget, one of these tablets might be the same solution that was spotted at CES in January, with Verizon's branding on it and with an NVIDIA chipset inside.

Verizon Wireless is planning the commercial launch of its upcoming LTE network in a number of 25 to 30 markets during the ongoing year (New York City included), so as to be able to offer connectivity to a number of more than 100 million people. It remains to be seen whether some of these devices will be available at launch or not.