Flashback: Is Dell Still Planning to Upgrade the Venue Pro to LTE?

The Dell Lightning, courtesy of Engadget.

On April 21st 2010, or a little less than a year ago, the world received their first look at the Venue Pro from Engadget's massive Dell mobile portfolio leak, which included other Android handsets and tablets as well. Back then the Venue Pro was known as the Dell Lightning and there was a lot of excitement surrounding the reveal.

But besides getting a sneak peek at one of Windows Phone's first devices, Engadget also let slip a piece of info that since then seems to have been neglected, but could be a big hint at Dell's future plans:

Here's the real kicker, though -- other slides in the deck indicate this thing is getting an upgrade to LTE in Q4 of 2011.

While there was some information in the leak that was inaccurate--the slides said Windows Phone 7 would launch with both Silverlight and Flash supported in the browser--this could still happen considering this is related to their own hardware rather than software. Plus there has been speculation that Dell is planning a serious reboot for the Venue Pro; the company announced a device-specific firmware update which is in the works for this month and a leaked roadmap showing a refreshed version of the device planned for later this season. Heck, considering the fact that Microsoft seems to be planning their next generation handsets for this Fall, the Venue Pro could be upgraded to LTE sooner than Q4 of this year.

Dell has struggled to succeed with its acclaimed WP7-powered slider, but current and prospective Venue Pro owners could have a lot to look forward to this year if these rumors are to be believed.

Source: Engadget