Starting November 6^th, AT&T will launch 4G-LTE (News - Alert) service in Boston, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and Athens, GA, which expands the high-speed network to nine markets, including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio. The wireless operator plans to reach 15 markets and 70 million Americans by year-end 2011.

In addition, AT&T plans to release two new Android (News - Alert) based smartphones for the 4G-LTE markets. According to the service provider, the Android smartphones will be the first to be 4G-LTE capable. And will have the ability to handle both LTE and HSPA+4G speeds for a consistently fast connections in and out of LTE areas, said AT&T.

The two new 4G-LTE capable Android smartphones include HTC (News - Alert) Vivid and Galaxy S II Skyrocket. While HTC Vivid is powered by a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor and offers a 4.5-inch qHD display (540 x 960 pixels), Galaxy S II Skyrocket is powered by a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor and comes with a SuperAMOLED Plus display spanning 4.5-inches (480 x 800 pixels).

In a statement, David Christopher, chief marketing officer, AT&T (News - Alert) Mobility and Consumer Markets, said, “The two LTE-powered superphones will be our 20th and 21st Android devices in 2011, adding to an outstanding year of Android success." He added, "We've far exceeded our commitment to offer 12 new Android devices this year –now including our first 4G LTE smartphones. We're delivering an incredible amount of innovation to our customers, which is a huge reason why more than half our post-paid subscribers are using a smartphone."

Likewise, Jason Mackenzie (News - Alert), president of global sales and marketing, HTC, commented, "We are thrilled to continue growing our relationship with AT&T and excited for the HTC Vivid to be one of the first LTE devices on AT&T for the holiday season." Samsung Telecommunications America’s chief marketing officer Todd Pendleton stated, "AT&T's LTE network allows for quicker access, smoother streaming and faster web experiences, especially when using the powerful Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket."

Other HTC Vivid features include customizable active lockscreen, sharper graphics, vibrant animations, enhanced 8-megapixel camera with f2.2 28 mm wide angle lens for low light photos, 16 GB of on-board memory, and microSD expandable to an additional 32 GB. Similarly, Galaxy S II Skyrocket includes 8 MP rear-facing camera with LED flash, with 2-MP front-facing camera, 1080p HD video recording, 16 GB of on-board memory, and microSD expandable to an additional 32 GB.