Samsung Moment Smartphone Opens the Android Floodgates for Sprint

Sprint announced it will begin selling the Android-running Samsung Moment beginning Nov. 1. It’s the second Android phone Sprint has said it will offer. The HTC Hero, the first, will arrive on Oct. 11.  
 
In May, Google predicted that 18 to 20 phones with its Android OS would arrive before the end of 2009, and sure enough, as the holiday season nears, the number of Android phones grows.
 
On Oct. 7, T-Mobile—so far the only U.S. carrier with available Android phones, namely the HTC G1 and G2, branded the myTouch by T-Mobile—introduced its holiday lineup, which included three phones running Android: the Motorola Cliq, the Samsung Behold II and a limited-edition Fender version of the myTouch.
 
Verizon is also rumored to have Android phones on the way, and in 2010 AT&T will reportedly offer an Android phone from Dell.
 
“Sprint is thrilled to add the powerful and sophisticated Samsung Moment to our growing portfolio of Android devices,” said Kevin Packingham, senior vice president of product development for Sprint, in a statement.
 
“With a full QWERTY keyboard, Samsung Moment allows customers to easily access the thousands of applications available in the Android Market,” said Packingham. “The excitement around Android products confirms Sprint’s decision several years ago to be a charter member of the Open Handset Alliance and lead the open revolution.”
 
The Moment features what Sprint says is the first 3.2-inch AMOLED touch screen, offering a crisp Web browsing experience and easy use of Google’s built-in services, such as Google Search, Google Maps, Gmail and YouTube. There’s quick access to social networking sites, a 3.2-megapixel camera with flash and video, stereo Bluetooth 2.0, a media player and 3.5mm headphone jack, visual voice mail, and support of personal and corporate e-mail accounts.
 
The Moment is powered by an 800MHz processor, and its memory is expandable to up to 32GB.
 
The Android Market is currently more than 10,000 applications strong, and Sprint has also launched a developer Website, encouraging developers to create applications for Sprint’s Android-powered devices. The carrier will host its ninth developer conference in Santa Clara, Calif., from Oct. 26-28, which will no doubt focus heavily on Android.

“The Samsung Moment and the Android platform are helping Sprint drive openness and innovation,” said Andy Rubin, vice president of mobile platforms at Google, in the shared statement.
 
The soon-to-arrive HTC Hero will run $179.99 with a two-year contract and a $150 rebate. The Moment will retail for the same price, also with a two-year contract, $100 mail-in rebate and $50 instant rebate.