By Those internal changes that Verizon’s been making to help usher in their LTE-based 4G network doesn’t just end with the backend. Engadget‘s received word that SIM cards for LTE-enabled devices have started to flow into the ecosystem well ahead of any device launches (with the first expected to be sometime before the end of the year alongside Verizon’s initial rollout).
We still don’t know which manufacturer will be offering an Android-based LTE-compatible device for the carrier, but it’s long been rumored that we’ll see one in the earlier parts of 2011. Excitement grows, data buffs are watering at the mouth, and all is well with the world.
Any updated word on the pricing of the tiered data plans? I doubt the everyday user will need an unlimited 4g plan so it may save some money in the long term
Now all they need is to lower those ridiculous prices and pop that sim card into a 4G enabled Nexus Two and then were talking. I love how everyone assumes there will be no Nexus Two but Google has always had its own phone: Devoloper Phone 1 (G1), Google Ion (MyTouch 3G), and of course the Nexus. It’s kinda obvious that the HTC Emerald is their next phone.
I just bought the Droid X. Looks like it’ll be the last 3g phone I buy. I realy like the X over the original but to bad its not L.T.E. compatible. The price I pay to have the latest and greatest. A Verizon rep told me the X will be the next to receive 2.2, that coupled with this phone and I think I’ll be happy till my early upgrade…
As far as I know, none of the current Android phones have SIM card slots. Any upcoming androids with that option? Otherwise this isn’t that important for me.
@kevin
??????? what do you mean by “none of the current Android phones have SIM card slots.”? at least half of the androids in america and canada have simcard slots with the companies like Tmobile ATT, and smaller regional carriers, and also WIND etc in canada. Also almost 75% of androids in Eurasia have sim slots
Woah this is nice, so that means, the phones will have world wide capability? This is good, no more buying another phone when i have to travel home
Yep, Droid X = great hardware, but not LTE ready so stuck on Verizon’s slow network. I almost jumped from Tmobile to Verizon for the Incredible, but after doing my homework I am glad I stayed with T mobile. My G1 & Vibrant will benefit from HSPA+ when it activates here next month. Yesterday in Portland Or I clocked my Vibrant @ 3.5 mbps down and .9 mbps up. Not bad for 7.2 HSPA!
@Rimzy
No, it doesn’t mean that the phones will be world capable. Initially, LTE will be for data only, not for voice. Voice will continue to be CDMA on Verizon. 3G will continue to be EVDO, as well.
It would only be usable in countries that have deployed LTE for data on Verizon’s frequencies.
i could be wrong, but i thought Verizon didn’t use sims, because they are CDMA and not GSM, but then again i guess that means the 4g phones will. Personally i like the idea of sims, get a new phone, switch the sim. One other thing id like to ask is LTE going to be for voice and data, or just the newest data technology? or in other words, will Verizon use CDMA, and LTE or just LTE after they roll it out? (if you choose to answer please refrain from just wild speculation, I’m pretty good at that as it is)
Thanks to Sprint and Verizon, most Americans have never heard of them, but CDMA *does* have a SIM-like standard called R-UIM. In fact, R-UIM cards are a superset of SIM cards (you can use a CDMA R-UIM card in a GSM phone, but you can’t use a GSM SIM card in a CDMA phone).
If you have access to an old HTC PPC-6700/xv6700 phone, open the back, remove the battery, and peel up the black sticker covering a cavity ready for you to solder in a real R-UIM socket.
Verizon didn’t use SIMs for anything but global phones. With LTE, they are using SIMs. And yes, LTE will carry both voice and data. Voice over IP, called VoLTE, not initially, but in the future. 1x and EVDO will still be the fallback network.
That’s a really big SIM card. I don’t think it will fit! lol
Where can I get my hands on that Verizon SIM card, I can see many different phones in my future with that in my hand. EPIC fail on VZW’s part for that useless World SIM in my Bold 9650.
Wont the Motorola Droid Pro be able to get this 4g sim card? It already has a sim card. I would like to assume it will be able to be a 4G Android phone.
Ignacio, NO the Moto Droid Pro will not be able to run on 4G LTE network because it has a CDMA / EV-DO radio in it and NOT an LTE radio. SIM slots may be the same but the hardware inside that shiny Droid casing are different, you in essence have what is about to be a dinosaur.
Thanks for that slap on the face, unreal.
Friends
I did a lot of trouble shooting today. Called a few Verizon stores. and went on many Verizon sites. The Droid will not be 4g. Most employees I talked to believe the new phones will be here end of Dec, or Jan.
I was told by a verizon emp that the sim cards are for our computers.
The sim cards are not for computers. The Droid 2 Global will be able to use them (because it’s global CDMA/GSM compatible), the HTC Thunderbolt, Bionic, and the 4G mobile broadband uses them. It’s to access the 4G LTE network and to access Vodafone’s network when traveling abroad.
i have verizon and am due to renewal on my phone. i travel to Sweden, UK, India and China usually about twice a year. So with the new sim and 4G should I get something like the Droid 2 Global or wait till later this year for 4G phones?