AT&T has stayed relatively quiet about its LTE network, but today the company was full of 4G talk. CEO Ralph de la Vega spoke at great length about the company’s 4G plans, and even said that they’re starting to accelerate deployment of the network.
According to de la Vegas, AT&T will be speeding up its LTE deployment, which is now scheduled to launch later this year and be completely deployed by 2013. The company is all but done deploying its HSPA+ network. Of course, what would a 4G network be without phones that utilize those next generation speeds? De la Vega says there’s 20 4G devices set for launch in 2011, and among them will be the first LTE tablets.
As far as 4G phones are concerned there’s a few interesting ones on the way. The Motorola ATRIX 4G, which will pack a 1GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, HTML5 support, and a laptop dock that will turn the phone into a full blown notebook; the HTC Inspire, which boasts a 4.3-inch display, Android 2.2, "physical location awareness" that makes the phone ring louder when in a bag or pocket, and HTML support; and the Samsung Infuse, AT&T’s thinnest smartphone, which will sport a 4.5-inch Super-AMOLED Plus display, Android 2.2, 8-megapixel camera and HTML 5 support.
The company’s first tablet will be a 10.1-incher from Motorola and will run the as yet unreleased Android Honeycomb OS.
Interestingly enough, it seems de la Vegas may have accidentally let something slip about the newest iPhone. According to Boy Genius Report, the CEO included Apple in his list of manufacturers scheduled to lanch 4G devices this year. However, AT&T contacted BGR to clarify that his mention of Apple had nothing to do with a new iPhone. “Apparently the ‘4G’ mentioned alongside de la Vega’s mention of Apple did not refer to LTE ‘4G’.” writes Zach Epstein. No word on what it did refer to but we're guessing with the pattern of iPhone launches Apple is trying to do some damage control to prevent any iPhone leaks.
Read more about de la Vega’s keynote on BGR.
