Cool Stuff – The Thunderbolt from HTC/Verizon

It's the union everyone is waiting for - nope, not the Royal Wedding of William and Kate - but the HTC Thunderbolt on Verizon's incredibly fast LTE network. The Thunderbolt is Verizon's first 4G phone, and the launch has created a buzz, sending all geeks and gadget-philes aflutter. The phone is essentially a small upgrade to its older brother, the Evo (with more camera features, 768MB Ram and weighs a slim 5.5 oz), but is Verizon's first offering on LTE, promising speeds of up to 12Mbps. That's right - this phone can blow your cable modem at home out of the water.

Is it time to get rid of your Internet at home? Not quite. Many users have reported that the LTE network is not available in many places. Currently, it is being offered in 40 cities across the US, so if you happen to be living in, say, Buffalo, New York, you won't have access to the LTE network (but Verizon claims they'll have full nationwide coverage by 2013.)

But perhaps one of the number one complaint that many users have reported is the unit's poor battery life, which seems to last around 4 to 5 hours. For people on the go and serious road warriors, that simply isn't acceptable - that will barely last a direct flight from LA to New York. So what can you do? Some users have suggested:

The screen is incredibly bright, so keep the screen dimmed to make the biggest impact on battery life Replace the battery with a higher capacity one - probably the easiest solution, but Verizon and HTC probably frown on the use of 3rd-party accessories Carry an adapter with you at all times - makes sense, but then what's the use of having a mobile phone when you have to plug in every couple of hours? Carry a spare battery - which is the solution Verizon and HTC would approve of (since that would mean sales of accesories for them) Turn off the 4G when you don't need it - for now this is the cheapest and easiest solution. And with the battery problem cropping up, it probably won't take too long for an enterprising developer to make an app to help you turn the connection on and off. Verizon's LTE network delivers as promise - faster than fast Internet at your fingertips and HTC's superior technology doesn't disappoint with their sleek and sexy design and durable hardware. If they can find a way to deal with the battery problem, then this will surely be a match made in heaven.