iPhone 5 vs HTC Thunderbolt
Apple iPhone 5 and HTC Thunderbolt; which will be better, whether it’s worth the wait for iPhone 5 are the questions of many iDevice fans. It’s customary for Apple to creative hype about the product well before its release. iPhone 5 is no deviation. Customers have a huge expectation from iPhone 5, and we may have to wait till Q3 2011 to see whether it will a trend setter and benchmark like iPhone 4. Meantime, HTC Thunderbolt has already come to the market and it has a huge 4.3 inch display, High powered 1GHz processor, 768MB RAM, 8GB internal memory with another 32GB pre-installed microSD card and 8 MP camera. It also features a front facing camera for video calling and runs Android 2.2 (Froyo) which is upgradeable.
Apple iPhone 5
iPhone 5 is supposed to feature a larger display with edge to edge design and slimmer than iPhone 4. It’s anticipated that Apple will deviate from the popular all glasses iPhone 4 design for their next iPhone and opt for metal body for the backside like iPad 2. The features expected from iPhone 5 are a 4 inch Retina display, compatibility with 4G-LTE networks, A5 chipset that include dual core CPU with PowerVR SGX545, 8MP camera, HDMI out, support Near Field Communication (NFC) and to run iOS 5, a new version of iOS that has new and enhanced features such as support for multi core processor, NFC and multi finger gesture.
Users also expect iPhone 5 to be more flexible for sync, media file transfers and download without depending solely on iTunes. iPhone 5 is also expected to bring some improvement on antenna design, expand FaceTime service via 3G/4G network, and to maintain the battery performance even with 4G connection. iDevices are adored for their long battery life.
Apple may add finger scan tecnology for added security. Apple also expected to release some new applications with iPhone 5 as they did with iPad 2 launch and to integrate an enhanced YouTube player and mail client especially for Gmail.
HTC Thunderbolt
The HTC Thunderbolt has a huge 4.3″ WVGA display and takes the full advantage of the 4G speed with 1GHz Qualcomm processor in tandem with multimode modem and 768 MB RAM. The chipset in HTC Thunderbolt is the second generation Qualcomm MSM 8655 Snapdragon in tandem with MDM 9600 multimode modem (supports LTE/HSPA+/CDMA). MSM 8655 chipset has 1GHz Scorpion ARM 7 CPU and the GPU is Adreno 205. With Adreno you can expect an enhanced graphic acceleration. Qualcomm claims that they are the industry’s first to release LTE/3G Multimode Chipsets. 3G multimode is required for ubiquitous data coverage and voice services. 4G-LTE can theoretically offer 73+ Mbps on downlink, but Verizon, the US carrier for HTC Thunderbolt promises users 5 to 12 Mbps download speed in the 4G coverage area, when 4G coverage drops, HTC Thunderbolt 4G will automatically move on to 3G network.
This handset has 8megapixel camera in the rear with dual LED flash and 720p HD video recording capability. It has got a 1.3megapixel camera in the front for video calling, Dolby Surround Sound, DLNA streaming and kickstand for hands free viewing. The phone runs on Android 2.2 (upgradeable to 2.3) with HTC Sense 2 that offers fast boot and enhanced personalization option and new camera effects. It also offers 8 GB internal memory with preinstalled 32 GB microSD card.
HTC Thunderbolt has integrated Skype mobile with video calling, you can make video call easily like a standard voice call. And with the mobile hotspot capability you can share your 4G connection with 8 other Wi-Fi enabled devices.
The featured applications on Thunderbolt include 4G LTE optimized apps such as EA’s Rock Band, Gameloft’s Let’s Golf! 2, Tunewiki and Bitbop.
HTC Sense in Thunderbolt
The latest HTC Sense, which HTC calls as the social intelligence gives a unique experience to users with its many small but intelligent applications. The improved HTC Sense enables fast boot and has added many new multimedia features. HTC Sense has enhanced camera application with many camera features like full screen viewfinder, touch focus, onscreen access to camera adjustments and effects. The other features include HTC locations with on-demand mapping (service depend on the carrier), integrated e-reader that support text search from Wikipedia, Google, Youtube or dictionary. Browsing is made enjoyable with features like magnifier, quick look up to look for a word, Wikipedia search, Google search, YouTube search, Google translate and Google dictionary. You can add a new window for browsing or move from one to another window by zooming in and out. It also offers a good music player, which is better than the standard Android music player. There are many other features with htc sense that give a beautiful experience to users.
In US, HTC Thunderbolt has an exclusive tie up with Verizon. HTC Thunderbolt is the first 4G phone to run on Verizon’s 4G-LTE network (Network support LTE 700, CDMA EvDO Rev.A). Verizon promises 5 to 12 Mbps download speeds and upload speeds of 2 to 5 Mbps in 4G Mobile Broadband coverage areas. Verizon is offering Thunderbolt for $250 on a new two year contract. Customers have to subscribe to a Verizon Wireless Nationwide Talk plan and a 4G LTE data package. Nationwide Talk plans starts from $39.99 monthly access and an unlimited 4G LTE data plan begins at $29.99 monthly access. Mobile hotspot is included through May 15 for no additional charge.