Verizon Hints that the HTC ThunderBolt Is Coming Soon

When the HTC ThunderBolt was unveiled at CES, Verizon said it wouldn't be on the market for a couple of months. The wireless carrier has now suggested that the launch is going to be sooner than that.

This Android OS model is going to be one of Verizon's first 4G devices, and when this group was announced early last month, the carrier said none would be on the market before March.

Today, however, the following Tweet went out from @VerizonWireless:

Many have waited for the Verizon #iPhone. Some looking for the #4G #LTE HTC #Thunderbolt. May be sooner than we expected!

This is in-line with unconfirmed reports based on information that has leaked out of this carrier which indicates that the HTC ThunderBolt is going to launch on Feb. 14.

HTC ThunderBolt Overview
As one of the world's first phones with the 4G standard LTE, this HTC model is expected to provide data transfer speeds of 5 to 12 Mbps for downloads and 2 to 5 Mbps upload speeds under real world conditions. For comparison, tests on this carrier's current 3G network give download speeds of 0.6 to 1.6 Mbps and upload speeds of 0.5 to 0.8 Mbps. 

Aside from this, though, the ThunderBolt isn't going to be a huge jump above high-end smartphones that were released last year. It is still going to be fully-packed with features, though.

It will offer a 4.3-inch WVGA screen in a tablet shape with a kickstand on the back.

This device from HTC is gong to run Google's Android OS 2.2 (Froyo) with HTC's Sense overlay on a 1 GHz processor. It won't have a significant amount of internal storage capacity, but will have a microSD card slot with a bundled 32 GB card.

Other features are going to include Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, a digital compass, GPS, a proximity sensor, and a G-sensor.

It will have a front-facing camera and support for video conferencing. This will eventually be supplied by Skype, but this app might not be included when the HTC ThunderBolt first ships.

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