The Samsung Galaxy S2 has received all honors from reviewers around the world, but it was still missing from the US market. Not for long anymore!
Samsung
That’s right! Samsung sent out an exciting save-the-date, ahead of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, coming up in February. They’re planning on making a dramatic announcement, possibly introducing the newest line of Galaxy S products, February 13, at MWC. Displayed on www.samsungunpacked.com, a mysteriously fuzzy doodle carries the words “evolution is fate,” adjoining a pic from last year’s release of the Galaxy S smartphone.
The big February 13 announcement has the blogosphere roaring with rumors and theories as to what we can expect next month. Some point to the word “evolution” as a reference to LTE, or Long Term Evolution, hoping for a LTE 4G-worthy device.
In possibly related news, yesterday a sketch was released of a just-FCC-approved device, largely assumed to be the new Samsung Vibrant 4G. The model number, SGH-T959V, almost identically mimics that of the original Vibrant – SGH-T959. It also runs on AWS frequencies, owned by T-Mobile (the purveyor of Samsung’s Vibrant) furthering confidence that this device has been appropriately identified.
Will these two independent bulletins converge? Samsung’s offering an official teaser on February 1st, but we won’t know anything for sure until MWC. Just keep your fingers crossed!… Read the rest
According to T-Mobile inside blogger, TmoNews, the Samsung Vibrant 4G will move data at a lightning 21Mbps. 50% faster than the G2 and MyTouch 4G (T-Mobile’s other hot smartphones), this device will be T-Mobile’s speediest offering. The Vibrant 4G is an upgraded version of the Samsung Vibrant, currently the #1 selling Galaxy S product in the US, with over 1 million units sold. No details about plans or pricing for the new device are yet available.
Other exciting additions accompany the Vibrant 4G as well. According to the leaked documents, the Vibrant 4G will carry Android 2.2, Froyo. The original Vibrant is still running on Android 2.1, so this is a welcome improvement. However, Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) has already been released, leaving this upgrade with more to be desired. A more welcome addition, a front-facing video camera will adorn the new device, enabling video chatting. A couple new programs, T-Mobile TV and the Double Twist Air Sync, will be included but not too much is known about their particulars.
In terms of similarity, the Vibrant 4G contains the same internal processor, Super AMOLED touch screen, and memory capacity ranging from 16 to 32GB. The Kindle app and Samsung Media Hub will also come included, although the free movie Avatar will be replaced with Inception. The same 5 megapixel camera still rests at the back of the device.
Is the Vibrant 4G really a 4G phone? T-Mobile likes to refer to its HSPA+ system as a 4G-level network, however most objective analysts say it’s really only a superfast 3G, not quite up to 4G standards. In any case, definitions in this area remain fuzzy at best and it’s difficult to come up with clear distinctions between the various technologies. Either way, the fast speeds promised for this new device certainly boost its appeal. The question remains: will it be as popular as its predecessor? Only time will tell.… Read the rest
The luxury of blazing fast Internet that WiMax is supposed to afford customers doesn’t often (if ever) manifest itself at its ITU-accepted 4G rate of 100mbps. But even if the advertised technology isn’t actually capable of streaming at such great heights, it still presents an improvement over many-a-past network.Though there have been many disappointing speed issues in regards to current WiMax deployments, the good news is that there’s always room to make things better.
Bulgarian WiMax service provider, Max Telecom, is upping their game for their broadband customers in the Balkan nation by doubling the transfer rate to 8mbps. The boost in service is being made possible by a EUR 15 million equipment upgrade from Samsung. Those speeds were previously only available within Yambol and Karzhali provinces, but will now extend network coverage 65% of the population.
A successful launch of the upgrade could bring an even more robust transfer rate, as Samsung could offer Max Telecom equipment capable of reaching speeds of 32mbps. For now, Bulgaria’s capital city of Sofia has access to the 8mbps upgrade before it branches out to various other locations in three weeks time. All in all, 8mpbs isn’t too shabby. WiMax networks in more developed countries like the U.S. via Clearwire are topping out at 10mpbs. If Max Telecom’s networks can consistently stream as advertised, they’re customers are getting a pretty sweet deal– or maybe the others are just getting a raw one.
As service providers like Sprint Nextel, Verizon, and AT&T battle for the rights to WiMAX and LTE networks for their mobile data plans, the tailors that outfit compatible equipment – specifically, Motorola and Nokia – remodel their respective gadgetry and tech wardrobes to suit the burgeoning market.
