As many of our readers know, we have found the launch and subsequent delays of the HTC ThunderBolt to be fascinating. If we were to recap all the rumors and date changes for the release of ThunderBolt by HTC, it would be a very long book, so let's review the most recent news.
Update 03/15/11 1 - It is official the HTC ThunderBolt will launch on March 17. Read Review of HTC ThunderBolt Tips an' Tricks Why Buy it Now?
We also learned, yesterday, that the Samsung Galaxy S Samsung Stealth 4G LTE with Super AMOLED screens may be released in April, which if you love video may worth waiting for.
The HTC ThunderBolt demo app is now available from Android Market.
Recent leaks suggest that the HTC ThunderBolt will be released next week, most likely on March 10. Best Buy employees have been slipping to bloggers. Last night, we saw the HTC television commercial air in Los Angeles. While surfing the web, we found both Google and Yahoo! ads promoting the HTC ThunderBolt with the term "pre-order." However, when we clicked the link, we were not sent to a pre-order page but to the HTC description page.
The HTC ThunderBolt is a 4G LTE Android 2.2 smartphone with HTC
Sense,
a 4.3-inch touchscreen, 1GHz Snapdragon processor, Skype video calling,
mobile hotspots, GPS, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Other features include a
built-in kickstand, Dolby/SRS surround sound, and DLNA support. It was originally announced at CES in January.
The HTC ThunderBolt is the first 4G LTE smartphone from Verizon Wireless
and it is expected to have "blazing fast" speeds. Someone who attended a
Verizon VIP event reported that unlimited data plans will cost $29.99.
If you are a heavy data user and your contract has expired, now is a
good time to consider signing up for that 4G LTE data plan. Verizon has
been saying for some time that they will end unlimited data plans and
switch to tiered data in the future.
After a spate of price changes, the latest Best Buy Sunday circular ads show the price of the HTC ThunderBolt with a contract to be $299.99. Previous ads showed it at $249.99. Best Buy started taking preorders for the HTC ThunderBolt the first week of February.
There is a neat feature of the ThunderBolt that we have not discussed before. The speakerphone on the Thunderbolt has an auto-speaker function. When you flip the phone over, it will automatically turn on the speaker while you are speaking during a call.
When can we know for sure when the HTC ThunderBolt will be released? There will be a new ad from BestBuy on Sunday, which may shed some more light on the subject, and if Verizon is going to release it next week, they make announcements on Tuesday for Thursday releases. Verizon also reported that it will use tweets and Facebook wall postings to inform customers of a release.
We have changed the HTC ThunderBolt limerick:
The Android ThunderBolt by HTC
Presales promise 4G LTE.
Why is it so late?
Without a release date?
Only Verizon can solve the mystery.
People are waiting but that doesn't mean they don't want the HTC ThunderBolt. One comment on the Verizon Facebook announcement is " I CAN SOOOOOOOOOOOO WAIT! What's worth having, is worth waiting for! IMHO."
Read all the ThunderBolt by HTC news. The HTC ThunderBolt is so popular, it appears in Wireless and Mobile News Top Ten Best Android an' Droid Phones Now an' Later. Verizon Wireless New Products Page.