By Yesterday brought rumors that the Samsung Galaxy S would launch in 110 markets around the globe, and it looks like Samsung wasn’t exaggerating. Today the Galaxy S gets its release in Europe, and will soon follow to the rest of the globe. Samsung wants to “democratize” the smartphone market by bringing the handset to over 100 carriers, meaning they don’t want their device forcing the consumer’s hand in choosing a carrier.
And with this announcement, the big summer handset push is on. The amount of phones coming in the next few weeks is really pretty ridiculous, and that is only considering the ones we have confirmed releases of. When the Galaxy S eventually will make it to the US isn’t clear just yet, but rumors are T-Mobile could be first to get it, and it may be within in the next month or two.
Press Release:
Samsung Galaxy S Launches with Industry-leading Technological Innovations
More than 100 operators across the globe choose the Samsung Galaxy S as their key smartphone market driver
ZURICH, Switzerland – June 2, 2010 – Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., a leading mobile phone provider, today announced the launch of Samsung Galaxy S (Model: GT-I9000), a new class of smartphone that will deliver a wealth of intelligent, immersive and integrated experiences for users. The Samsung Galaxy S will change the way people think about smartphones.
The Samsung Galaxy S has been extremely well received by retailers and operators around the world; in fact over 100 mobile operators across the globe have selected the Galaxy S as their key smartphone market driver. Available across Europe at launch, the Galaxy S will roll out to the rest of the world including the US later this year.
“The Android-powered Samsung Galaxy S will set a new standard for smartphones, and the excitement we’ve seen from operators and retailers for this device is testament to that,” said JK Shin, president and head of the Mobile Communications Business, Samsung Electronics. “The Samsung Galaxy S is the perfect device for people in all corners of the world who want that extra edge; to be more effective, productive, better connected, and in tune with their smart life – both personal and professional – all in a very easy and simple way. We’re extremely confident that this device is going to be very successful in every market.”
As part of Samsung’s drive to democratize the smartphone market, the Galaxy S will be the flagship model of the smartphone range Samsung will introduce this year. It will also offer enhanced opportunities for developers and new revenue streams for operators. JK Shin continued, “Everyone is going to benefit from this revolutionary new device: from the consumer with the phone in their hand, to application developers and the many global operators who have signed up to support the Galaxy S. This truly is a phone for the whole ecosystem.”
Featuring Samsung’s dazzlingly bright 4-inch Super AMOLED screen and a 1 GHz application processor, the Android™-powered Samsung Galaxy S is designed to provide immersive, intelligent and integrated experiences, with the power to enrich people’s lives through best-in-class services and technologies. It will introduce people to the concept of the “Smart Life” – a smartphone experience that is simple, organize and integrated; one that enriches the lives of users.
The Galaxy S features Samsung’s super-fast TouchWiz 3.0 user-interface (UI), giving users instant access to their mobile lives. Smart Life is further enabled through intuitive, integrative features, including the Swype text input service, the rich augmented reality browser, Layar, and advanced Location Based Service (LBS) capabilities.
More than 50,000 applications from Android MarketÔ and Samsung Apps will allow users to extend the benefits and excitement of the smartphone experience even more. Users have access to GoogleÔ mobile services, such as Google SearchÔ, GmailÔ, and Google MapsÔ.
Galaxy S Key Features
- eBook: Provides best-in-class reading experience on the phone. Customizable fonts, easy text search, and intuitive book list management offers convenient and customized reading experience.
- HD Video: Super fast 1 GHz processor enhances HD video playing and recording features on dazzling Super AMOLD screen.
- Daily Briefing: Offers instant access to weather, news, stocks, and the scheduler.
- All Share: Enables inter-device connectivity via DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) technology.
- Augmented Reality: Shows users’ surroundings and displays information on camera-view. Tele-Atlas POI provides richer information than ever.
- Swype: Provides fast and easy way to input text on screen while on-the-move.
- Write and go: Jot down an idea first and later decide on a format such as SMS/ MMS, email, calendar or memo.
- ThinkFree: Apps to view and edit Microsoft Office 2007 documents.
- Smart Alarm: Wakes up with a natural alarm sound and automatically turned-on display light.
I hope T-mobile learns from the Behold and tells Samsung “No Thank You”. They need to get the Nexus One in their stores already.
And I would stay as far away from this thing as possible. With the recent Samsung Behold II SNAFU I would never even consider a Samsung device, EVER.