Joining Samsung (which already demoed its own WiMAX 2 Mobile Broadband earlier this month) come Motorola and Nokia, who have each announced extensions of already-procured licensing agreements to cover the greatly celebrated, next-gen 4G-mania that’s seizing the nation – cellular technologies LTE, WiMAX, and LTE-Advanced were officially included in the companies’ prevalent intellectual property contracts, the terms of which remain undisclosed.
While the companies remain silent about the unnamed stipulations, their spokespeople remain enthusiastic about the promise of a 4G-enriched future."This agreement also shows that the industry is making fast progress in resolving LTE licensing issues between the major patent holders," said Finnish Nokia Vice President Paul Melin of the transaction, which took place this past Friday. Kirk Dailey, corporate VP of Motorola’s Intellectual Property department, announced that his company was “pleased to extend our existing IP licensing agreement with Nokia to include 4G technologies and are confident this agreement will help foster continued innovation and technological advancement for the telecommunications industry. Motorola is committed to leveraging the strength of its industry-leading intellectual property portfolio for the benefit of its customers, partners, shareholders and licensees.”
Motorola and Nokia face tremendous competition in bedding WiMAX – Samsung plans to have its own equipment out by the end of 2011 (much to the chagrin of rivals Apple and Google Android) suitable for WiMAX 2, encased in backwards-compatible technology that should fit even the currently growing WiMAX network. While Motorola already has a phone upgradeable to WiMAX in the works, Nokia has yet to dish on any up-and-coming devices – and, with both groups already infamous for their previously released Android tech and Asian-fave Nokia 6500 Slide, we eagerly await more information about any new models to be released by these freshly re-contracted companies. … Read the rest
Before new technology appears on the North American horizon, it always seems to pass through the fertile testing ground that is Japan. It happened with your favorite Nintendo games as a kid and it's happening with mobile broadband technology now. As Clearwire and Sprint are hard at work trying to elicit "oohs" and "aahs" from U.S. customers with their burgeoning nationwide 4G WiMax networks, Samsung already has their sights set on the next generation.
In association with Japan's UQ Communications, the Korean electronics behemoth has taken the occasion of the CEATEC trade show in Tokyo to run public trials of their 330-Mbps WiMax 2 network. While still compatible with presently implemented WiMax networks, the new version provides a significantly faster, more efficient connection as evidenced by the concurrent display of full-HD 3D videos, and 16 full HD videos on four big screen TVs, carried out with Samsung's commercial mobile base station– a unit identical to many utilized by WiMax providers the world over.
Samsung fully expects standards for WiMax 2 to be ready to roll by next month and to have compatible devices and services on tap at the end of 2011. The goods news for those still making nice with earlier versions of WiMax is that they'll be able to intermingle with the upgrade, and vendors of the current WiMax system can easily move their customers to the new standard with the application of system software and upgraded channel cards. These apparent advancements in WiMax technology (phase 2) prior to the official phase one of the major LTE networks, may ultimately give the 4G standard a fighting chance when it comes to establishing technological superiority. So while many are labeling WiMax a "niche" technology, its champions are determined to show it has some room for growth just yet.… Read the rest
Using conventional wisdom and keen powers of observation, your average enlightened follower of wireless trends may have long ago declared LTE the “royal highness” of 4G network technology standards on the European continent; But even with the region’s more developed nations opting for Long Term Evolution as their chief 4G format, Samsung isn’t quite ready to take part in that coronation ceremony.
The Korean mega-conglomerate is still holding strong to the belief that there’s plenty more fruit to be harvested from the WiMax technology tree. That fruit may not be plucked in wealthier countries like Sweden, Great Britain, and Germany; Samsung sees their fortunes rising where the sun does–in the east. Having struck two deals to provide 802.16e infrastructure for the rollouts of two national WiMax networks in Bulgaria and the Ukraine, they may be laying the foundation for even further success spreading and improving WiMax in the region for countries looking for a more cost-effective solution to improving their speed of their net access.
The devices at the center of these respective rollouts are Samsung’s U-RAS Smart CP base stations, which Ukraine’s Intellicom LLC will deploy to their top 4 markets by June 2011, hopefully making WiMax readily available to 20 million households by 2013. They’re not alone in trying to tackle that market though, as rival Ukraine High Technologies will be boxing them out for position for customers on a national level.
