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The Samsung Moment is now available on the Sprint Nextel network, making it the carrier’s second to feature Google’s Android operating system, the two companies officially announced on Nov. 3.
Sprint first announced the Moment on Oct. 7, even before the arrival of its first Android smartphone, the HTC Hero, which arrived on Oct. 11.
The Moment features Sprint’s first 3.2-inch AMOLED touchscreen, which, according to Samsung, “creates crisper colors and wider viewing angles than other display screens.” The screen is paired with a slide-out qwerty keyboard and, as an additional device-navigation option, a tiny touchpad – or “optical joystick” – just below the screen.
There’s an 800MHz processor, built-in Google mobile services, such as Google Search, Maps, Gmail and YouTube, as well as access to the Android Market, which now features more than 10,000 applications.
In addition to the Sprint network – which is the first to launch 4G technology in markets including Atlanta, Las Vegas and Portland – the Moment includes WiFi connectivity, Bluetooth 2.0, integrated GPS and an accelerometer. There’s also a 3.2-megapixel camera with flash and video, Sprint TV with live and on-demand programming, quick access to social-networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, visual voicemail, support for personal and corporate email accounts, and expandable memory up to 32GB.
The Moment, and particularly its Android OS, is among the devices Sprint is putting its faith in to stop the defection of customers to other carriers, such as AT&T, which exclusively offers Apple’s iPhone. On Oct. 29, Sprint announced that during the third fiscal quarter of 2009, it lost 801,000 post-paid subscribers – which was actually an improvement from the 991,000 subscribers it lost during the previous quarter.
The Palm Pre is credited with initiating the turnaround, which Sprint hopes to continue through its support of popular Android devices, as well as the Palm Pixi, a downscaled, smaller-screen version of the Palm Pre, which will arrive on the Sprint network on Nov. 15 for $99.99, versus the Pre’s newly lowered asking price of $149.99, along with a two-year contract.
The Moment is priced at $179.99, before taxes, after a $50 instant rebate and a $100 mail-in rebate, and with a two-year service contract.
“What’s truly special abut the Samsung Moment is the way this device and the Android platform take advantage of the power of the Sprint Now Network to deliver -surfing the net’ like never before,” remarked Kevin Packingham, Sprint’s senior vice president of product development, in a statement first announcing the Moment on Oct. 7. “Its dynamic screen and qwerty keyboard make texting, e-mail and accessing thousands of Android applications a breeze.”