Samsung Android smartphone in SA, pricing revealed
Samsung today announced that it will be releasing the company’s first Android based smartphone in South Africa “in the last few weeks” of October.
The Samsung I7500 Galaxy features a 3.2 inch capacitive AMOLED touch screen, HSDPA 7.2Mbps, GPRS and EDGE connectivity, a 5 megapixel autofocus camera with an LED flash, 8GB of storage capacity with MicroSD support, WiFi, GPS and Bluetooth 2.0 capabilities.
The device will also ship with Android ‘Cupcake’ v1.5, which is the most recent iteration of the Android platform.
The I7500 will not be locked to a specific network and will be available on all carriers. Contract package details have not yet been released although the phone will retail at a recommended price of R5999, says Samsung South Africa’s Brett Loubser.
Loubser also added that I7500 users will have access to the international Android Market. When Android was initially launched in the HTC Dream and HTC Magic, SA users did not have access to the application download platform, this has since changed.
Users will however be restricted to downloading free applications within the market; paid-for applications will not be available.
When the Android Market was introduced locally in August Google revealed that it had to iron out problems with the credit vetting process before allowing local users to pay for applications. This process is still underway.
The I7500 was released internationally in June in a number of countries, including France, Germany and the USA, and has since gathered favourable reviews. The device may prove equally popular amongst local consumers.
In addition Loubser revealed that the I7500 is not a flash in the pan for Samsung; the manufacturer will be launching another Android device in early 2010 and will continue to support the platform in the coming year.
Samsung I7500 Galaxy – comments and views
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