Samsung’s name is in the air, as heading into the July 4 weekend, the manufacturer released three new Galaxy S smartphones – the 4G-capable Epic 4G on the Sprint Nextel network, the Vibrant on T-Mobile and now the Samsung Fascinate on Verizon Wireless.
While the carrier has shared that the Fascinate will come in “Mirror Black with chrome details,” it has yet to release pricing and arrival date information – or even images – of its newest Samsung smartphone.
What is known is that the Fascinate, resembling its Galaxy S siblings, features a 4-inch Super AMOLED multitouch display, a 1GHz Samsung Cortex A8 Hummingbird processor, integrated messaging, multimedia and social networking features, and Google’s Android 2.1 operating system. (While Verizon, unlike Sprint, made no direct mention of Android 2.2 in its announcement, the newest version of the operating system is also slated to arrive sometime this summer.)
With Android OS, users can enjoy integrated Google mobile services, such as Gmail, Google Talk, YouTube and quick access to the Android Market. Perhaps more surprisingly, also preloaded into the Fascinate are Microsoft’s Bing Maps and Bing Search.
In addition to Verizon’s 3G network, the Fascinate can connect via WiFi and act as a mobile hotspot for up to five WiFi-enabled devices. It of course also comes with a full Web browser, as well as support for text, picture, video and voice messaging, and support for enterprise-grade e-mail, contacts and calendar accounts.
While a second, front-facing camera for video calling is now in vogue – appearing on devices such as the Apple iPhone 4, HTC Evo 4G and Samsung Epic 4G – the Fascinate will likely more than make due, and may even save users a few bucks, with its single 5-megapixel camera/camcorder with LED flash and HD video recording and playback.
Also on board are music and video players, a 3.5-millimeter headphone jack, a 2GB microSD card that’s expandable to 32GB, and a six-axis sensor that works with the phone’s accelerometer, to offer a “smooth, fluid gaming experience when the user is tilting the device up or down or panning the phone to the left or right,” says Verizon.
Other distracting features with which a user may stay entertained include Verizon’s V Cast Music with Rhapsody and Samsung’s Social Hub. The latter app integrates calendar information from locations such as Google Calendar and Facebook, as well as contacts from sources such as Exchange, Google and Twitter. A social feed can also display updates from MySpace, Facebook and Twitter, and an AllShare application enables a users to connect to, and transfer data to, other DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) devices, as HDTVs, laptops and printers.
