Forget LTE. 300+ Mbps LTHE Is On The Way. Planned Early 2013 Debut.

Verizon has already confirmed they’re already looking past LTE to even faster technologies such as LTE-Advanced. How awesome that next-gen technology will be, however, has remained a mystery.

At the ongoing PT Expo Comm trade show in Beijing, Nokia Siemens will demo a new LTHE (Long Term Evolution HSPA) network capable of 300+ Mbps downloads — 336 Mbps to be exact. The new threshold is made possible thanks to multi-carrier arrangement that makes use of eight separate modules of 42 Mbps each.

Nokia is said to be looking for buyers of the technology in hopes to have it in consumers’ hands by early 2013. Said date lines up nicely with previous VZW (and personal) estimates of when we could begin to see their next-gen network technologies unfold. Is this part of VZW’s future?

The only thing that we have pinging around our head: how will data caps change to reflect the newfound speed? 5 GB is already laughable when you have 20-30 Mbps speeds on tap. One can easily blow through such a low allotment in 1-2 hours. What happens when you increase that speed 5-10x? Consumer revolt after a $1,000+ data overage bill, that’s what.

Droid Prime/Nexus Prime Rumor Round-up.

The Nexus Prime is undoubtedly the most highly anticipated Android phone of 2011. While it was to be the first Android phone to feature 720 x 1280 (720p) resolution, that crown has since been claimed by Samsung’s Galaxy S II LTE HD. But there’s still plenty to be excited about. For starters, Nexus devices are “pure” Google phones (ie: they lack manufacturer/carrier customizations such as ugly, performance sucking skins). Even better, however, is that because of their “pure” nature, updates are received far faster and for longer into the future too. Finally, perhaps the most exciting feature of the next Nexus device is the fact that it will showcase Android 2.4/4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich).

But there’s a catch. There are currently two Nexus/Prime devices — the SCH-i515 (Droid Prime) and GT-I9250 (Nexus Prime).

Hop on past the break as we take a look at the numerous rumors surrounding what are sure to be two of the biggest mobile devices of 2011…

Samsung Outs Galaxy S II LTE HD With 4.65″ 720 x 1280 Super AMOLED Display.

Samsung already made us envy their home court customers in Korea with the Samsung Galaxy S II LTE recently unveiled at IFA several days back. But rather than simply sit on an albeit minor (yet important) upgrade to LTE, the company has outed an even better Galaxy S II variant — the Galaxy S II LTE HD. (Seriously, Samsung. Shorten your phone names already.)

Besides adopting the GSII LTE’s faster 1.5 GHz dual-core processor and 8-megapixel camera w/ 1080p video recording, the HD nomenclature signifies a newer, HD Super AMOLED display weighing in at 4.65-inches and 720 x 1280 resolution. For the pixel counters out there that’s 315.56 pixels per inch (ppi).

Other perks include Bluetooth, GPS, NFC, WiFi, 16 GB of internal storage and TouchWiz 4.0 atop Android 2.3 (Gingerbread). Look for this little gem to hit the three big South Korean carriers SK Telecom, KT and LG U+ in the near future and hopefully internationally (read: us here in the U.S.) soon thereafter.

Will You Upgrade? (And Other Interesting iPhone Info.) [Infographic]

We do love ourselves a gadget or two here at Gadgetsteria. One other thing that gets our engines purring — infographics. There’s something about small amounts of text describing fancy images that just sooo…interesting even if the data that is used to create such fancy graphics is marginally accurate.

Hop past the break to take a look at a handy infographic in the first part of a three-part series put together by AYTM (Ask Your Target Market), research firm PaidViewpoint, and tech/social site Mashable where everything from the number of apps installed to the most requested features (and more) pertaining to the impending iPhone 5 are covered. Grab a cold one and jump inside…

Samsung Using Apple iOS App Icons In Concession Store?

We’re not about to go and say that every single one of Apple’s lawsuits against Samsung are necessary (because they’re not). But blatantly using icons from 3rd party apps for iOS (and for stupidly forgetting to remove the App Store and Safari icons) is highly audacious.

The image above was captured in a concession (read: store within a store) in Italy’s Centro Sicilia.

Considering Apple already has plenty of ammunition with which to file lawsuits against Samsung with, this oversight isn’t sure to help matters. In Samsung’s defense, this could merely be a left over display banner that hasn’t been taken down yet. We’ve reached out to Samsung for comment on the matter and will report back once we get a response.

[Update] Report: Apple Holding Upcoming iPhone Event On Apple Campus In Cupertino.

It appears as if the newly appointed Apple CEO, Tim Cook, is ready to change how Apple unveils next-gen products. A report by AllThingD’s John Paczkowski makes the claim that Apple won’t be holding this years iPhone event in San Francisco as they have in years past but instead will be holding it closer to home in Cupertino, reportedly even on Apple’s campus.

The reason Apple has chosen San Francisco for previous events is the sheer size of the venues available. Traditionally large events have been held at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA). Paczkowski theorizes that such a venue would be too tricky to book this time around given the uncertainty of the October 4th announcement date — a date which could still change at any moment should the slightest manufacturing issue crop up.

With all that said, current rumors put the iPhone 5 event on Tuesday, October 4th with the following week holding host to iOS 5 launching (Sunday/Monday, October 9th/10th) and the iPhone 5 launch (Friday, October 14th).

It’s going to be a very exciting month.

Update

Electronista highlights one potential reason for the change — Oracle’s “OpenWorld” conference is taking place October 2nd-6th at the Moscone Center. Besides taking the large event center, hotel rooms are likely in short supply. As mentioned above, the Yerba Buena Center is another option (and isn’t booked the second week of October when all of the iOS 5/iPhone 5 news is supposed to be revealed. But again it comes down to the uncertainty of whether or not the rumored iOS 5 and iPhone announcement dates will stick and once again, hotel space. And let’s be honest here. Apple isn’t one to share limelight much less hotel and event space.

Vacation Blackout Dates Point To October 14th iPhone 5 Release.

Apple has yet to officially acknowledge the iPhone 5 but the secret can be kept no more. A new report by AppleInsider cites widespread vacation requests being denied and outright blackout dates on two key dates in early October at Apple: October 9th-12th and 14-15th. The first block will likely be the release of iOS 5 (October 9th). Backing up this claim are earlier reports from last week that AppleCare employees should expect increased call volume pertaining to iOS. The second block of dates is almost certainly the iPhone 5 release date (October 14th) as Apple only denies vacations on such a scale when new hardware is in route.

Both dates for iOS 5 and the iPhone 5 would fall nicely in line with early to mid-October release date rumors. Not to mention, with Apple’s special iOS 5/iPhone 5 event rumored to be on October 4th, the company has just enough time to get their ducks in a row for both the software and hardware release dates.

Apple has taken a similar staggered approach in the past in an attempt to help alleviate network congestion and tireless servers that ultimately fall to the sheer traffic load being placed upon them. By getting a generous share of iOS 5 software upgrades out of the way early in the week, new iPhone 5 activations can (theoretically) kick off the weekend without much fuss.