AT&T (News - Alert) announced plans to accelerate its Long Term Evoloution (LTE (News - Alert)) network build, to be largely complete by year-end 2013, and AT&T plans to begin its launch of LTE service in mid-2011, with 20 LTE devices available for consumer purchase by the end of 2011. That's obviously important as a new network, no matter how fast, is only as good as the selection of devices that can be used on the network.

The company announced a new commitment to deliver an industry-leading Android portfolio, including more than 12 new Android devices in 2011. AT&T expects to offer two 4G smartphones in the first quarter which will join its two existing 4G-compatible laptop cards, available since last fall. AT&T plans to offer five to seven 4G devices in its lineup in the first half of 2011.

Separately, AT&T said it already is seeing 4G speeds on its existing HSPA+ (3G) network, with current download speeds of 6 Mbps.

The Motorola "ATRIX" 4G Android 2.2 smartphone will be offered exclusively by AT&T. It will be complemented by a "revolutionary, super-thin laptop dock," for which ATRIX 4G is the “engine” -- and an HD media dock that uses ATRIX 4G’s HDMI video output capabilities and processing power. This device is slated for launch in the first quarter of 2011, only for AT&T customers.

The HTC (News - Alert) "Inspire" 4G, an Android 2.2 smartphone, is said to be the first in North America to feature the next-generation HTC "Sense" platform with cloud services. The new Sense platform can pinpoint on a map a lost phone, send a command to sound an alert on the handset, and remotely wipe the phone’s data with a single command through. 

Inspire 4G also delivers an 8-megapixel camera and a HD video recorder. This device is slated for launch in the first quarter of 2011, only for AT&T customers.

The Samsung (News - Alert) "Infuse" 4G will be the thinnest Android device and feature the largest screen -- at 4.5 inches -- in AT&T’s smartphone lineup. This device is slated for launch in the second quarter of 2011, only for AT&T customers.

AT&T also plans to launch two 4G tablets, including its first LTE tablet, by mid-summer.  Additional LTE tablets are planned for the second half of 2011.