SamMobile say that the internal codename for the device is “Fraser”, and features a model number of GT-i9500. They speculate that the reason that Samsung doesn’t use Plus panels in phones like the Galaxy S III is due to the difficult production process, instead testing the displays in developer devices such as the Tizen.

The use of PenTile panels has been a source of contention for tech reviewers and consumers. The reduced number of subpixels can lead to fringing on colors and text, and can be noticed depending on eyesight and viewing distance. Samsung say that PenTile panels have reduced power requirements, and that the last longer than other AMOLED counterparts. That didn’t stop the company from using a full RGB matrix in the Galaxy S II, and one of the vicious rumors surround the Galaxy S III was the use of a Super AMOLED HD Plus display.

Those rumors didn’t pan out, and the Galaxy S III features a PenTile matrix like the Galaxy Nexus and Galaxy Note. The screen size sees a bump over the Galaxy Nexus panel, coming in at 4.8-inches with a 720p resolution compared to 4.65-inches. Samsung also says that it managed to slim down the bezel surrounding the display.

The Galaxy Nexus was meant to be one of the greatest smartphones on earth, and indeed it is if you dismiss the fact that it’s got technology that makes its pixels not quite as tight as devices that came before it. Take the Galaxy S II for example, it using Super AMOLED+ (or Super AMOLED Plus, if you prefer). There you’ve got a 4.3-inch 800 x 480 Super AMOLED Plus in its original iteration up against the 4.8-inch display here with 720 x 1280 pixels and HD Super AMOLED technology.

We’re sure to hear some grumbling out there from fans of the slightly brighter and slightly sharper display (depending on how you look at it) of the Galaxy S II over the III throughout the week (and into the future). For now though, have a peek at our hands-on collection as well as big news events coming from the day’s events here while we’re at Samsung Mobile Unpacked in London.

This certainly is a Galaxy S – styled device, but it won’t be coming with the newest version that we’re seeing on the USA Galaxy S II lineup. That said, it has just about everything else – oh except the dual-core processor, you’ll still be using a 1GHz single-core Hummingbird here. This will be the second Samsung device to be capable of using its 4G LTE network, and with Android 2.3.x Gingerbread, you’ll be up to date on the Android front. This is currently the only device on Verizon’s LTE network to feature a keyboard, and a… classic looking keyboard at that.

The display is 4-inch and WVGA Super AMOLED Plus, meaning it’s certainly bright enough to beat the competition, but should you place it next to any of the Galaxy S II units out there (three of the, starting this week,) you might fall short. That said, there are, again, some added security features you’ll see mentioned briefly in the video promo, and this device is inexpensive at $149.99 attached to a 2-year contract starting October 13th. Certainly not meant to win any races – made to fill out some holes in the Verizon lineup instead.

Also remember to check out the sale pack this week via AmazonWireless for Verizon – all devices for a penny. Yes, a penny!

I’m almost unsure of where to start I’m enjoying this phone so much. The Samsung Galaxy S II really is a pretty awesome smartphone. It has it all from a simple design that is sleek, thin and lightweight — while being extremely powerful and fast at the same time. For all the details you’ll need check out my hands-on and unboxing. We’ll start with the video hands-on overview below and then get into all the details shortly.

AT&T Samsung Galaxy S II hands-on

Hardware

The hardware we all know plenty about — plus was laid out in the video above but just in case here are a few more details. We have Android 2.3 Gingerbread, a 1.2 GHz Samsung Exynos processor, 1GB of RAM, and 16GB of internal storage under the hood. Optional micro-SD support for extra storage, 8 megapixel camera around the rear with LED flash and a 2 MP front shooter for video chatting and more. All of that neatly packed into an ultra lightweight and thin design.

On the front we have a 4.3″ Super AMOLED Plus display with a 480 x 800 resolution. The screen is bright, vibrant, and extremely clear and really just looks better than anything else on the market thus far although the qHD displays are looking better and better. Shown in the images below you can see the AT&T branding, 2MP front camera, earpiece, as well as the four dedicated capacitive touch buttons.

Moving along to the left, right, and top of the device we have a very clean and simple design. No bright aluminum buttons or volume rockers, no weird textures on them either, just a plane jane black style. Many might like the aluminum accents some smartphones offer and I do too, but the Galaxy S II just has a simple and clean elegance to it. The only bezels present are the aluminum around the camera and the 3.5mm headphone jack up top.

Software

Here we have Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread and the latest Samsung Touch Wiz 4.0 to keep things pretty. With only a few slight changes to the entire Gingerbread look and feel this is a pretty stock device but features some added benefits. Nothing extremely crazy here like Sense UI, just a few added features and small changes. AT&T chose not to overdue it with bloatware either and for that — we thank you. We have a few dedicated AT&T applications and that is about it. The pre-installed apps other than AT&T specific things are Amazon Kindle, Live TV, Memo Pad, My Files, Qik, Quick Office, Words with Friends, and YP (Yellow Pages). Many additional apps such as another email app, video player, calender, file explorer, and a dairy application have been enhanced by Samsung’s Touchwiz to make the most of the 4.3″ display.

