Verizon 4G LTE Smartphones

Right now, you can choose among 3 Android smartphones on Verizon that run on the 4G LTE network:

• Revolution™ by LG
• DROID CHARGE by Samsung
• ThunderBolt™ by HTC

Based on the number of reviews, the ThunderBolt™ by HTC is the most popular 4G smartphone on Verizon. It was also the first. Although Motorola recently announced the Droid X2, this smartphone is not a 4G smartphone. I wonder why Motorola hasn't come out with a 4G LTE smartphone yet.

Battery life is still a big problem with these early 4G smartphones. That's why I run my ThunderBolt on 3G mode most of the time.

Smartphone with a DLP pico projector (LG eXpo)

Now imagine this: you want to show your patient a digital image (radiograph, anatomic illustration, etc.) and you're in your exam room but they really can't see the details on your small smartphone screen. You turn off the lights and you project the image on the wall using your smartphone and an external DLP pico projector attachment (too bad it's not internal like the slim little Nikon S1000pj that has a built-in projector). Who wants to carry around a device that has a bulky attachment on it?

Well, now you can have this fantastic feature if you purchase the LG eXpo smartphone which will be appearing on AT&T this month. I'm sure it won't be long before we start seeing some smartphones that have built-in projectors.

2009 J.D. Power and Associates smartphone survey

Have you seen the results of the 2009 J.D. Power and Associates smartphone survey? I always read these types of surveys with a grain of salt, because many of these factors (such as design, features, etc.) are quite subjective. What one person likes, another may hate.

Here are some of their key findings:

These three studies measure customer satisfaction with traditional wireless handsets and smartphones across several key factors. In order of importance, key factors of overall satisfaction with traditional wireless handsets are operation (30%); physical design (30%); features (20%); and battery function (20%). For consumer smartphones, key factors are ease of operation (30%); operating system (22%); features (21%); physical design (18%); and battery function (9%). For business smartphones, key factors include ease of operation (29%); operating system (23%); physical design (21%); features (16%); and battery function (11%).

Apple ranks highest among manufacturers of smartphones used primarily for personal reasons, with a score of 811, and performs particularly well in ease of operation, operating system, features and physical design. LG (776) and RIM BlackBerry (759) follow Apple in the rankings.

Among customers who use their smartphones primarily for business purposes, Apple ranks highest with a score of 803, followed by RIM BlackBerry (724).

To view the entire summary of their survey results, click here.

Hottest New Phones

According to infoSync, the hottest new phones are currently:

• Palm Pre
• Nokia N97
• LG Arena
• Samsung S8300 UltraTouch
• RIM BlackBerry Curve 8900
• Pharos Traveler 137
• Sony Ericsson C901
• Sony Ericsson W508

Want to read more about each of these? Go here for the infoSync story