T-Mobile's second unveiling on Wednesday has provided fuller details of the Galaxy S 4G. Samsung's upgraded phone is now known to have an Ericsson M5720 chipset that gives it the 21Mbps HSPA+ access behind the new name. The faster speed will supply both video chat through a custom Qik app and HD video streaming through T-Mobile TV that will supply free but limited TV from ABC, Fox and others.
T-Mobile has taken to discounting its Samsung-made Android devices is now offering the Vibrant smartphone for free on a contract, while the Galaxy Tab, also from Samsung, is expected to get price cut of its own. The seven-inch Android tablet should soon cost $250 when tied to a two-year deal. In mid-December, T-Mobile dropped the price of both the Vibrant and Galaxy Tab to $150 and $350, respectively. Slightly later, the Galaxy Tab was again decreased to $300 on-contract.
Samsung Vibrant owners finally began receiving the promised Android 2.2 update on Friday. Along with the inherent Android 2.2 features, including the option of tethering, it adds T-Mobile's Wi-Fi calling app and a new camera interface. Android 2.2 enables many more official Google apps as well as Voice Actions, storing apps on microSD and other extras.
T-Mobile chief marketing officer Cole Brodman said on Thursday that the long delayed Android 2.2 upgrade for the Samsung Vibrant would arrive tomorrow, January 21. He denied accusations that the update was being purposefully held back and said it was strictly practical. It was only "quality control and timing" that mattered, he told PCMag.
At a press event on Thursday, T-Mobile USA CEO Philipp Humm confirmed that a Sidekick and a Samsung Galaxy S phone with HSPA+ support will arrive at the carrier soon. The Sidekick news was already covered, and both handsets will carry a 4G suffix. According to a PCMag report, the two devices will be joined by the known Dell Streak 7, T-Mobile G-Slate tablet with Android 3.0 and a USB modem capable of 42Mbps speeds in the first half of this year.
What is believed to be the upcoming Samsung Vibrant 4G that's been all over the news lately has now been spotted undergoing FCC testing. As posted earlier in the T-Mobile Vibrant 4G story, the device has a very similar model name, SGH-T959V in the FCC documents compared to SGH-T959 previously. It supports AWS bands, or what T-Mobile requires to get on to its 21Mbps HSPA+ 3G network.
Samsung's upcoming Vibrant 4G was seen in person for the first time Monday night with a surprise OS upgrade. The phone is cosmetically identical to the original Vibrant but now has a front camera and, at least in a prototype, Android 2.3 to support the extra optics. A BGR example showed the stock OS, though it will reportedly get an updated version of Samsung's custom TouchWiz interface for the new Google software.
Samsung Canada, via its Facebook page, has announced that the Samsung Vibrant from Bell and the Samsung Captivate from Rogers will get a firmware update to Android 2.2 in mid-December. The Fascinate from Telus will receive the same upgrade early on in 2011, Samsung adds. The Galaxy S-series phones will be upgraded due to "tremendous interest," Samsung says.
Samsung today attempted to explain why they have chosen to fit its iPad rival with an LCD instead of its vaunted AMOLED technology, as featured on its Galaxy S smartphones. On the launch of Apple’s super high-resolution Retina Display, which is built using very similar structural technology to Samsung’s Super TFT LCDs, Samsung was quick to criticize Apple's technological breakthrough in display resolution. Among Samsung's claims at the time was that an AMOLED display uses 30 percent less power than an equivalent LCD-based display.
Some resourceful users on the XDA Developers forum have found a way to quickly and easily unlock the Samsung Galaxy S in its various editions to work on other networks. As the unlock codes are located on the phone in a .BAK file rather than a server, all that's required to find them is a simple hex editor script and a USB cable. There is no need to root the phone and, if any warranty needs come up, the handsets can be re-locked to their original providers with the same codes.
A much better deal than yesterday's $99 sale at T-Mobile for the Samsung Vibrant smartphone has now surfaced at Amazon, with the device priced at just $0.01. A two-year contract with T-Mobile is still required, however. For their penny, buyers will get a 1GHz CPU, four-inch Super AMOLED screen and 16GB of storage, along with a five-megapixel camera, GPS and Wi-Fi.
The Samsung Vibrant is being offered for about half price, or just $99, today only at T-Mobile. The deal is also only available online and not in stores. T-Mobile still requires a two-year contract.
