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It was nearly 5 months ago at CES 2011 when LG’s president took the stage at the Verizon Wireless press conference to announce the Android-powered Revolution smart phone. The device should have hit stores within a few weeks, but it was kept out of sight until now. For those not keeping tabs, today’s launch also comes with the availability for three other recently announced handsets: the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play, the Motorola Droid X2, and the HTC Trophy.
The LG Revolution also takes its place as the third Verizon Wireless 4G LTE handset on the market. It boasts a 4.3 inch capacitive touch screen, HDMI output, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n connectivity, and Bluetooth 3.0. There is a 5 megapixel camera on the back with auto-focus and LED flash for 720p video capture and a 1.3 megapixel camera on the front for video chat. A mobile hotspot feature lets up to 8 WiFi-enabled devices get online when running on 4G LTE or up to 5 users on slower 3G networks.
The news is not entirely exciting. The Revolution still runs on a single core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor while other handsets including the Motorola Droid X2 now feature dual-core. Another bummer? LG ships Android 2.2 (Froyo) on this device, which is over a year old at this point. There is no word on when the six-month-old Android 2.3 Gingerbread update will become available and Google already announced an even newer Android Ice Cream Sandwich earlier this month. There is also mention of Bing integration meaning LG and Verizon Wireless might have blocked use of Google search again.
On the bright side, the LG Revolution is compatible with the new Netflix app for Android. It also comes pre-loaded with SWYPE which is a neat touch. Verizon Wireless also includes a 16 GB microSD card in the packaging. Those looking to pick one up can do so beginning today (May 26th) for $249 with a new two-year contract. This devices does require a $30 monthly data plan to complement a voice package which begins at $40 a month.
Buy: $150 on Amazon Wireless
Links: Verizon Wireless LG Revolution
