Image courtesy of Samsung
Samsung recently had an official unveiling of the new Galaxy S smartphone. Samsung has plenty of new phones coming out this year running for all the big carriers running and assortment of OS’s. The Galaxy S has been seen before at various conferences and shows, but this time people were able to get some good hands on to see what Samsung has to offer. So what really makes the Samsung Galaxy S any different than any other the other dozen phones coming out this Summer? Will Samsung recover from the damage caused to Behold II owners scorned by lack up of future OS updates? Samsung is fighting hard to take some of the spotlight off of Motorola and HTC, and hoping to win some of the Android crowd back.
The Samsung Galaxy S has a nice roll call of features and a few things that really set it apart from the rest. The Galaxy follows suit with all the latest Superphones running a 1GHz CPU, but Samsung stepped it up with an ARM Cortex A8 (Hummingbird) processor. This CPU is manufactured smaller, and less power thirsty that most of the other 1GHz flavors on the market, and has no problem chomping through HD videos, and I’m assuming flash based apps/video in the future.
A few months ago Samsung announced the coming soon Super AMOLED screens. These acclaimed “Super” displays offer a much thinner design, lower power consumption, and above all the ability to be seen in direct sunlight. If you ever handled an N1 outside, they you know this is a pretty big deal. This is important for me, and I’m sure a few others because I find myself constantly shielding my screen with my other hand anytime I am outdoors, in the car, or under direct lighting.
Image courtesy of Engadget ”Galaxy S in direct Sunlight”
With everything so great and appealing there has to be some things that don’t make the cut. The biggest issue for me that I have seen with the Galaxy is the case material. HTC and Verizon do a great job in making metal clad, heavy glass phones. Although I always use a case and screen protector, I really like the glass feel on the Droid and the HD2. Build quality is a top priority for me when I’s after a new device, and most of the hands on folks said the Samsung feels a little on the cheap side. I’m hoping this isn’t a dealbreaker becuase I think this phone has a lot to offer.
Engadget has a nice posting up of some hands on with pictures (outdoors) and video. You can see that the screen still loses some clarity in direct sunlight, but the fact that you can view it at all is enough for me to consider it my next. Some of the other highlights of the article are that the Touchwiz UI is not all that horrible and intrusive like in the past. I’m not a fan of really any UI upgrades, but a few tweaks here and there that are actually work are always welcome, especially to those who are not into running modified ROMs.
For now, I have decided to wait to switch phones until I can get my hands on the Galaxy S. I am pretty pumped about the 4″ screen, and hope that it fills the void between the standard 3.7″ and the larger 4.3″ screens that are found on some of the more popular handsets out. Im hoping but right now its hard to say if the Android Community will accept this phone and offer up custom Rom’s and Apps. Either way, this phone is supposed to hit all 4 major carriers this summer (July?) and rumored to be T-Mobile’s “Project Emerald”.
Update: AT&T just announced their addition of the Galaxy S family will be called “Captivate”. The device runs the same specs as the Galaxy S and will be the Samsung i897 phone. Details are slim but AT&T has made the announcement official. Via Intomobile
Quick Specs
Network
- HSUPA 900/1900/2100, EDGE/GPRS 850/ 900/1800/1900
- 64.2 X 122.4 X 9.9 mm (119g)
- 4.0” WVGA(480×800) 16M SUPER AMOLED
- Front and Rear Camera
- 1GHz ARM Hummingbird CPU
- Android 2.1, Flash-lite, Qik
- 8 or 16GB built in, Micro SD expandable
- Plays pretty much every codec under the sun
- 1500 mAh battery
Via Engadget, Samsung Galaxy S minisite
Video explaining Samsung’s new Super AMOLED techonology. (no sound)
