Atrix 4G an LTE device?

[JadeEyedWolf]

So, I went into a Best Buy Mobile outlet today, and the guy there was telling me that "The AT&T guys have been saying that the Atrix will be not just an HSPA+ device, but an LTE device as well."

Does it seem realistic that AT&T and/or Motorola would keep this feature on the down-low until the actual release? Or is this Best Buy Mobile rep just blowing some hot air? I wonder how reliable that claim might be...

 

[solidkevin]

would be freaking awesome and would love that to be the case, but we'll see.

 

[AndreaCristiano]

I don't know about this. It.doesn't make sense

 

[youareme7]

So, I went into a Best Buy Mobile outlet today, and the guy there was telling me that "The AT&T guys have been saying that the Atrix will be not just an HSPA+ device, but an LTE device as well."

Does it seem realistic that AT&T and/or Motorola would keep this feature on the down-low until the actual release? Or is this Best Buy Mobile rep just blowing some hot air? I wonder how reliable that claim might be...

Adding an LTE radio is no small matter, I highly doubt that it's going to be in there, especially if AT&T's LTE network isn't coming until 2H 2011. It's all speculation at this point but I'm pretty confident saying no it won't be LTE capable. Naturally once teardown or ifixit gets ahold of it we'll know all the chips that are in it though.

 

[capitanbuzo]

Look at the Atrix passing the FCC. It is not LTE.

 

[tawfiqmp]

It's clearly not LTE. They said it wasn't at CES. They said it was HSPA+ for 4G and that's it.

 

[JadeEyedWolf]

It's clearly not LTE. They said it wasn't at CES. They said it was HSPA+ for 4G and that's it.

Yeah, that's kinda what I figured. The Best Buy Mobile guy really felt full of s***.

 

[skinien]

So, I went into a Best Buy Mobile outlet today, and the guy there was telling me that "The AT&T guys have been saying that the Atrix will be not just an HSPA+ device, but an LTE device as well."

Does it seem realistic that AT&T and/or Motorola would keep this feature on the down-low until the actual release? Or is this Best Buy Mobile rep just blowing some hot air? I wonder how reliable that claim might be...

Best Buy mobile salesmen are also the ones who told me that iPhone updates are OTA and when you make calls, it uses your WiFi network.

 

[RavenFox]

That's weird since my Mom got an LTE aircard in December. 3G and LTE when available.

 

[cwrig]

That's weird since my Mom got an LTE aircard in December. 3G and LTE when available.

ATT LTE Card? Where: Fantasy Land?

 

[Kurakka]

not that this is the same product, BUT, the Xoom is suppose to be upgradeable to LTE, now that does not mean anything other than it can be done on paper. So I would rate it at its possible to make it Via hardware upgrade to do LTE. Doesnt mean it will happen.

 

[Rastor]

The Xoom upgrade will be a dongle you attach to it, even if it's possible you really want to have that hanging off your phone?

 

[rad204]

how much better is lte than hspa+

 

[sean76]

I doubted, however a refresh could be possible! Look at what T-Mobile just dropped on its customers, they're already getting set to push out a refreshed Samsung Vibrant with 4G and a front facing cam! Now this is only after what, 5 months? So an Atrix with maybe one or two more small features and an LTE radio by the middle to end of the 3rd quarter would not surprise me.

Keep in mind at&t needs the Atrix and Android right this minute. They need this release ASAP because of them losing the exclusive on the iPhone. So a rush could have definitely been pushed to get this out the door at the very same time vzw releases the iPhone. Then when at&t has they're LTE network ready to roll they'll bill the Atrix as...The worlds most powerful phone just got more powerful with the Nations fastest LTE Network....something to that extant. We shall see!

 

[Devinclfalcons]

So what is the consensus? This is not going to be compatible with AT&T's LTE when released 2nd half of this year?

 

[Jahmakan]

The Atrix will NOT be an LTE device (unless they decided to do a "refresh" down the line) and to the person whose mother purchased the "4G" upgradable air card, it's HSPA+.

 

[JadeEyedWolf]

how much better is lte than hspa+

To draw an analogy, think of HSPA as a Boeing 747. Fairly high cruising altitude, is pretty fast (but not the fastest) and most people can afford to fly it. It carries people and cargo.

HSPA+ is probably more like the epic Concorde. Sleek, refined, fastest commercial airliner in history. Cruises almost on the edges of space. Not everyone could afford to fly it, so it was really premium.

LTE on the other hand is more like the NASA Space Shuttle; it was designed from ground up to be in a completely different league. Technically still an aircraft, but this thing was designed to go into orbit from the get-go.

That's the biggest difference between the existing CDMA/HSPA networks and LTE: Whereas the data services on the older 3/3.5/3.9G networks are a stack overlay on top of a dedicated circuit/packet switched voice network, LTE is designed from the ground up to be a purely packet based data network, and voice services will be provided via SIP (VoIP).