My Story, Verizon’s LG Spectrum goes HD all the way (hands on)

LAS VEGAS--I'm starting to think that LG has a thing for HD, and I'm not complaining.

Not long after launching the LG Nitro HD, LG and Verizon announced the LG Spectrum, one of two new smartphones to inaugurate Sprint's all-new 4G LTE lineup.

Although I didn't have as long as I would have liked to acquaint myself with the
Android 2.3 Gingerbread phone (eventually upgradeable to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, I immediately liked it. In fact, I can say I clicked with it even more than the pretty lofty Nitro HD.

The shape subscribes to the school of simple, clean lines in a way that's similar to the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. Something about it is easy on the eye and the hand, like a good scoop of vanilla ice cream.

The specs on this phone are nice as well. It has a large, 4.5-inch HD display. (That's 720p HD, by the way, with in-plane switching.) There's also a 1.5Ghz dual-core processor, an 8-megapixel camera with 1080p video capture, and a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera.

LG and Verizon are proud of the phone's HD screen, and with good reason. And what better way to show off the high pixel density than with some HD-specific apps. Netflix HD is one new one, debuting on the Spectrum, and ESPN Sports Center HD is another. Both will automatically load up high-definition videos when available.

Unfortunately, the test unit wasn't hooked up to the network, so we'll have to revisit the Spectrum for those tests.

Verizon will begin selling its latest LG LTE sweetheart starting January 19 for $199.99 with a new, two year contract.