14 DAY TRIAL // Officially announced two days ago, the long-awaited HTC Thunderbolt is now available for purchase in Verizon stores and online for $249.99 with a new two-year customer agreement or $599.99 unlocked.
Customers who purchase the HTC Thunderbolt will also need to subscribe to an unlimited 4G LTE data plan which starts at $29.99 per month.
In addition, Verizon has stated that the Mobile Hotspot feature will be activated on May 15 for no additional charge.
Mobile Hotspot allows users to connect up to eight Wi-Fi-enabled devices to the carrier's wireless network via an application that comes pre-loaded with the Thunderbolt.
HTC Thunderbolt is Verizon's first 4G-enabled device and the only one to support simultaneous voice and data over 3G.
Skype, one of the main reasons for the phone's multiple delays, has been removed by the carrier and is not included with the phone after all.
Although the smartphone is not Gingerbread-enabled, HTC may be planning a future software upgrade from Android 2.2 Froyo.
Announced at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, HTC Thunderbolt comes with a large 4.3-inch TFT capacitive touchscreen with 16 million colors support and 480 x 800 pixels resolution.
In terms of hardware, the Thunderbolt is a medium range smartphone, as it features a single 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8655 Snapdragon processor complemented by an Adreno 205 GPU.
The smartphone boasts a rear 8-megapixel camera with autofocus, dual LED flash and camcorder (720p), as well as a front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera for video-calls.
Furthermore, the Thunderbolt is equipped with support for Google Mobile Services, including Gmail, YouTube and Android Market, which offers users access to thousands of free apps.
According to Verizon, the device ships with several 4G LTE optimized apps such as EA’s Rock Band, Gameloft’s Let’s Golf! 2, Tunewiki and Bitbop. Also, the phone's sales package contains a built-in kickstand for easy media viewing.