Bulgarian service provider, Max Telecom, will utilize the Smart base stations in an effort to upgrade its existing WiMax networks to best competing operators TransTelecom and Nexcom Bulgaria LLC. As a chief selling point of the new network Max will be boasting of their “high-quality VoIP” services that they hope will be available to the nation’s population of 7.6 million by 2012. Bulgaria’s WiMax users are expected to more than triple by 2015.
Though an investment for the further development of WiMax technology in a region where the 4G standard isn’t exactly “killing it” may seem risky for Ukrainian and Bulgarian providers alike; the U-RAS Smart CP Base Stations takes into account the potential shift of preference by supporting “a migration to WiMax 2 (802.16m) and TD-LTE, the alternative technology that can operate on the same spectrum as WiMax.” It’s better to be safe than sorry.… Read the rest
Sprint and Samsung proudly release the newest 4G-enabled smart phone, the Samsung Epic. It’s Samsung’s first 4G Android-powered device.
“Sprint takes another leap forward today, announcing its second 4G-capable smartphone,” Steve Elfman, president, Network Operations and Wholesale, said, “Samsung Epic 4G joins a portfolio of powerful devices offering an unprecedented simplicity and value to our customers as the only national carrier with a 4G network and devices and applications that can leverage the increased data speeds to provide a high-def entertainment and business experience in the palm of your hand.”
The Samsung Epic 4G ushers in a new era of Samsung smart phones that offer their very best in screen, speed and content quality for an outstanding consumer experience. It offers a fully integrated-multimedia, messaging and social networking experience on your handset. It comes with a full QWERTY keyboard and 4-inch AMOLED touchscreen.
The Samsung Media Hub will provide Samsung Epic owners the opportunity to feature a video store with movies and TV shows for purchase or rental. The AllShare service allows for wireless storage of music, pictures and HD video to other DLNA certified home electronics, including HDTVs, monitors, digital cameras, printers and more.
It’s powered by Google’s Android 2.1 platform and is the only 4G phone with a full slide QWERTY keyboard, virtual keyboard and Skype technology. It allows users to text faster and more intuitively with one finger motion across the virtual keyboard. The gaming capabilities are second to none, with a six-axis sensor that interprets simple device movement, and the game responds when users move the phone.
The 1GHz Cortex A8 Hummingbird Application Processor supports great graphics and faster upload and download times. There are two cameras, including a forward facing camera designed for video chat. The other is a 5 megapixel camer with LED flash and digital zoom for HD video recording. The device also works as a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot that connects up to five devices to Sprint’s 4G network.
The Samsung Social Hub is designed to integrate all the social networking platforms, messages and email accounts. In the future, the Samsung Epic 4G will be upgraded to Android 2.2. There isn’t a release date for the Samsung Epic 4G, but Sprint is allowing consumers to pre-register for the device.… Read the rest
Samsung will release a version of the Galaxy S that’s WiMAX-enabled for Sprint. Images of the smart phone have leaked prior to the formal announcement of the phone on Android Community. The Samsung Galaxy S will have a sliding keyboard with a super AMOLED display. It will provide download speeds of 12 MBps in 4G coverage areas.
It will launch with Google’s Android 2.1 along with Samsung’s TouchWiz 3.0 user interface layered on top. It includes a front facing camera for video conferencing and a microSD memory card slot. There is also a 5 megapixel rear-facing camera with an LED flash.
The other details regarding the Samsung Galaxy S are unknown at this moment. There is also no date or price for when the phone is released on Sprint’s network. It will be the second WiMAX-enabled phone from Sprint. The HTC EVO 4G was released on June 4th. Sprint initially overstated the sales of the EVO 4G, but the figures were still strong in 4G markets.
CLEAR plans on releasing two WiMAX-enabled phones by the end of 2010 too. It was recently announced that they’ll be from HTC and Samsung. The Samsung device will be geared towards video conferencing with great video quality courtesy of the 4G speeds. The HTC version isn’t the EVO 4G but one has to wonder if CLEAR just won’t re-brand the different phones to their own versions.
The Samsung Galaxy S, whenever its released can only help WiMAX adoption in the 4G markets. Sprint, along with Clearwire currently have 33 U.S. WiMAX markets, including Las Vegas, Philadelphia and Chicago, with plans on launching more in 2010. Sprint and CLEAR will be available to 120 million people by the end of 2010, including markets in New York, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Miami and San Francisco.… Read the rest
