HTC to Miss Verizon 4G LTE Device Launch

HTC CEO Peter Chou told Mobile World Live during an interview that the company will be releasing 4G LTE-based products, but those products won’t arrive on the market until the second half of 2011. This would mean that the company’s Android and Windows Phone 7 products won’t make it in time to debut with Verizon Wireless’s 4G LTE network in the U.S.

The carrier anticipates that consumer products–smartphones and tablets–that support the 4G network will go live in the U.S. in the first half of 2011, but many anticipate that the smartphones and tablets with 4G LTE will arrive much sooner than that.

Right now, Motorola has a yet unannounced tablet that may be among the first batch of consumer devices to debut on Verizon’s 4G LTE network. That device is codenamed the Motorola Everest, also known as the MOTO PAD and the Motorola Stingray.

One HTC 4G LTE device that’s said to be making its way, at least via constant rumor and Internet chatter, is the HTC Incredible HD.

Chou also mentioned the company’s commitment to support NFC technology in future products. NFC, also known as near-field communications, was recently announced as the hallmark of the Google Nexus S smartphone. NFC technologies is widely believed to be coming to a number of phones and consumer products–including Apple’s iPhone–that will make it easy for devices to communicate with each other and also for use for mobile payment. Like RFID technology, users can wave their NFC-equipped smartphone near an NFC reader