Samsung Galaxy S Headed To Five U.S. Carriers
According to Samsung, Galaxy S will arrive later this summer on Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint and AT&T. It'll be called something different each time and with slightly different specs, but for Samsung, it means all bases covered with the big four carriers, not to mention a fifth telco, U.S. Cellular, which is also getting a version of the phone.
Details of the various versions have filtered out over the past few days, thanks to announcements from Samsung and the carriers. Common to each phone is version 2.1 of Google Android -- with 2.2 "Froyo" upgrades expected to come later -- a 4-inch AMOLED display, a 1 Ghz processor, a 5-megapixel camera, 2 GB of storage, and enablement for Bluetooth, GPS and Wi-Fi.
Verizon's version will be called Samsung Fascinate. No pricing or availability has been confirmed, but the Fascinate will include 3G mobile hotspot capability and Verizon Wireless' usual slate of branded features, such as VZ Navigator and V Cast Music.
The T-Mobile version of Galaxy S will be called Samsung Vibrant and be available on July 21, with pre-orders kicking off July 1 through RadioShack. Price is $199 with a two-year lock-in, and T-Mobile plans to include a 2 GB microSD card with each sale of Vibrant that includes a movie (James Cameron's Avatar) and a game (The Sims 3).
Over on AT&T, the phone will be called the Samsung Captivate, and according to Samsung and AT&T will include various features such as AT&T Navigator and AT&T Address Book.
Elsewhere is the Samsung Epic 4G, Sprint's version, which adds a slide-out QWERTY keyboard and a front-facing camera. It'll run on Sprint's 4G network like the recently released HTC EVO 4G. Sprint hasn't confirmed pricing or availability.
Not to be left out, U.S. Cellular will get a version of the phone dubbed simply Samsung Galaxy S. U.S. Cellular didn't disclose much beyond the core specs but the Galaxy S will be released this fall and join previously announced U.S. Cellular-carried phones like the Samsung Acclaim and HTC Desire.
Samsung issued media invitations for a Galaxy S event in New York Tuesday, where a number of the phones are expected to be on display.