As phone makers such as LG wow crowds at with snazzy new models at Mobile World Congress this week, LTE (Long-Term Evolution) is taking center stage. With T-Mobile's recent announcement of LTE plans for 50 major U.S. markets, all four major carriers have pledged major investments in that technology. LG is showing models that run on the super-fast 4G network, offering Nvidia's Tegra 3 quad-core chips, high-resolution and 3D displays and Android Ice Cream Sandwich. Meanwhile, Nvidia announced it has partnered with modem chipmakers GCT Semiconductor and Renesas Mobile to help phone manufacturers build Tegra 3 devices faster for LTE networks. Nvidia says adding LTE will mean "even better multiplayer gaming options, lightning-fast web browsing, and supercharged app downloads." LTE chips and the move from two to four cores in high-end smartphones will be among the big hardware trends at the mobile show in Barcelona, Spain, according to InfoWorld. Meanwhile,  Qualcomm is already looking ahead to LTE-Advanced, an even faster networking technology. AT&T and Sprint have said they will deploy the technology in 2013. Qualcomm announced it will have samples of the Gobi MDM9225 and MDM9625 modem chipsets ready in the final quarter of 2012. The Verge says it's the first chip maker to commit to a time frame for LTE-Advanced hardware.