The good folks at Droid-Life.com have obtained several photos of an upcoming Verizon Wireless Android phone, the HTC Thunderbolt.  What makes the Thunderbolt interesting, aside from its badass name, is that it’ll be an LTE handset.

LTE is the next generation of wireless data. Verizon currently has the 4G technology available in a handful of U.S. locations and hopes to have it everywhere 3G is now by 2013.

Essentially an HTC Ace, the HTC Thunderbolt (or Thunderbolt 4G) looks to have a 4.3-inch display and a smooth, rounded shell.  No other details on the Thunderbolt are yet available, but it’s expected that HTC and/or Verizon will unveil this new smartphone at CES 2011, which begins next week.

Take a look at the Droid-Life.com post for more photos.