Samsung’s Touch Wiz also has a unique new feature with the just announced 4.0 for the Galaxy S II in the US and that is Motion Control. Once enabled, users can move icons on homescreens, zoom on images and webpages and more all by touching the screen and moving or panning the device rather than dragging multiple fingers. It’s quite neat and made moving icons from screen to screen extremely easy.

When first unveiled back in August our man Chris Burns was live at the Samsung event for some hands-on time with the SGSII. Below is a quick video of that coverage as well as a more detailed rundown of the changes to the software and user experience.

Performance

As usual we’ve ran a wide array of benchmarks and speedtests to see how this SGSII fends in the real world compared to other devices. Many other dual-core smartphones score well under 3000 in quadrant, especially stock devices with no tweaks or adjustments. The Samsung Galaxy S II with the in-house Exynos chip performs extremely well across all benchmarks and especially well in Quadrant. We’ve tried a few and were pleased to see the AT&T SGSII scored around 3800 in Quad — completely stock! Impressive if I don’t say so myself and you can really tell during day to day usage. My Sensation 4G gets around 2400 out of the box, big difference right?

Below are a few pictures showing just how well the SGSII also performs in Vellamo, and CF Bench, as well as a few quick tests on AT&T’s 4G HSPA+ network (no 4G LTE here).

I know benchmarks don’t tell the entire story, and many users don’t care to read about them and would just like to know about real world usage. I’m happy to report the Galaxy S II is really one of the quickest, most fluid and easy to use phones I’ve had my hands on to date. I’ve experienced no delays or lag during browsing, gaming, benchmarks, loading multiple images in the gallery or anything. Even downloading about 10 app updates at a time the experience was barely touched and the overall performance was stellar. From adding icons to different pages, to flipping through homescreens and the application tray there is no gitters or choppy moments that I’ve experienced yet. This is truly a great performing smartphone that will meet any users demand.

Battery life and Camera

The AT&T SGSII comes with a 1650 mAh battery under the hood and while every user is different I’ve managed to have better than average battery life. From using this smartphone over the past week or so the battery lasts a bit longer than most. My Sensation 4G has a similarly sized battery and it just doesn’t manage to stay powered as long. Many reviewers of the original SGSII from Europe mentioned similar results where the SGSII battery life seems to outmatch rivaling handsets. This could be in part to changes made by Samsung, and another thing worth mentioning is the highly efficient AMOLED display, it seems to consume less power and really helps. Stand-by time was not fully tested but I left the device untouched for over 3 days and it remained around 25% when I finally plugged her in. While I’ve not done any video loop tests I have however played plenty of Angry Birds, Fruit Ninja, used Google+ allll day, and browsed the web off and on throughout daily tasks and the phone holds up extremely well in the battery department. The Galaxy S II battery life is above average and will last most users more than the average work day.

As for the camera we have an 8 megapixel shooter and just like the battery life — the Galaxy S II seems better than the rest in terms of overall camera performance. I’ve snapped a few shots around the house and outside so you can see low light and standard lighting results. Many phones currently offer an 8 MP camera just like the DROID Bionic, but the slow shutter speed and mediocre performance makes the Samsung shooter just that much better. Here are a few pictured taken with the SGSII.

We’ve also tested the 1080p video capture and the Galaxy S II does impress here also. Very smooth and decent in regards to video capture although you must remember this is a phone, but they are getting better and better as they come. Below is a short video demo of the kids (my dogs) playing and messing around just for an idea of real world indoor video capture results. (Isn’t the puppy cute?)

Quick Comparison and Accessories

I’ve quickly snapped a few photos of the AT&T Galaxy S II sitting next to the big bad DROID Bionic by Motorola and Verizon Wireless. While both are comparable regarding specs, the SGSII doesn’t feature LTE but does however have a faster processor. I’ll break down the details later but for now here are a few pictures of the two just for an idea on size and thickness for those that may be wondering.

Also thanks to Chris Burns and our sister site Android Community we have a quick video showing the Galaxy S II accessories that Samsung will be releasing here in the U.S shortly although details on pricing and availability remain unknown. We have a car dock, home dock with additional battery and a desk dock shown in the video below

Galaxy S II accessories hands-on

Wrap-Up

The AT&T Galaxy S II is essentially the same exact SGSII we’ve seen, known, and loved for the past few months. With the same screen size and specs as the international version the only changes are a few to the UI, and the capacitive touch buttons below. Having a winning combination of being thin, light, fast, and affordable the Galaxy S II is a clear winner for the US as well as Europe and outside of the US sales have already passed 10 million globally. With the AT&T version being the closest U.S. Galaxy S II to the original, what more reason do you need to get this amazing smartphone?