Come on, guys! T-Mobile needs as many top-tier smartphones as they can get. This is no Behold II, it’s Sammy’s flagship phone. With The Galaxy S on 100+ carriers, they will absolutely be supporting it (they’d have to abandon the smartphone market if they didn’t). If they have 20,000 units of the Behold II out there, compared to if they sell 150,000 units of the S (just arbitrary numbers), which one’s gonna get support? I know the Behold II was a huge debacle, but companies can and do learn from such mistakes.
Verizon, get this phone ASAP, please! This is the phone I want.
after having the moment it is going to be hard for me to get another samsung phone. granted this one is speced out nicely i am still not sure about getting one if it comes to sprint
Sounds like a great phone. Too bad I was burned by Samsung with their Behold II. Sorry… I’m going to HTC.
I hafta agree with JaylanPHNX here. I can’t imagine Samsung letting this phone fail no matter what. Launching simultaneously in that many markets means they have A LOT invested in this phone.
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If this hummingbird and the Super AMOLED live up to the hype (and the benchmarks and hands ons all point in that direction as far as I’ve seen) then this phone will be pretty awesome.
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@Eli, although I would also love to see this phone on VZW, the chances of that becoming reality are slim to none. As far as I know there has been no discussion of this bad boy being available for CDMA networks.
You have way too much blind faith in Samsung. I have a policy now and it is quite simple. Unless the phone I am looking at has been rooted I will NOT buy it. At least with full root I have a plan B if the manufacturer/carrier stops supporting the device. Perfect example is the G1. This old dog is still learning new tricks and seems to like Froyo for dessert!
maybe this is what Tmobile / Samsung are planning for July??
Behold Behold Behold blah blah blah! This Beast aint a damn “sold on the 4th placed US carrier overpriced” Behold and I wish you people would get that through your heads! Did the Samsung Moment not get updated? Is the Moment a better phone than the Behold? Is the Behold NOT a fail? Come on who says “I want a Behold II?” The Behold II didnt even get attention at launch let alone a worldwide highly sought after launch. This phone WILL be supported, although not the way hackers want it to be but it will most definently move passed Eclair. Raise your hands if you think Samsung wants to commit cellphone suicide.
@Darkseider, I really have no blind faith whatsoever. I base what I’m saying off of the current reports, benchmarks and hands-on testing that is available. I have no reason to think that this phone will fail based on what I’ve seen.
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I understand that some tech companies often fail to learn from their past mistakes, but there are also cases where they make big time improvements. Think about Motorola; it had released some pretty lousy excuses for smartphones and then along came the Droid.
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I can understand your personal preference to only buy rooted phones; it’s the safe play. Given your “proven tech is better than new tech” bent, I’m surprised you’re following articles like this one and the Shadow reports so closely. I’ll be honest, it kinda seems like you’re just trying to trash talk new phones to justify your personal “old > new” feelings.
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However, if you do you have any reasons to doubt the Galaxy S BESIDES Samsung’s past failures, please share. I don’t claim to know everything about this phone and I could be missing something.
Reasons to dislike this phone:
TouchWhiz UI: IE Slower Updates
Yahoo (read Microsoft) rather than Google
Reasons to dislike Samsung
Lack of developer community for Samsung products with regard to gaining root as compared to HTC or Moto
Poor track record for overall build quality
@Zer0-9 What the hell are you talking about Yahoo instead of Google? It says right there in the press report that it has Google Search, Gmail, and Google Maps.
@kwest12 The only thing that has me saying no to the Galaxy S is the fact that it is Samsung. No more, no less. I hope they prove me wrong. As for following the Shadow/Xtreme I am very interested in this unit. Especially as to what SoC is in the thing. IF it is indeed a 720 Mhz OMAP 3630 and on that benchmark it was running 2.1 update-1 then I would love to know HOW. Granted the GPU is supposed to be far faster but the CPU is identical to that of the OMAP 3430 only smaller (45nm vs. 65nm). So the benchmark score seems very odd to me. Other than that I hope the Shadow/Xtreme is as wonderful as everyone is making it out to be and gets rooted proper and turns into the next must have like the original Droid. Otherwise I will be holding off.
