The era of 4G technology is surging at a rapid pace as wireless communication operators are bidding high on new 4G LTE phones by introducing more and more such devices equipped with the breakthrough technology.

AT&T is one of the best known operator in the US known for its advanced and widespread 4G LTE network. Meanwhile, Sprint has also been adding a lot of LTE-integrated smartphones such as Google's flagship Android ICS phone, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, accompanied by LG Viper and  HTC EVO 4G LTE in its basket of offering during last few months. Sprint, however, has promised but does not provide LTE as of now.

Adding to the queue, few images have just been leaked into the media, hinting at powerful LTE-enabled device that may be coming soon on Sprint and AT&T by LG - dubbed by the name of LG LS970 'Eclipse.'

LG LS970 'Eclipse'

Latest rumors suggest that the Korean manufacturer is gearing up to bring LG LS970 'Eclipse' for Sprint, AT&T as well as some Canadian wireless carriers. The rumor first leaked on the Bluetooth SIG which indicated two variants of the latest LG phone. According to the reports, both handsets E970 and LS970 handsets have been officially approved by the authority.

LG E970, which is reportedly AT&T's version, is rumored to come with GSM and LTE bands. That means it is also heading to Rogers Canada. While,  LG E970 has also appeared in a User Agent Profile revealing all the high-end specifications.

Talking about the specs, LG E970 will pack a 4.65-inch 1280 × 768 resolution display (instead of its traditional 1280 x 720p resolution), 13MP camera, Adreno 320 GPU and will be powered by a Snapdragon S4 quad-core processor as well as 2GB RAM just like the LG Optimus LTE2 and Galaxy S3 handset (the US and Japanese version).

According to Engadget reports, a source has revealed that Sprint's LG LS970 will rock the 1280×720 display and the paper work mentions LTE connectivity for the device. Both these device have also popped up on a few benchmarking sites competing with the Samsung Galaxy S3.

Bluetooth SIG has also mentioned that both the LG E970 (AT&T) and LG LS970 (Sprint) are set to release in North America "around 10/31/2012". So, there's a possibility that the devices will launch sometime around Halloween.

This is not the first time that the latest LG phone has hit the headline. Earlier also the Eclipse was in news when BriefMobile leaked an image of an LTE-enabled device, codenamed LG LS970 and claimed that the device will sport a model number of LS9760 and will be named as the "G" and will be released as the "Eclipse 4G LTE."

Reports from BriefMobile also gave some hardware specifications of the device, which noted that the smartphone would boast of a 1.5 GHz Qualcomm APQ8064 application processor, a knock-down quad-core Snapdragon S4 chip (a Krait design) that will also include the Adreno 320 GPU. And further, the phone might be powered by a 2100 mAh battery.

While the LG phone is expected to be launched anytime soon, how hard the competition is going to be for the new phone? Let's check out the specifications of another heavyweight that got released just few weeks back, HTC EVO 4G LTE.

HTC EVO 4G LTE

The HTC EVO 4G LTE is the Sprint's variant of the HTC One X and has finally arrived on the Sprint wireless network, launching on June 2. Recently, the handset also got benefited from a retail price reduction to $149 with a standard two-year activation and data plan at select retailers.

HTC EVO 4G LTE is powered by Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system integrated with HTC Sense 4 UI. The phone sets itself apart from previous EVO family products through a number of improvements in camera technology, audio and voice quality. At the same time, Sprint's version of the HTC EVO 4G LTE will feature all the USPs that the smartphone is well known for, like a microSD card slot and a good 2,000 mAh battery.

Moreover, the EVO 4G LTE is Sprint's first device with HTC's Authentic Sound experience integrating Beats Audio. In addition, the smartphone boasts of a brilliant 4.7-inch HD (720 x 1280 pixels) display, featuring Corning Gorilla Glass protection. Also, the phone is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon S4 processor clocked at 1.5 GHz, packs 1 GB of RAM, 16 GB of internal memory and microSD card slot for memory expansion of up to 32GB.

While compared the HTC smartphone in question, the features of the LG LS970 look far overwhelming. But we all know that it takes more than simple features, design and hardware to impress today's brand conscious customers. But if the rumored specifications turn out to be true and the LG LS970 comes out in the US market in the fourth quarter of this year, it could get really challenging for the current smartphone brands.

With LG aggressively redefining its smartphone offerings, will you wait for its forthcoming LG phone or go for the HTC EVO 4G LTE ? Do let us know in the comments.

Source: Bluetooth SIG And Engadget