Feel free to ask any questions in the comment section below and I’ll be sure to look them over and try to answer them as accurately as possible. More photos of the Galaxy S II can be seen below in the gallery. Look over the pictures, decide if this awesome smartphone is for you, and if so head down to a AT&T store on October 2nd and pick one up for just $199.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7

Here’s where the real fire came into play, with Samsung revealing two outstanding Android devices that are sure to set the tablet world on fire – only the second and most superstar-classification-worthy of which Samsung doesn’t define as a tablet at all. We’ll get to that in a moment, but first there’s the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7, the next in a line of successful Samsung Android tablets to feature Android 3.x Honeycomb with TouchWiz UX, a custom tablet interface for Android devices, working on top of it. What’s perhaps most impressive about this tablet (beyond the fact that it’s got a wholly metal chassis) is the fact that it’s got the largest (7.7-inch) Super AMOLED Plus display on an Android device thus far on Earth. Brightness! Check out our [original announcement thread] or head straight to our [Galaxy Tab 7.7 hands-on post] for a video exploration of the tablet in full brilliance.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 hands-on:

Also take a look at the already massively popular post by the name of [Will carriers kill the Galaxy Tab 7.7?] for all your discussion needs.

Samsung Galaxy Note

Samsung this week announced what they’re calling a whole new category in the mobile environment, that being what they’ve found to be the perfect blend of large screen size and small portability, all with a brand new “HD Super AMOLED” display for the brightest and sharpest look at Android yet. If there’s one device Samsung has chosen this week to be its hero device, this is it.

Check out our [original announcement post] or head straight to our [Galaxy Note hands-on] post complete with, again, brilliant video with hands-on pro Chris Davies.

Samsung Galaxy Note hands-on:

Cameras

Samsung has introduced several cameras this week, the first of which being the NX200, a single 20.3 megapixel camera with the ability to shoot continuous photos at 7 frames per second, an APS-C CMOS sensor, and 100ms Advanced auto focus. This device also has a gigantic amount of interchangeable lenses to go with it, looking like an explorer in the lens jungle in its first press shots. [announcement post]

Next there’s the Samsung WB750, a ultra-zoom capable Schneider Kreuznach device with 18x optical zoom and 24x Smart Zoom inside. This device is also capable of shooting 10 megapixel photos at the same time it’s recording 1080p video, and 12.5 megapixel resolution photos at 10 frames per second in high-speed continuous mode. [announcement post]

Finally there’s the Samsung MV800, a point-and-shoot camera with a giant flip-out and swivel LCD display so that you’ll be able to snap photos with preview in any way shape or form. This camera is rated at 16.2 megapixels, the LCD flip-out display is a 3-inch LCD, and a slew of special effects in-camera for all your odd editing needs. [announcement post]

Notebooks

There’s a single notebook to be had this week from Samsung as far as the IFA Unpacked event went, that being the Samsung Series 7 CHRONOS, a device which we spoke about earlier this week then were treated to a slight more formal look at later in the week.

Smart TV

As far as new announcements on the Samsung front this week, one news bit stood out from the rest: Samsung’s YouTube 3D partnership. How apt would you be to purchase a Samsung Smart TV with 3D capabilities if you had an infinite free library of content on your hands as opposed to the scant selection of 3D Blu-ray disks out there today? [original announcement post]

Wave Smartphones

Samsung brought some fire to their very own mobile operating system with three new bada 2.0-based devices, the first and most impressive of which was the Wave 3, a lovely 4-inch display having 1.4GHz toting smartphone with all your favorite bada amenities. The other two bada 2.0 devices announced this week were the Wave Y and the Wave M, all three of these devices set to be released soon. [original announcement post]

We were also given the opportunity land a hands-on with the Wave 3, this being an experience you can share with us in our Samsung Wave 3 hands-on post featuring Chris Davies on the handling, complete with video. Look like a winner compared to Samsung’s Android offerings?

Samsung Wave 3 hands-on:

Windows Tablets

If there’s one thing we did NOT expect to come out of the Samsung labs this week, it was the Samsung Series 7 Slate, a tablet PC running Windows 7. Luckily it won’t be stuck on the near-dead Windows 7 platform for long, as it comes ready to update to Windows 8 nearly right out of the gate. [original announcement post]

Amazing offering this week Samsung, keep it up!

We’ve previously experienced this most impressive bright and brilliant technology in the Super AMOLED Plus on the recently released Samsung Infuse 4G and as recently as earlier this week on several new models of the Samsung Galaxy S II as revealed in New York City. Compared to essentially any competitor’s smartphone or tablet display technology, Samsung’s Super AMOLED Plus display ends up being the clear winner as far as clarity and overall abilities in brightness go.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 comes in a lovely metal casing with rounded edges for both a high-quality feel and a portability unmatched in the Galaxy Tab lineup thus far (at least as far as Honyecomb tablets go, that is.) This device will be working on your HSPA+ 21 Mbps network carrier for true mobile abilities, you able to access data and internet wherever you go quickly becoming the only way to fly, especially in tablet form. This device is powered by an unnamed 1.4 GHz dual-core processor, it’s display’s resolution sits at 1280 x 800 (WXGA) on a 7.7-inch screen, and its utterly massive 5,100 mAh battery should keep you chugging along for days on end, no problem. Unlike the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, this newest tablet has a microSD card slot into which you can insert up to a 32GB card for memory expansion galore.

