Samsung unveils a new Google Android smartphone, the Galaxy S, at the CTIA Wireless conference in Las Vegas. Running on Android 2.1 and powered by a 1GHz processor, the smartphone features Super AMOLED, which the company says makes its 4-inch screen 20 percent brighter with 20 percent more battery life. Samsung describes the Galaxy S as a multimedia device capable of delivering movies and ebooks, and is partnering with a number of companies, including Skiff and Paramount Pictures, to deliver content.
LAS VEGAS-Samsung unveiled a
Google Android smartphone, the Galaxy S, at the CTIA Wireless conference on
March 23. In keeping with the trend of multimedia-capable smartphones, Samsung
also revealed that it had partnered with companies such as Skiff and Paramount
Pictures to bring content such as ebooks and movies to the Galaxy S at an
unannounced later date, possibly when the device itself rolls out in summer
2010.
During a presentation at the Las Vegas
Convention Center, images of the
Galaxy S flashed on a massive screen as Samsung executives discussed the
capabilities of the slim touch-screen device, which has a form factor
reminiscent of the Apple iPhone or HTC Droid
Eris. Social networking for consumers was emphasized, including Samsung's
Social Hub, which integrates the user's various social networks into a single
interface.
The Galaxy S has Super AMOLED technology, which the company says makes its 4-inch
screen 20 percent brighter, with 80 percent less sunlight reflection and 20
percent more battery life. The smartphone runs Android 2.1 and is powered by a
1GHz processor.
During the presentation, a partnership was announced with Skiff, a company
dedicated to optimizing e-reader content for smartphones. A project developed
by Hearst, which also unveiled a Skiff Reader device at January's Consumer
Electronics Show, Skiff's lineup of e-periodicals apparently includes Hearst
publications such as Esquire along with outside properties such as The New York
Times.
Paramount and Samsung are also
apparently preparing movie-related content for the Galaxy S and other phones in
the upcoming S Series.
Samsung's global share of the mobile device market was 20.1 percent in 2009,
up from 16.7 percent in 2008. In 2009, it shipped more than 200 million
devices.
"Touchphone models were the key to Samsung's high-end growth in 2009,
but we expect the vendor to switch some of its focus to Bada/Android smartphones
and the Samsung Apps initiative in 2010," Neil Mawston, a Strategy
Analytics analyst, wrote
in a Jan. 29 report. That report placed Samsun
behind worldwide market leader Nokia, but ahead of LG and other handset
makers.
Samsung's mobile-device lineup also includes its upcoming E60 e-reader,
which will access Barnes & Noble's ebook store and utilize the bookseller's
ebook lending feature. The 5-inch Samsung device will use either a PC
connection or built-in WiFi for book downloading, as opposed to the 3G
connection utilized by other popular e-readers such as Amazon.com's Kindle or
Barnes & Noble's Nook. The E60 will sell for $299.
Nicholas Kolakowski is a staff editor at eWEEK, covering Microsoft and other companies in the enterprise space, as well as evolving technology such as tablet PCs. His work has appeared in The Washington Post, Playboy, WebMD, AARP the Magazine, AutoWeek, Washington City Paper, Trader Monthly, and Private Air. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
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