Qualcomm began shipping its third generation, dual-core Snapdragon SoC CPUs to device manufacturers sometime around early June.  And, if new information published by AlienBabelTech is taken at face value, devices powered by these new processors are already well into the testing phase.

ABT reports discovering entries for an Android device labeled HTC Glacier  in an online database of GLBenchmark test results.  The benchmark scores show a marked increase in CPU performance  compared to high-end smartphones on the market today.  When compared to the Sprint EVO 4G, for example, which employs a 1GHz 2nd Gen Snapdragon, the Glacier’s CPU produced results that were about three times as fast.

Using comparative math, the poster at ABT seems to believe these benchmark scores come from a 1.5GHz Snapdragon rather than a 1.2GHz model (the 3rd Gen Snapdragon System-on-Chip platforms are available in both clock speeds).  You can review the calculations used to guess the speed of the CPU here.

Qualcomm has only fessed up to shipping 1.2GHz versions of the new Snapdragons thus far, and a jump of 200Mhz in smartphone processors seems more likely than a 500MHz jump. So I’m betting the HTC Glacier – or whatever it’ll be marketed as – will run the 1.2GHz MSM8260 rather than its 1.5GHz sibling.  I could be wrong, of course (here’s hoping).

So, what else is known about the Glacier other than its raw benchmark test results?  Not much.  But ABT supposes that it may be the star of T-Mobile’s Project Emerald, which promises a dual-core HTC Android smartphone.  There are other theories.

Wirefly.com currently has the best out-the-door price on the AT&T HTC Aria Android phone: free. 

With a two-year service agreement, you can get the Aria free at checkout (no rebates required).  Shipping is also free.  If you already have an AT&T wireless account and want to upgrade to the Aria, Wirefly can do that too – for $19.99 at checkout.

Learn more about the AT&T HTC Aria Android Phone…

Amazon.com currently has the Aria for $0.01 with a two-year contract. 

The AT&T Mobility direct price is $129.

The idea seemed impossible just a couple of weeks ago.  But recent events have moved it squarely into the maybe column. I’m not saying HTC is on the verge of discontinuing the Incredible, but there’s now enough circumstantial evidence to make it a possibility. 

Here’s why:

During the weekend of July 10, I was contacted by two unrelated people reporting they had been told, with different explanations, the Incredible was being discontinued.  The first said a Verizon sales rep told him the Droid X would soon take the Incredible’s place in the carrier’s Android lineup; the other said a Verizon salesperson told him not to bother ordering an Incredible (which was – and is – backordered) because it was about to be discontinued.

I largely dismissed the idea that one of the most widely-praised Android smartphones would be discontinued barely two months after its release.  But I did assume there was some truth in the information provided to these two men.  The AMOLED display used in the Droid Incredible had been trickling out of Samsung’s production facilities much more slowly than HTC wished, which was responsible for the smartphone’s chronic backorder status.  Perhaps a new version of the Incredible with a different SKU was in the pipeline, which may have caused the Verizon reps to think the Incredible wasn’t long for this world.

So I contacted Verizon Wireless PR for clarification.  I assumed the response would be something along the lines of a flat-out denial or vague information on a display technology transition.  It wasn’t. 

When I got a response, the message read:

“Verizon Wireless or HTC have not made an announcement about the Incredible. It’s a popular device and we continue to sell it.”

Continue to sell it?  Not “will continue to sell it”?  Hmm…  Qualified and evasive wording is nothing new in PR, but if the Incredible’s shelf-life was assumed to be the normal year or so, why the couched response?

Then, today, HTC announced it would begin using Super LCD (SLCD) displays in its current 3.7-inch AMOLED smartphone offerings later this summer.  This move is an effort to get more smartphones onto the market in light of the ongoing AMOLED shortage.  Mentioned in the press release were two 3.7-inch-screened HTC smartphones: the Desire (which isn’t yet sold by a U.S. carrier) and Nexus One (which seems to be on its way out). There was not word one about the Droid Incredible, which is certainly more popular in the U.S. than either of these devices.  I wasn’t the only person who found this omission odd.

So, there you have it.  Three unrelated events which together point to the Incredible’s possible demise. 

Any thoughts? 

Matthew Nichols, Products Editor

Many of HTC’s current smartphone models feature AMOLED displays, a type of screen technology often touted as the best available for mobile devices. AMOLED has its critics, but the most frequent complaint leveled against it – particularly of late – concerns supply shortages. It seems Samsung (the primary manufacturer of the AMOLED screens) has been unable to churn out enough of the displays for HTC to manufacture desired quantities of Desire, Nexus One, and Droid Incredible smartphones, sometimes resulting in long delays for the consumer.

In order to combat this problem, HTC announced today what many have long suspected: that it will transition from AMOLED to Super LCD displays in some of their smartphones, namely the Desire and Nexus One. 

Super LCD, or SLCD, displays have many of the advantages of AMOLED, and even trumps AMOLED in some utility comparisons such as viewability in direct sunlight.  HTC also claims new SLCD displays have “approximately five times better power management” than older LCD technology, which should at least mitigate AMOLED’s biggest advantage: battery life.

HTC will release SLCD versions of the Nexus One and Desire “later this summer.”  There was no mention of the Droid Incredible, whose AMOLED screen has reportedly been responsible for frequent shortages of the smartphone since its April 2010 release.