AT&T officially announced today that it will begin selling the HTC Inspire 4G smartphone on February 13 for the surprisingly-low cost of $99.99 with the signing of a two year contract.
The Inspire 4G, which runs on the Android 2.2 operating system, is the first of more than 20 4G handhelds AT&T plans to release on its network.
“We are kicking off an exciting year for AT&T’s smartphone portfolio, and leading off with our first 4G phone,” said Jeff Bradley, senior vice president, Devices, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets in a statement. “With its iconic design, 4G speeds and awesome features, Inspire 4G is going to attract new customers and please existing AT&T subscribers.”
AT&T reports that it has deployed HSPA+ to “virtually 100 percent” of its mobile network, which allows the mobile carrier to supply true 4G connectivity “when combined with Ethernet or fiber backhaul.”
Debuted at this year’s CES, the Inspire 4G’s specs are nearly identical to that of its predecessor, the Desire HD: 1GHz processor, 4.3-inch 800 by 480 pixel LCD screen — the largest of any AT&T smartphone — Dolby Mobile, 8-megapixel camera with dual-LED flash and 720p video recording capabilities. The Inspire is the first handset in the United States to run the updated version of HTC Sense, however. And it’s also the first to be able to connect to AT&T mobile hot spot service (at an added cost, of course).
From what we know, the Inspire 4G is a solid offering for AT&T, especially at such a competitive price. That said, AT&T could soon launch the Motorola Atrix 4G — one of our favorite devices to come out of CES 2011 — on its network, though exact details of that release remain unconfirmed.