You’ll be working with the newest version of Google’s Android mobile operating system Android 3.2 Honeycomb with Samsung’s newest TouchWiz UX user interface working on top of Android to bring you a true Samsung experience. You’ve got full 1080p video playback, DivX included multi codec and Universal Remote Control functionality able to work with your TV, Set top box, DVD player, Blu-ray player, AV audio system, and more!

Like all recent Samsung releases, this device has access to Samsung’s several “Hub” access points for media including Game Hub, Music Hub, Social Hub, and Readers Hub. The newest of these is the Game Hub, the Galaxy Tab 7.7 being the first Samsung device to come with it out of the box, it containing social games, all the social games your heart could possibly desire. Finally there’s Voice and Video support – speak directly to your tablet in a video chat for clear video and voice or set your device for Receiver Mode for a more private talk.

Follow along with us LIVE for the rest of the Samsung Unpacked event at IFA 2011 for total coverage of every Samsung device we’ll be marveling over for weeks and months to come!

I remember a few years ago when Apple really started cranking up the brightness and the clarity with which one was able to see content on a laptop or desktop computer. I swore I’d always take the average mid-range device at the time because I was working in web publishing from a site designer perspective and I always wanted to be able to see things through the average viewer’s eyes. Since then I’ve come to know the glory of the truth: the biggest and the best is indeed the biggest and the best. I’m currently using a newest-generation MacBook Pro with non-glare cover and WOW we are living in the future. Just a glimpse over at any of my family member’s computers from just a couple years ago and the yellowness of reality brings me back out of the cloud of bright, happy wonderfulness.

The same is true about using the Samsung Infuse 4G, the smartphone with the largest and brightest display on the planet right this moment. The Infuse 4G utilizes a 4.5-inch Super AMOLED Plus display right now at 480 x 800 pixels resolution. The amount of pixels per inch is therefor smaller than the Galaxy S II, but since we’re talking about big screens at the moment, let’s stay on topic with the Infuse.

What Samsung is talking about doing now, according to OLED-Info which we also quoted this morning in the Samsung Competitiveness post, is 720p 1280 x 720 resolution displays jammed into tiny 5- to 7-inch displays. The same “industry insiders” responsible for that info, one of them supposedly a Samsung supplier, say that 720p displays are possible at that size because of new PenTile matrix technologies and “a refinement in the production process that has also seen Super AMOLED HD become cheaper than previous versions.” Numbers they’re presenting show the cost of a Super AMOLED HD panel to be around 20 percent less than a comparative S-LCD screen.

The original source for the Super Amoled HD screen says thusly:

We can expect 5″ to 6″ smartphones in fall 2011 (the first will probably be the GT-I9220 with a 5.3″ display) and 7″ tablets by the end of 2011.

We’ve heard of the GT-I9220 before, once on a leaked Samsung roadmap which was later claimed inaccurate by Samsung and once again in our dreams.

But then there’s some decent. There are those of the public that maintain 4-inches to be the maximum size for a smartphone device to be optimum, that anything larger should be called a tablet. I’ve got an old college buddy named Frank who says that any device with a display larger than 4 inches shouldn’t ever have a cellular bands. I certainly disagree as I’ve used the Infuse 4G more than once in my travels to different events to see new phones because it’s big enough to watch a movie on whilst flying home in the night on the plane. Coupled with some nice earbuds, this phone is utterly optimum for such an activity.

On the other hand, there’s the pocket space factor, and the fact that if you bring such a giant phone out in public while you’re traveling, you run the chance of getting mugged for it because you cannot hide the brightness. You decide! The war rages on!

Specifications of the handset are unknown, though the tipsters suggest that the Galaxy Q will have both 3G WCDMA connectivity along with 4G LTE. That would suggest Verizon or AT&T support in the US (though not both, at least with the same device), though whether the Galaxy Q would support voice calls is unclear. The original 7-inch Galaxy Tab for the European market could be used for voice calls, but the North American versions it spawned for the four major carriers in the US were all data-only.

The only other hardware detail suggested is that the device will use a Samsung Super AMOLED Plus panel, as we’ve seen implemented to great effect on the Galaxy S II. The resolution that it will run at is another mystery: the Galaxy Tab managed 1024 x 600 while the Infuse 4G (pictured above, and currently Samsung’s largest-display handset at 4.5-inches) comes in at 800 x 480. The best-known 5-inch tablet, Dell’s Streak, matches that 800 x 480, though with the shift towards higher pixel densities we wouldn’t be alone in hoping the Galaxy Q could manage something more.

