Verizon’s First LTE Phone Ever to Arrive in Mid 2011 [Is Apple Going to Make an LTE iPhone for Verizon Next Year?]

The iPhone 4G might be the most expected handset of the year but that doesn’t mean we’re not also waiting for other handsets to be made official. One of the main features of these upcoming devices I am talking about is 4G connectivity. Mind you, the iPhone 4G is not going to be a 4G-enabled smartphone as in this case 4G stands for fourth-generation.

One of these new 4G-enabled smartphone is the HTC Supersonic, an Android phone heading to Sprint later this year and expected to be able to deal with both 3G and 4G bands.

But while we do know the first WiMAX phone that will be heading to Sprint we have absolutely no idea what the first Verizon LTE handset will be. Last year we heard that Verizon will be ready to enter a partnership with Apple for the upcoming iPhone. At that time it was suggested that an LTE iPhone is in the works although that has never been confirmed.

Verizon however will not be able to make available an LTE handset to the masses earlier than next summer. Anthony Melone, chief technology officer at Verizon Wireless said that Big Red will have the phone in question ready six months earlier than previously expected.

So can we assume that the iPhone 5G could also turn out to be the LTE iPhone and get launched at some point next summer? We’re a long way to go until we can confirm any of these rumors but I’m convinced other manufacturers out there are also eager to launch LTE phones as soon as possible.

We will be looking forward to see Verizon commercially launch its LTE network later this year before we go on with more suppositions regarding its first LTE-enabled phone and the rumored joint future of Verizon and Apple in this particular market.

In the mean time, where is that HTC Supersonic we’ve been talking about?