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Sprint’s Boost Mobile said it will sell the Samsung Galaxy Prevail smartphone for $179 without a contract, marking the prepaid brand’s first CDMA Android handset.
Running Android 2.2, the Prevail has a 3.2-inch touch screen and a 2 megapixel camera with video capability, a departure from today’s high-end smartphones boasting 4-inch-plus screens, 8 megapixel cameras and HD video.
Another departure from the high-end Android smartphone set, such as Sprint’s HTC Evo 4G and Samsung Epic 4G, is that customers can enjoy Boost’s $50 Monthly Unlimited plan, which includes nationwide talk, text, Web, email and payments that shrink.
Buyers can watch their monthly bill shrink by $5 for every six on-time payments they make, down to as low as $35 a month. Payments do not need to be consecutive to qualify.
“We are excited to partner with Samsung to launch this innovative touch-screen phone for wireless users who are interested in upgrading to an Android experience without spending more on their monthly plan,” said Andre Smith, vice president, Boost Mobile.
Such flexible payment offers are one of the reasons industry analysts are expecting Android to hit 45 percent market share worldwide by 2015, as the open-source platforms affords phone makers and carriers to produce anything from low-end phones for $99 to tweener devices such as the Prevail, and high-end handsets with large screens and HD and 3D functionality.
The Prevail is GPS- and Bluetooth-capable, provides access to Gmail and Google Talk, and sports free Telenav navigation. The Prevail also supports microSD cards up to 32GB, with a 2GB card included.
The Prevail comes preloaded with applications such as SCVNGR, Poynt, Twidroyd, Facebook, Hookt, ThinkFree Office and YouTube.
The Prevail will be available in late April at Boost Mobile’s exclusive retail stores, select independent wireless dealer locations across the country and from the Boost Mobile Website with free shipping. The Prevail will be available in select retail outlets nationwide in mid-May.