If the rumors are correct, Samsung would be unveiling the new tablet/phone hybrid a year after its original Galaxy Tab reveal, and in the midst of allegations from Apple that the Korean company has slavishly copied its iPhone and iPad design ethos. SlashGear will be at IFA 2011 in early September to bring back all the details.

[via Android Community]

The device is rumored to be released under the name of “Samsung Galaxy S 2 Function” by Verizon, with other carriers releasing under names such as “Samsung Galaxy S 2 Attain” and “Samsung Galaxy S 2 Within.” At this time, no carriers have not commented on any concrete release dates for their versions of the Galaxy S II.

One of only a few devices to have such monster benchmarks and impressive features such as an 8 megapixel camera, the Galaxy S II is being called a “superphone” and the title seems valid enough. We have definitely been excited about the US release for a while. Unlocked versions are currently selling at around $700 or $800. The retail price when finally released in the USA is expected to be between $250 and $300 with a new two-year agreement. Also check out our Extreme Unboxing of this device courtesy of our man in the field Chris Davies:

[via Android Community]

At that meeting, the sources suggest, Cook offered Samsung Display an advance to secure AMOLED panels for the third-gen iPad. If true, that would mark a transition for the tablet from LCD panels – with LG Display the primary supplier – to the rival technology.

However, it’s not all clear cut. A Samsung Mobile Display spokesperson said “he had not heard of such discussions with Apple” while the company is believed to have seen its AMOLED production timetable set back by the Japanese earthquake. Samsung has previously said that it has no plans to use its Super AMOLED or Super AMOLED Plus displays in tablets of its own this year.

Production at Samsung’s 5.5Gen facility is expected to hit 48,000 substrates per month, rising to 100,000 in the first half of 2012. If the rumors regarding Apple’s intent are true, that suggests it won’t be until next year that Samsung could likely meet the demand for the iPad 3. Supplies of the iPad 2 have been constrained since its commercial release, with LG Display’s inability to meet panel demand cited as a key cause, and only now is the situation believed to be alleviating.

Earlier this week, a judge ruled that Samsung must hand over various Galaxy tablets and phones – some of which unreleased – to Apple’s legal team for examination. It seems they might not be the only samples the company is providing Cupertino, though under far more agreeable circumstances.

[via OLED-Info]

Hardware

At first glance you could mistake the Infuse 4G for the Galaxy S II: both handsets have the same discrete plastic chassis and minimal bezel around a considerable screen. The Infuse 4G pushes the envelope for scale, however. At 0.36-inches for most of its length – the slight bump at the bottom is familiar from other Samsung handsets of late – the 4.5-inch WVGA display makes for a smartphone 5.15-inches long and 2.77-inches wide.

Construction is much the same as its slightly smaller sibling, with a Gorilla Glass front leaving us reasonably confident of putting the Infuse into a pocket without seeing it snapped. The textured battery cover is worryingly thin when you snap it off, though feels secure when in place; underneath is the SIM slot, a 1,750 mAh battery and, under that, a microSD slot with a pre-loaded 2GB card. 16GB of internal storage is split, 2GB for apps and the rest for multimedia and anything else.

The biggest difference between the GSII and the Infuse 4G is the processor. Where the flagship gets a 1.2GHz overclocked dual-core, AT&T’s phone makes do with a single-core, 1.2GHz chip. It’s paired with quadband GSM/EDGE and triband HSPA+ 850/1900/2100, along with WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR (not the 3.0 of the GSII) and USB 2.0. AT&T sensibly bundles the MHL to HDMI adapter, so that you can plug the Infuse 4G into your HDTV.

It’s tough not to fall for the charms of Super AMOLED Plus. Samsung will happily tell you about its 50-percent extra sub-pixels and clever manufacturing, but most people will let their eyes be the judge: the Infuse 4G’s screen is bright, color-saturated and incredibly vivid. WVGA should look pixelated blown up to 4.5-inches like this, but somehow Samsung has avoided that, with smooth fonts and graphics that bely the resolution.

Software and Performance

Samsung has opted for Android 2.2 Froyo on the Infuse 4G, an odd decision given the company has already released the Galaxy S II with Gingerbread and is in the process of updating the Galaxy S to the same. On top there’s TouchWiz, still something of an acquired taste, though at least improved in this iteration over earlier Samsung phones.

The company also loads the Swype keyboard (you can switch back to the regular ‘board if you prefer) and an AT&T-exclusive version of Angry Birds with a special hidden level. Samsung Media Hub shares space with U-verse Mobile and U-verse Live TV for media downloads. There’s also a free AT&T JustUs app, which turns your phone’s wallpaper into a social networking and SMS update wall for your five favorite contacts. Alternatively there’s Samsung’s own Social Hub system.

