Two new Android-powered phones are headed to U.S. carrier Verizon, a leak revealed. Details of two new mid-range phones, Samsung's Stratosphere II and LG's Spectrum 2, were leaked in a Verizon equipment guide. Both phones are slated for a late-2012 release.

"We've had a successor to the Stratosphere on our radar for a while now, but the expected refresh is now much more tangible, as the Samsung Stratosphere II has just been leaked as part of Verizon's equipment guide," said the Engadget report.

The Stratosphere II, codenamed i415, first surfaced last week (courtesy of rumors) sans any specification details. The latest Verizon leak indicates that Samsung's Stratosphere successor will sport a 4-inch Super AMOLED display and have LTE. The Stratosphere II is similar in design to its predecessor and has a five-row slide-out QWERTY keyboard. The phone appears to feature a newer TouchWiz interface and will likely come with a Snapdragon S4 processor. The Stratosphere II is expected to run the Android 4.0 ICS, and recent FCC certifications suggest that it will support global roaming.

The LG offering - Spectrum 2 (VS930) - is purportedly based on the Optimus LTE 2. Previously, the Spectrum was based on the Optimus LTE. The 4.7-inch Spectrum 2 will likely feature a True HD IPS 720p display. A 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 is expected to power the phone. The phone is anticipated to sport a 8-megapixel camera and will likely run Android 4.0 Ice Cream sandwich.

With the advent of touchscreen smartphones, the QWERTY-based devices seem to have slowly become primitive by comparison. Samsung's Galaxy S3 and Apple's iPhone success stories are indicative of how popular the touchscreen-based smartphones are when compared to the traditional keyboard-based ones. Consumers increasingly demand touchscreen handsets, and the QWERTY market seems to be in limbo.

However, it seems that a market still exists for the traditional Android smartphones. With Samsung's Stratosphere II and LG's Spectrum 2 surfacing on the Verizon equipment guide, an official announcement could well be on its way.

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