Sprint and T-Mobile planned to offer the Samsung Galaxy S III June 21, weeks before their competitors. Sprint, however, is working to meet preorders and has no phones to sell, while T-Mobile only has 16GB models.
Sprint and T-Mobile were slated to
be the first U.S. carriers to the launch this summers it phone, the Samsung
Galaxy S III. Weeks ago, the pair announced June 21 launch dates, while Verizon
Wireless, AT&T and U.S. Cellular gave more vague July timeframes. Strong
demand for the phone, however, has caused a hold-up for both carriers.
Due to overwhelming demand for
Galaxy S III worldwide, Samsung has informed us they will not be able to
deliver enough inventory of Galaxy S III for Sprint to begin selling the device
on June 21, Sprint spokesperson Mark Elliot told
eWEEK in a June 22
email. We are working closely with Samsung on a delivery schedule to
support our launch.
In a statement clearly prepared with
some advance knowledge that Sprint wouldnt see a Galaxy S III come June 21, he
added:
We have begun shipping preorders for
the 16GB version of Samsung Galaxy S III and anticipate they will be delivered
by June 21. We hope to begin shipping preorders for the 32GB version next week
as we receive inventory. Customers can check the status of their preorder at
www.sprint.com/myorder.
Customers have been able to preorder
the smartphone since June 5. Sprint is offering Marble White and Pebble Blue
versions of the Galaxy S III at $199.99 for a 16GB model and $249.99 for a
32GBboth with a two-year contract.
While the Galaxy S III is front and
center on T-Mobiles home page, a closer look reveals that 16GB Pebble Blue and
Marble White options are available for $279.99 with two-year contracts, though
32GB optionspriced at $329.99 with a two-year contractin both colors are
listed as out of stock.
AT&T has opted out of the 32GB
version altogether, saying it will sell the 16GB model for $199.99 with a two-year
contract and offer a 16GB MicroSD card for $39, offering Galaxy S III users 32
total gigabytes for $238.99. A June 4 release said it will also
exclusively offer a version in red.
U.S. Cellular has priced Marble
White and Pebble Blue 16GB models at $199.99, and a 32GB model in Marble White
at $249.99though all these prices are with a two-year contract and after a
$100 mail-in rebate. It has said it will begin selling the phones in July.
Verizon Wireless will sell 16GB and
32GB models for $199.99 and $249.99, respectively, and ship themit says on its
Websiteby July 11.
Samsung introduced the Galaxy S III
May 3, and by mid-May a Samsung executive told the
Korea Economic Daily that it had already received more than 9
million preorders for the phone. The executive added that Samsungs South
Korea-based smartphone factory, which is capable of producing 5 million phones
per month, was running at full capacity.
The Galaxy S III features a 4.8-inch
display, six sensors and a quad-core processor, and weighs 140 grams and measures
9.3mm thin. It can be voice-controlled in a number of ways, and has near-field
communication (NFC) inside, enabling it to take advantage of several
content-sharing capabilities and be used with Samsungs NFC-equipped TecTile
stickers. Its sensors enable it to do things like see when a reader is looking
at it, and so not let the screen dim, and recognize the people in photos and
email them copies. Samsung has also included the GS III in its lineup of SAFE
(Samsung Approved for Enterprise) devices, saying its secure enough for
business users even in regulated industries.
As
eWEEK discovered while
trying out the phone, it is big, slippery,
shortcut-crazy and unlike anything else.
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