4G Smartphones and Tablets Take CES 2011 By Storm

An abundance of enticing 4G smartphones, tablets, hotspots, and netbooks popped at CES. Let's take a look.

By Ginny Mies and Armando Rodriguez, PCWorld

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4G Finally Comes of Age

After years of hearing news about 4G network rollouts and rumors about the powerful devices that would support the faster data speeds, carriers have finally made the next-gen networks a reality. Sprint, T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon all announced plans for delivering 4G support to more U.S. markets and introduced some very enticing smartphones, tablets, hotspots, and netbooks that will blow your old 3G devices out of the water.

Check out PCWorld's complete coverage of CES 2011.

HTC EVO Shift

The HTC EVO Shift 4G will be available on January 9 for $150 from Sprint as well as from all Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile stores, and online at www.bestbuy.com/mobile. It's packing a 800 MHz processor, a 3.6-inch display, and 512MB of RAM. Coupled with a sliding keyboard, the EVO Shift is shaping up to be a nifty 4G phone.

Motorola Atrix 4G

The Motorola Atrix 4G runs Android 2.2, has a full HTML 5 browser, and supports HD video. Along with the dual-core processor, it has 1GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, a "gHD" display, a fingerprint recognizer, and a powerful 1930 mAh battery. The Atrix 4G, is the first dual core processor phone from AT&T and can dock into a laptop-like base.

Pricing and availability have not yet been announced for the Atrix.

4G LTE Galaxy Tab

Another day, another Samsung Galaxy Tab. The 4G model will work with Verizon's 4G LTE Mobile Broadband network that launched in December 2010. Samsung didn't supply any pricing or availability information, beyond saying that Verizon would offer up that information "later this year."

Motorola Droid Bionic

The Droid Bionic is ready for business with data security, encryption and loaded with Quick Office for document editing. Other goodies include a front-facing video camera and video conferencing capabilities, HD video capture, and a dual core processor. The Droid Bionic is due in the second quarter, but pricing has not yet been announced.

HTC Thunderbolt

The HTC Thunderbolt for Verizon sports a 4.3-inch Super LCD display and a front-facing video camera. The Thunderbolt also incorporates Skype video chat into the HTC Sense interface. The specs aren't too clear yet and pricing and availability have not yet been announced.

Dell Streak 7

The Dell Streak 7 tablet runs on Google's Android 2.2, and is powered by Nvidia's Tegra 2 dual-core processor. The Streak 7 will be upgraded to Android 3.0 shortly after its launch. The tablet will be available through T-Mobile in the U.S. in the next few weeks and will work with the wireless carrier's 4G network. The tablet will be available for purchase through contracts or pre-paid plans through T-Mobile, though pricing information was not immediately provided.

Cisco Cius Tablet

The Cisco Cius uses Google's Android OS and is designed to run Cisco collaboration applications, including video and other forms of communication, as well as other Android applications. It has a 7-inch diagonal touchscreen and includes Wi-Fi as well as mobile broadband capability. The Cius will be available through Verizon later this year.

Samsung 4G LTE

Powered by a 1GHz Hummingbird processor and running Android 2.2, this yet to be named Verizon 4G Samsung phone boasts rear-facing 8 megapixel camera with LED flash and front-facing 1.3 megapixel camera. And yes, because it is a 4G phone, it will support video chatting. Pricing and availability not yet available.

Motorola Xoom

The Motorola Xoom runs Nvidia's Tegra 2 platform, with a dual-core 1GHz processor. The Xoom will have a 10.1-inch 1280 by 800 resolution, 1GB of RAM, and 32GB of on-board user memory (plus an SD card slot). The Xoom is 3G compatible, though it can be upgraded to 4G as well. The tablet will be coming in the first quarter of 2011 to Verizon and no pricing has been announced yet.

Novatel Wireless MiFi 3G/4G

Sprint has added the Novatel Wireless MiFi 3G/4G to its roster of upcoming devices, replacing its earlier 3G-only Novatel device. The Novatel offers mobile hotspot connectivity for up to five devices over Wi-Fi, using Sprint's WiMax 4G network in the cities where it is available, and reverting to 3G (EV-DO Rev. A) elsewhere. The Novatel MiFi is priced at $99 with a two-year contract, which costs $60 a month for 4G (unlimited) plus 3G (five gigabytes per month) service. Sprint will offer a $50 mail-in rebate when the Novatel ships on February 27.