LAS VEGAS -- LG and Verizon Wireless today introduced the Revolution, one of Verizon's first handful of 4G LTE smartphones. I got some hands-on time with the new device. The Revolution is a pretty huge smartphone, packing a massive 4.3-inch, 800-by-480 screen. It feels a little thick, too, although I didn't have an HTC EVO 4G or Samsung Inspiration on hand to compare it to. (See the slideshow below for hands-on pictures of the new phone.)
There's a 5-megapixel camera on the back and a 1.3-megapixel unit on the front for video chat. The processor is a 1Ghz Cortex-A8, like most other top-of-the-line smartphones nowadays. The phone felt fast and responsive; it also, somehow, felt larger and squarer than the competing Samsung Inspiration.
The Revolution will launch with Android 2.2, "Froyo." LG wouldn't say whether it's upgradeable to the current version 2.3, "Gingerbread." LG's version of Froyo has been hacked a little bit to add some new widgets and apps, including social networking apps, and to let you create folders of different items in your applications drawer.
The prototype phone I tried is supposed to run Skype video chat, but instead all it ran was a video demo of Skype video chat. If you believe the video demo, it's all very quick and seamless: just tap on a contact, click the video button, and you're video chatting through the 1.3-MP front-facing camera just like on your desktop. I've seen a lot of good demos of video chatting, though. What I've never seen is an Android video chat app which works well in real life.
Other Verizon apps coming on the phone include a Wi-Fi hotspot mode and NFL Mobile streaming video. The Revolution has an HDMI output port, but LG and Verizon wouldn't say what it was allowed to put out through the port.
Verizon won't reveal a release date or price for the Revolution, just as they won't do so for the Samsung Inspiration. It'll be interesting to see how Verizon's lineup of similar LTE smartphones are positioned against each other.