Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket, HTC Vivid to be AT&T's first LTE phones
Keeping to its promise of a Q4 release, AT&T announces its first 4G LTE smartphones, the Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket and HTC Vivid.
November 6 is shaping up to be a big day for AT&T, as the carrier will release its first 4G LTE smartphones and expand its LTE network to nine additional markets on that day.
When it comes to devices, customers will be able to choose from the Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket or the HTC Vivid, both of which are compatible with AT&T's HSPA+ and LTE networks and run Android Gingerbread.
The Galaxy S II Skyrocket features a 4.5-inch Super AMOLED Plus (800x480 pixels) touch screen, a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, and 16GB of internal memory, with an expansion slot. It has an 8-megapixel camera capable of 1080p HD video capture and a front-facing 2-megapixel camera. Pricing for the Skyrocket is $249.99 with a two-year contract.
The HTC Vivid costs slightly less. For $199.99 on contract, the smartphone offers a 4.5-inch qHD (540x960 pixels) touch screen a 1.2GHz dual-core processor. It also has an 8-megapixel camera, along with a f2.2 28mm lens for better low-light performance, and 16GB of internal memory with expansion capabilities.
Data plans start at $15 per month for the DataPlus plan, which gets you 200MB of data. You can get an additional 200MB of data for $15. For heavy data users, you can choose the DataPro plan, which offers 2GB of data for $25 per month, with the option to purchase another 1GB of data for $10.
In addition to the smartphones, November 6 will also be the day that AT&T's LTE network will light up in Boston, Washington D.C., Baltimore, and Athens, Ga. AT&T first launched its LTE network on September 18 in five markets--Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio--and plans to reach 15 markets and 70 million Americans by the end of the year.