Samsung Galaxy W hits Bell, BlackBerry Curve 9380 hits Telus
updated 09:35 am EST, Thu November 24, 2011
Galaxy W and BlackBerry Curve 9380 reach Canada
Canadian carriers on Thursday became the first in North America to get a pair of new smartphones. Bell now has the Galaxy W, Samsung's mid-tier Android 2.3 phone. It raises the bar for entry smartphones through a 1.4GHz single-core processor, a 3.7-inch LCD, 14.4Mbps 3G data (not 4G as claimed), and 4GB of internal space with a microSDHC card slot for more.
The Bell edition mostly adds the carrier's own apps. Price is its real selling point, as it costs $50 on a three-year plan and still costs just $250 contract-free.
Rival carrier Telus also now has the distinction of being the first known carrier anywhere to ship the BlackBerry Curve 9380. The hardware is an all-touch counterpart to the Curve 9360 and drops the keyboard in favor of a larger 3.2-inch, 360x480 display. It shares the 800MHz processor, 512MB of internal storage, and five-megapixel camera with flash.
Despite the hardware, it currently costs the same $50 on contract as the Galaxy W and is $350 bought contract-free.