It may not have a dual-core, but the Infuse 4G still moved swiftly. Apps loaded with little in the way of delay, and TouchWiz’s graphics introduced no delay. Heavy webpages rendered perhaps a little slower than on the GSII over WiFi, but on the move it’s possible that the HSPA+ connectivity would pick up any slack. Still, the Quadrant Advanced benchmarks tell the raw numbers story: the Infuse 4G managed 1166, with an individual CPU score of 1761, while the Galaxy S II came in at 3707 overall and 8485 for CPU.

Camera

Samsung’s 8-megapixel camera – with autofocus, an LED flash and 720p HD video recording – is one of our favorites at the moment, and the Infuse 4G proved capable of some excellent stills and video. Accurate colors, plenty of detail and speedy autofocus – which can still be used during video recording – add up to a cameraphone, which can comfortably replace your point-and-shoot.

Low-light performance is also strong, though of course there’s the LED flash to help you out too. Up front is a 1.3-megapixel camera for video calls.

Phone and Battery

Voice calls on the Infuse 4G were solid if nothing inspiring, though we did find that the broad, long handset could be a little unwieldy held to the side of your head. Not Dell Streak-unwieldy, perhaps, but 4.5-inch phones are certainly near the largest we’d consider daily drivers.

Of course, it’s data performance that we were particularly curious about, given that not all of AT&T’s 4G-branded phones have quite delivered so far. The Samsung supports category 14 HSDPA – the first AT&T 4G device to do so – and category 6 HSUPA for theoretically maximum downloads of 21.1 Mbps and uploads of 5.76 Mbps.

Unfortunately, that potential is nowhere near reached. On average, the Infuse 4G managed 2806.2 KB/s downloads in our testing, while uploads were a mere 322.3 KB/s. Contrast that with an unlocked European Galaxy S II, also on AT&T, and you can see where our disappointment comes in. In the same locations, the GSII managed an average download speed of 2805.3 Mbps, very slightly less than the Infuse 4G, but an average upload speed of 2052.9 KB/s, over six times as fast. It suggests AT&T is purposefully limiting upload speeds on the Infuse 4G, perhaps to ensure network stability.

Battery life, meanwhile, proved solid. Samsung is doing some clever work with CPU throttling that not only keeps the Infuse 4G feeling as fast and responsive as you’d hope from a 1.2GHz chip, but making sure runtimes extend to the whole day. The Infuse 4G didn’t quite manage the two-day extremes we saw from the Galaxy S II, but even with push-email turned on and regular use it comfortably made it into the evening on a single charge.

Wrap-Up

The Infuse 4G isn’t short on contradictions. Its 4G moniker promises speeds AT&T’s HSPA+ can’t quite deliver, and while we’re used to big-screen phones packing all-round flagship specs, its single-core processor lags behind our current Android favorite, the Galaxy S II. However, it does manage solid battery life and there’s no denying the appeal of that amazing Super AMOLED Plus display.

Speed-addicts should probably still look to Verizon’s LTE network, which in our experience is just plain faster than AT&T’s HSPA+, and the sheer size of the Infuse 4G means we’d recommend handling one in-store since we can imagine many will find it to be too large for comfort. Its $199.99 sticker price matches up with what AT&T asks for the Motorola ATRIX 4G, and while the Infuse 4G lacks the clever – if flawed – keyboard dock and the dual-core processor, its display goes a long way to making up for things. The Samsung Infuse 4G isn’t just a big phone: it deserves to be a big seller.

Samsung INFUSE 4G unboxing and quick hands-on

A few more specs here: This phone sports a 4.5-inch screen, running Android 2.2 Froyo, and with a RM Cortex A8 1.2GHz processor. It has an 8MP camera on the back and 1.3MP camera on the front. This most definitely is the precursor to the Samsung Galaxy S II. It will be $200 on contract and will be coming out on May 15th.

They’ve also slipped in an announcement that there’ll be an Angry Birds contest coming up somehow or another tied in with the phone. It appears that the gameplay (if this slide is any indication) will be exactly the same, but perhaps a hidden Infuse in some eggs or boxes? Who can tell?

We’ve got a hands on and unboxing coming imminently, so stay tuned, and expect a full review before the weekend. Park it right here, because we are throwing out all the details as they happen.

The new plant was expected to come on line this year, producing 7-inch and larger AMOLED panels as well as smaller screens for PMPs and smartphones. However, component delays resulting from the Japanese earthquake added what Samsung estimated could be up to three months to the roadmap; similar shortages have impacted Samsung’s chip production.

Samsung demonstrated a 7-inch Super AMOLED tablet prototype back in November 2010, only weeks after the original model – with an LCD display – went on sale through US carriers. The company initially expected production in 2011 to be 10x that of the previous year.

