HTC ThunderBolt Launch Could Still Be Over a Week Away

Those who are eagerly looking forward to the HTC ThunderBolt are probably starting to feel a bit frustrated, as the launch date for this device, which will be Verizon's first 4G smartphone, apparently keeps slipping backward. The price also keeps moving up.

This model was unveiled early last month, and will offer a high-end feature set: Google Android OS 2.2, a large display, and support for Verizon's nascent LTE network.

Verizon itself has never announced exactly when the ThunderBolt is going to hit store shelves, but it did allow the national retailer Best Buy to start taking pre-orders for it on Feb. 7. This created the expectation that the debut was just around the corner, but, over two weeks later, customers are still waiting.

Unconfirmed reports have given a variety of possible launch dates for the ThunderBolt. Feb. 14 was one of these, and when that day came and went without a launch, the next highlighted date was Feb. 24. The latest report, however, says that this HTC smartphone is going to be introduced on Monday, Feb. 28.

Although this will doubtless leave many potential customers feeling a bit frustrated, these people should remember that when this device was first unveiled at CES, Verizon said it wouldn't be available before March. So even the latest of these potential launch dates is still ahead of Verizon's first estimate.

What's the Problem?
As the launch dates apparently keep slipping, there has been quite a bit of speculation about the reasons why.

Some of this circulates around the ThunderBolt's video chat software. This is going to be provided by Skype, but the current version of this company's app doesn't support video. This feature is being added, but problems with this could have led to delays.

On the other hand, as this will be Verizon's first smartphone with support for its new 4G network, some experts have theorized that the carrier is very carefully testing it to be sure there won't be any wireless networking problems.

Pricing Still a Mystery, Too
Not only is the release date for the HTC ThunderBolt still unknown, but so is the price. This means that people who are putting in pre-orders for this model are having to do so without knowing what they are eventually going to have to pay.

Unconfirmed reports have indicated that Verizon might ask considerably more than the typical price for a high-end smartphone. Rather than $200 with contract, information leaking out of the retailer Best Buy indicates that the price is going to be either $250 or $300 with a two-year contract. 

HTC ThunderBolt Overview
As one of the first smartphones with the 4G standard LTE, the ThunderBolt will offer 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 gave download speeds of 0.6 to 1.6 Mbps and upload speeds of 0.5 to 0.8 Mbps. 

Aside from this, though, the device 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.

This starts with a 4.3-inch WVGA screen set in a bar shape with a kickstand on the back.

This model from HTC is going 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.

As mentioned earlier, it will have a front-facing camera and support for video conferencing.

Source