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HTC Edge Rumor Roundup: Features, Release Date, Carriers

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Yesterday, we told you about the HTC Ville, one of the smartphones that HTC might be announcing at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) later on this month in Barcelona. Today, we’re going to touch on another, a phone that was once called the HTC Edge but now is apparently called the HTC Endeavor.

And while the HTC Ville is an intriguing device, the HTC Edge figures to be HTC’s biggest announcement at MWC, should it take place.

Why?

Well, you’re just going to have to read on to find out why.

Hardware

The HTC Edge figures to be one of the most intriguing smartphones on 2012. And that’s because it will likely be HTC’s first foray into the world of quad-core. That’s right, the Edge is rumored to be packing a Tegra 3 quad-core processor from NVIDIA. This means that the Edge should feature better performance and better battery life over the dual-core devices in HTC’s lineup.

There are some other juicy features that should be arriving with the HTC Edge as well.

In addition to the quad-core processor, the Edge will supposedly feature a massive 4.7″ 720p HD display, a slim design – remember, HTC is shifting away from bulky phones this year, and Near-Field Communication (NFC) for use with mobile payment platforms like Google Wallet.

It’s also rumored to have a 32GB of on-board storage, microSIM slot, Bluetooth 4.0, a massive 1,800 mAh battery, and Beats Audio.

The HTC Edge also figures to be a HSPA+ device and not a 4G LTE smartphone. That means that while you’ll get “4G” speeds, you won’t get the kinds of speeds shown off in this video below:

4G LTE offers data speeds that can reach up to 10 times faster than normal 3G. That means faster loading times and better video streaming.

Software

HTC Edge Rumor Roundup: Features, Release Date, Carriers

While the software that will be arriving on the HTC Edge is still unconfirmed, like the rest of the device, we have it on good authority that it will be coming with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich with the new HTC Sense 4.0 over the top.

(Read: Guide To Google Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.)

This means that you’ll get all of the new features that come with Google’s latest major Android update, you’ll also be getting features from HTC.

So, if a recent leak is dead on, that means user interface tweaks, some new features like a voice recognition system called HTC Speak and a new movie editor, and more.

Translation: If you’re looking for a vanilla version of Android, like the software found on the Galaxy Nexus, you’re going to want to look elsewhere. HTC’s fingerprints are about to be all over the software.

Carriers

We’ve heard that the HTC Edge will feature an HSPA radio and that pretty much rules out launches on either Sprint and Verizon. That leaves the front-runners as AT&T and T-Mobile here in the United States, both of which employ HSPA+ networks.

As we said with the HTC Ville, it would be a little strange for AT&T to carry this device, unless it did so for cheap.

Why?

The carrier has launched its 4G LTE network and will be rapidly expanding and promoting it throughout 2012. HSPA+ network is clearly a thing of the past so unless the HTC Edge has a cheap price tag, it’s going to have to offer it up at a discount.

T-Mobile on the other hand doesn’t have a 4G LTE network and currently has no plans to launch one. It does however have two very capable HSPA+ networks in the form of HSPA+ 21 and HSPA+ 42.

So, right now, if we had to guess, T-Mobile would be the most likely carrier for the HTC Edge here in the U.S.

We expect the HTC Edge to launch in a bunch of places around the world, especially because of the fact that 4G LTE still isn’t that big outside of the United States.

HTC Edge Rumor Roundup: Features, Release Date, CarriersRelease Date

We’re just going to be blunt here. The release date for the HTC Edge is currently unknown. And we probably won’t have a firm release date to put down on the calendar after an announcement at MWC either.

That’s how smartphone manufacturers operate these days. Announce a phone and fail to give it any sort of specifics in regards to a release date except to say that it will be coming in the weeks ahead.

We may see a launch date given for Europe but odds are, we won’t see anything announced for the United States for at least a couple of weeks after the conference has ended.

Pricing

Same with the pricing. Unless there is a release date, the pricing will remain a mystery. If we had to guess though, we’d say that the HTC Edge would cost around $225 on T-Mobile.

That’s the price that the carrier asked for for the Samsung Galaxy II and this phone will definitely be on the same level as that Android smartphone.

We hopefully will find out sooner rather than later, but we’re not holding our breath.

3 Comments

3 Comments

  1. Nicholas Gray

    02/14/2012 at 12:19 pm

    Good article, but there are a few things I’d like to point out. T-Mobile’s HSPA+ operates at 42Mbps. The phone’s “4G” speed is then determined by the capabilities of the chip inside the phone. 

    Pricing on T-Mobile would probably be higher than $225 since the HTC Amaze 4G launched last year at $249. Also, there’s no reason why AT&T wouldn’t order a US version of the phone which features an LTE chip. As it stands, the GSM radio inside the phone will automatically feature support for AT&T’s 3G network while it would need to be modified to work on T-Mobile’s 3G/4G network. 

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