[via OLED-Info]

Hardware

The original Galaxy S wasn’t a small phone, with a 4-inch Super AMOLED display to accommodate. With the Galaxy S II, Samsung boosts the screen to 4.3-inches and the technology to Super AMOLED Plus, the latest high-end evolution of its OLED panels. Thanks to some judicious dieting they’ve ended up with a broad, long, slimline handset – 125.3 x 66.1 x 8.49mm and 116g – that’s actually leading the pack in terms of thinness. In the hand it’s a mixture of textured plastics and a full Gorilla Glass front panel, that feels surprisingly lightweight and creak-free.

Super AMOLED Plus may have a name that sounds pure marketing speak, but its performance is anything but. As before, the picture seems to sit practically on top of the phone, a bright, vividly colorful splash of eye-pleasure. Viewing angles are so broad you could mistake it for a mocked-up store dummy, and the touchscreen is responsive and swift. Our only complaint is the resolution: while WVGA 800 x 480 is pretty much par for the course in mid- to high-end smartphones, the HTC Sensation will bring along an identically-sized qHD 960 x 540 panel later in 2011. Without a Sensation on-hand to properly compare, it’s tough to say whether the Galaxy S II’s brilliant panel technology will be preferable to the HTC’s extra Super-LCD pixels. As it stands, even stretching WVGA over 4.3-inches, the Samsung doesn’t show any pixelation or graininess, and even in direct sunlight proved easily readable.

Samsung Galaxy S II Extreme Unboxing:

Under the display is a central physical home button flanked by a touch-sensitive menu key on the left and a back key on the right. Holding down the menu button calls up search. A narrow volume rocker lives on the left edge while the power/lock button is on the right; some people are used to that from the Galaxy S and Nexus S, but we still wish Samsung would put the key on the top, next to the 3.5mm headphone socket, as is more common.

On the base of the phone is a microUSB port which also supports the MHL standard for HDMI connectivity, assuming you have the correct adapter cable. That’s handy, since the Galaxy S II is capable of shooting Full HD 1080p video at 30fps, still something of a rarity in the market. The camera has autofocus and an LED flash, and is set in a textured battery panel underneath which you’ll find the SIM slot and microSD card slot. In a somewhat unusual flip, the SIM can be removed without taking out the battery – though it takes a power-cycle to recognize a different card – whereas a microSD card cannot.

Up front is a 2-megapixel camera for video calling and vanity shots, sharing bezel space with the earpiece, proximity sensor and light sensor. They’re joined by the usual accelerometer, g-sensor, GPS/A-GPS and digital compass. With the right adapter you can plug USB devices such as memory sticks into the Galaxy S II, too, thanks to USB On The Go support.

Keeping things running is a 1.2GHz dual-core Samsung Exynos processor paired with 1GB of RAM and 2GB of ROM. Two Galaxy S II SKUs will be offered, one with 16GB of internal storage – of which just over 11GB is available to the user – and another with 32GB. Each can handle up to a 32GB microSDHC memory card. Connectivity includes quadband GSM and quadband HSPA (850/900/1900/2100), Bluetooth 3.0+HS and WiFi a/b/g/n, making the Galaxy S II one of the more complete wireless powerhouses we’ve seen; only Nokia’s pentaband HSPA smartphones go the extra step.

Samsung Galaxy S II overview:

In short, there’s a whole lot going on in the Galaxy S II, and it’s a continuous surprise that Samsung has managed to keep it so light and thin. The broad fascia is mitigated by a slimline build that makes it easy to drop the phone into a front trouser or inside jacket pocket, and the Gorilla Glass front leaves us a little more confident that doing so won’t see you snap the Samsung in two.

Software and Performance

Samsung has sensibly started with Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread from the off, and Google’s latest version for smartphones flies on the dual-core Exynos chip. What will polarize is the presence of TouchWiz, Samsung’s custom software reskin. It’s an acquired taste, certainly, though has become somewhat more palatable over the course of its various iterations.

The iconography is still somewhat cartoonish, and we still can’t figure why Samsung decided to make the left-most homescreen pane the default; we prefer the native center-bias of untampered Android. Samsung’s widgets – for news, weather, calendar, bookmarks, various clocks, social networking and a task manager, among others – are also more colorful than, say, those HTC uses in Sense, but there’s a good range on offer and we prefer Samsung’s system for choosing from them.

Long-press on the homescreen and the current view shrinks to fit a pane of options along the bottom, including shortcuts, widgets and other content; you can then sweep between homescreens to drop them in. A similar system is on offer in the main app menu, including the ability to add new pages as well as drop icons on top of each other to make folders. Simple tooltip pages show up along the way to help smooth the process for new users.

Something we wish Samsung had left well alone was the standard Gingerbread keyboard. The replacement is frustrating in various minor ways: we had problems with it recognizing faster text-entry, particularly missing spacebar taps, while the auto-prediction and auto-correction aren’t as accurate as Android’s native system. Auto-capitalization is inconsistent – sometimes “i” doesn’t get automatically changed to “I” – as is apostrophe entry, so you end up with “im” rather than “I’m” most of the time. Swype is preinstalled, though not the default, and of course there are multiple alternative keyboards to choose from in the Android Market, so it’s certainly not a dealbreaker.

