Last week Verizon Wireless announced that it had successfully placed its first voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) call over its 4G wireless data network using an LG Revolution 4G smartphone. This week at Mobile World Congress 2011, LG is demoing not only VoLTE calls on the device, but also video calls over LTE. And because the calls are made over the 4G Web, much like VoIP calls, users are able to use the Internet while they’re on the phone – something that Verizon hasn’t been able to offer previously, unlike its competitors.
Although the voice and video calls are made over the 4G Web, users will be able to maintain their current number and make calls in the same way as current phones, instead of relying on logging in with a username and password like many current VoIP programs, such as Skype. The LG Revolution uses the “One Voice” prototcol that is expected to become widely adopted by mobile phone makers in the future.
With LTE superseding both 3G and Wi-Fi speeds, it means HD quality voice calls using Adaptive Multi-Rate (AMR) wideband technology and clearer, shudder-free video calls. With Verizon’s 4G network currently only covering one-third of the U.S. population, the LG Revolution will also switch seamlessly back to the older network when outside a 4G-ready zone.
The Revolution is LG’s first 4G LTE smartphone. It runs Android 2.2 and sports a 4.3-inch WVGA (480 x 800) multi-touchscreen, 5-megapixel rear-facing main camera and 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera for video chat. On Verizon’s LTE network it is expected to achieve 5 to 12 Mbps downloads and 2 to 5 Mbps upload, but it will not have the VoLTE service installed when it is released mid-year – that's expected to be available by next year.
