The next generation of mobile phone technology has arrived, with Telstra and HTC launching Australia's first 4G smartphone.
Andrew Volard, Director, Telstra Mobile, said 4G, only available on mobiles over the Telstra Mobile Network, would make the smartphone an even more inseparable part of our lives.
"The HTC Velocity 4G delivers mobile internet speeds unimaginable ten years ago. The leap to 4G means customers in Telstra 4G coverage areas can load web pages up to five times faster, video chat with fewer interruptions and use more mobile web services simultaneously.
"4G also opens the door to an exciting range of emerging smartphone applications such as cloud-hosted gaming and streaming music and video collections over the internet," Mr Volard said.
Ben Hodgson, Country Manager, HTC Australia and New Zealand said "Just about everything is instantaneous, from web browsing and streaming multimedia to rich email attachments that you no longer have to wait for. We look forward to enabling Telstra customers to be the first and fastest smartphone owners in the country."
Using the HTC Velocity 4G in 4G coverage areas, Telstra customers can:
Browse the mobile web like never before – Load web pages at mobile speeds up to five times faster than Australia's fastest 3G smartphones.
Do more things simultaneously – Access Facebook® while quickly loading email and downloading a favourite MP3.
Share the moment in a moment – Upload content like photos and video and post status updates at mobile speeds up to three times faster than the fastest 3G mobiles.
Access emerging smartphone apps – As gaming moves into the cloud, customers will be able to play fast-paced internet-hosted games direct from their smartphone screen, or, as networked home monitoring emerges, dial up live video feeds of their home from the palms of their hands.
Enjoy video with fewer interruptions – Video chat on Google Talk with fewer interruptions and stream internet video with less buffering.
The HTC Velocity 4G is powered by Android™ 2.3 operating software (upgradable to Android 4.0 in the future) and features a massive 4.5 inch touch screen and a 1.5 GHz dual core processor for fast multi-tasking.
The HTC Velocity also features a powerful 8 megapixel camera with auto focus, dual LED flash, and back-illuminated sensor for capturing images in low-light. The Velocity's built-in HD Voice support enables crisper, clearer calls when chatting to other people with HD Voice compatible handsets on the Telstra Mobile Network.
Telstra became the first mobile service provider in Australia to launch 4G LTE mobile services last September and today superfast 4G coverage is available in Australia's eight capital city CBDs (meaning within 5km from GPO)* plus more than 80 regional and metropolitan centres (meaning within 3km from regional town centre)*.
Customers using HTC Velocity in 4G coverage areas will enjoy typical download speeds ranging from 2Mbps to 40Mbps and typical upload speeds from 1Mbps to 10Mbps. Outside of 4G coverage areas the HTC Velocity 4G switches seamlessly onto Telstra's fast 3G mobile network with reaches 99 per cent of the population.
The HTC Velocity is also Australia’s first smartphone to feature 3G dual channel HSPA+ connectivity. This means customers outside 4G coverage areas will enjoy super fast 3G speeds previously unavailable on handsets in Australia. These typical download speeds range from 1.1Mbps-20Mbps and are available in all capital CBDs and much of the associated metropolitan areas and many regional and other locations.
As well as supporting faster mobile speeds, 4G provides a more responsive, lower latency internet connection meaning real-time applications like video conferencing, internet gaming and cloud-hosted streaming services work better with less buffering and fewer interruptions.
The HTC Velocity 4G is the first in a series of advanced 4G smartphones and tablets set to launch this year on Australia's first 4G LTE network.
