HTC Edge By April 2012 But Samsung, LG, Moto Readying Tegra 3 Rivals

HTC's recently leaked Edge smartphone is expected to drop in March or April 2012 complete with NVIDIA's freshly confirmed Tegra 3 quadcore chipset, sources have suggested, but the company may be pipped to market by Tegra 3 handsets from Samsung, LG and Motorola. All three rival firms have already committed to using Tegra 3, DigiTimes' sources claim, while of course ASUS will use the new chipset in the Eee Pad Transformer Prime.

The HTC Edge, so leaks in the past few days have suggested, will include a 4.7-inch display, 8.8mm thick chassis and an 8-megapixel camera with a back-illuminated sensor and 1080p HD video recording support. In addition to Tegra 3, HTC is also believed to be using an advanced S-LCD 2 display panel that relies on optical lamination – where the panel itself is bonded to the fascia glass – for improved visuals.

Although currently unconfirmed by HTC – while NVIDIA is also keeping quiet on which partners have signed up for Tegra 3 – if true the deal would be a significant shift for the smartphone company, which has until now stuck with Qualcomm for its mobile chipsets. That loyalty saw HTC late to the dualcore table, however, and it seems the firm is unwilling to be similarly delayed when it comes to quadcores.

Samsung, LG and Motorola's plans are unclear, though all three firms weren't shy to push the envelope with Tegra 2 and we're guessing the same will hold out with Tegra 3 phones. New handsets will likely debut at CES 2012 in January and then MWC 2012 in February, potentially beating HTC's March/April release. More on the Edge here.