Wasn’t the behold kinda crappy to begin with?i looked at it and turned out down I had a non smart samsung phone the t629 before android and loved it..if this comes to tmobile im getting one
I think some people here don’t read because you really think just because its going to be their flagship phone they have to update it, every new phone for them could have been called flagship and so will the newer ones also. When the Behold came out they talked about how cool it was and how they were going to support it for a long time and we all know how that went. Just read this story because if you didn’t know Samsung is one of the most corrupt companies in the world, only money matters to them not customer support and they will continue to prove me right for years to come.
http://gizmodo.com/5524174/controversial-book-claims-samsung-is-basically-the-most-corrupt-company-in-asia
I just want to know if the fragmentation whiners and the Incredible/EVO/Galaxy S wankers are actually the same people.
“Ooo…new! Fast! Shiny! Must! Have! NOW!”
“Why won’t they update my phone? All they care about is bringing out new devices, existing customers be damned.”
It would be funny, if it wasn’t so pathetic.
@Dave you’re spot on there!
I purchased a Samsung Galaxy over the Hero (at a premium) because of improved specs and got ditched on version 1.5 with NO upgrade plan.
If had had bought a Hero I would using 2.1 right now.
As it is I’ve now got a Nexus One as it’s almost guaranteed to be receiving updates quicker than from a manufacturer.
It’s very unfair you’ve put the Incredible and EVO in the same category as the Galaxy S because HTC have a proven track record for upgrading their Sense-modified software whereas Samsung don’t bother upgrading at all even though they use stock android.
I’d hate to attack anyone aboard the android ship but I wouldn’t buy a Samsung untill they’d done something to give me confidence that they would support their phone.
How could you guys compare the Behold and the Galaxy S?
They are two totally different phones, and I’m sure Samsung have learned from their mistake, and won’t let us down with the Galaxy S.
@Cpt. K, I’d say that HTC’s record has been spotty, to be generous, while Samsung’s has been abysmal. For whatever reason, HTC’s has been better in the US than elsewhere in the world.
If anybody here is worried about updates just get a Nexus One as long as you have a internet connection you get updates before everyone else no matter where you are in the world….problem solved and your welcome ;)
To be honest, I don’t think you can fairly judge ANY manufacturer’s track record on updates after just one or two generations of Android phones… The Behold II was a letdown, but they did update the Moment relatively quickly (quicker than HTC updated some of it’s models, and quicker than Moto has updated most of it’s models besides the Droid). Why aren’t people up in arms over the Devour and other phones? It just seems like the blog’s/tech site’s rush to crucify companies is a bit hasty. That being said, I’d still put more faith on HTC than Samsung, and I wouldn’t buy the Galaxy S w/o a review and/or a hands on w/that new TouchWiz UI. AFAIK we really haven’t seen a lot of details on it… And one of the above posters is right, regardless of anything else, the dev community of users for HTC phones is way more active.
You guys know that nobody really cares about samsung’s issue of not updating behold 2 to Android 2.xx aside from few ppl here. This phone is going to sell crazy, and from what I assume only sales that they have lost from not updating behold 2 are from people owning behold 2, and assuming behold 2 came out about 6 months ago, they won’t be buying any phone recently anyway.
You guys are bashing on samsung’s behold 2 issue way too much. It’s just one failed product that samsung came out with and they decided not to spend any more money on the product. Sux for you if you bought behold 2, but whatya gonna do? I bought a latest side kick 2 years ago and they even stopped whole internet in sidekick, i ain’t complainin.
I love how people spread rumors that are completely false like the idiot who says this only uses Yahoo apps and not Google’s. Did he not see any video reviews on this phone? NEWS FLASH PEOPLE. This is the most powerful Android phone poised to release this year. GSM Arena says it is on top of the Android food chain and the Nexus One and HTC Desire are not up to the Galaxy S standard. To those of you saying this phone won’t be upgraded, you couldn’t be more wrong. Just because they didn’t upgrade the shitty Behold 2 doesn’t mean they won’t update this monster of a device. Here is a 9 page review on this phone. http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_i9000_galaxy_s-review-478.php
TouchWiz?!? Will they give that up already? That is what ruined the Behold 2.
@Air…Have you seen the new TouchWiz? If not you should check it out. GSM-Arena stated in there review that once you use the new TouchWiz you will never want to use another UI. In the end, if you don’t like using TouchWiz it’s very easy to turn off. Samsung actually built that option in the settings menu.
Got this interesting link, http://www.shop066.com/goods.php?id=2835, said the price is only $322. Is it true?