VoLTE Demoed on the LG Revolution [MWC] [VIDEO]
Much noise has been made about VoLTE over Verizon’s network. It was revealed that the LG Revolution would be the first device to undergo testing for the service, and Verizon brought it to Barcelona with them for everyone to check out.
I got a demo from Steven at Verizon who showcased video calling over VoLTE. I wasn’t too geeked up about that bit considering video calling is something that’s been available for quite some time and on many devices.
And unfortunately they were unable to demonstrate the actual “voice” part of Voice Over LTE, but they slipped me some headphones to check out the difference between their narrow-band codec used for their 3G phones now, and the wide-band codec that’ll be used for calls between LTE phones.
I couldn’t capture this on video, obviously, but if what I heard is what Verizon will be bringing to the table, I’m impressed. The audio samples were crystal clear compared to the narrow-band codec where voice and music were muffled and tinny.
VoLTE will only work between two LTE phones, so if you’re calling someone who has a 3G phone, or if you have a 3G phone and call someone with an LTE phone, you’ll have to deal with their narrow-band codec. Both callers must also be within Verizon’s network.
Verizon expects all of their LTE phones to have this feature going forward, including the Motorola DROID Bionic and the HTC Thunderbolt. I asked Verizon about dates for these phones, but was still unable to get a clear answer. Check out our quick demo in the video above.