Samsung’s other main change is under the “Motion” heading in the settings page, using the Galaxy S II’s accelerometer to control various functionality. You can have the phone mute incoming calls and sounds by turning it face down, or zoom in and out of webpages or images by touching two fingers to the screen and tilting the whole thing back or forward. We had mixed results with the latter, with our movements sometimes not being recognized. It’s also very linear: you can’t angle the phone as you tilt it, to shift the portion of the screen which you zoom in on.

There are various preloaded apps, and some of the native Android software bears evidence of Samsung’s inability not to tinker. The Calendar has had a generally successful redesign – we like the different agenda, month and today widgets – while the Mail app is also tweaked; we generally used the excellent Google Gmail app, however. Samsung’s media player software is much preferable to the native Android version, and adds album art and music controls to the drop-down notification menu. That also has shortcuts for toggling WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, sound and auto-rotation, though not the handy app switcher HTC Sense offers; still, you can long-press the home button to see the six most recent apps as well as jump straight into Samsung’s task manager.

The other apps include preloaded photo and video editing software – more on which later – along with Samsung Apps, the company’s own download store, Polaris Office, an IM client (supporting Windows Live, Google Talk and Yahoo! Messenger), FM radio, News & Weather and a Memo app. There’s also Mini Diary, Samsung’s attempt to get us all penning frequent journal updates (complete with snapshots and as much angst as the average Android owner can manage) along with the My Files manager that, frustratingly, couldn’t actually open an .apk side-loaded file (which a third-party file manager handled with no issues).

Then there’s the wireless stuff, Samsung AllShare and Kies air. AllShare is Samsung’s DLNA client, allowing you topush content from the phone to your HDTV or pull content from a NAS or other device. Kies air, meanwhile, adds wireless access to the entire phone: rather than using Samsung’s Kies desktop management app – currently for PC only – over a USB connection, you run Kies air on the Galaxy S II and punch the IP address it gives you into your PC or Mac browser. That then allows you to browse multimedia on the phone, bookmarks, call logs, contacts and messages, stream music saved on it and copy across content via WiFi.

It’s all limited to computers on the same WiFi network as the phone – not over 3G, like HTCSense.com – but it works surprisingly well, if a little sluggish when dealing with larger files. We’d like to see some media sharing and social network integration there, though: it would be useful to be able to upload photos and video direct to only galleries at Flickr and Facebook, for instance. Samsung has also given the Galaxy S II WiFi Direct support, the new point-to-point file transfer standard that wants to replace Bluetooth (though of course the S II also has Bluetooth 3.0).

Finally, there are the various Samsung Hubs: Social, Music, Readers and Gaming. They work roughly as you’d expect from the names, so the Social Hub pulls in email, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn and IM messages into a single timeline. The Music Hub is an on-device download store for individual tracks – priced at around £0.99 in the UK – or albums, and powered by 7digital. The Readers Hub does roughly the same thing, for digital newspapers, ebooks and magazines (from PressDisplay, Kobo and Zinio respectively). Finally, the Game Hub offers a range of Gameloft titles and other “social” mini games, though frankly the selection is better in the regular Android Market.

Performance is consistently strong: apps load swiftly, the gallery thumbnails populate instantaneously, and pinch-zooming is lag-free. Google Maps loads and locates you faster than on any other device we’ve seen, and the mapping renders as quickly as you can scroll. Raw benchmarks only tell part of the story, but the Galaxy S II scored 2939 in Quadrant Standard and 3540 in Quadrant Advanced, 46.939 MFLOPS in Linpack Pro, while the SunSpider test for browser performance came in at 3584.3ms (lower is better). We’ve a feeling that custom ROMs on this particular handset will simply fly.

Camera and Multimedia

With its Super AMOLED Plus display and high-resolution cameras, the Galaxy S II obviously has plenty of multimedia potential. The main camera, at 8-megapixels, is a welcome step up from the 5-megapixel example in the original Galaxy S; the front-facing camera is, at 2-megapixels, at the top end for what we’ve seen studding the bezels of recent smartphones. In contrast, the iPhone 4 and HTC’s recent line-up offer mere VGA resolution. Still, it’s good enough for voice calling and the occasional vanity snap, but not really anything more thanks to the fixed-focus lens.

Happily the same can’t be said for the main camera, which is capable of some very impressive, natural looking shots. Colors are accurate and Samsung’s camera software thankfully doesn’t over-sharpen or introduce unnecessary artifacts. The pictures may not exactly “pop” like the somewhat exaggerated shots the Sony Ericsson XPERIA Arc produces, but we’d rather have more manual control over post-processing than the Arc allows. Lower light shots aren’t quite as successful, not unusual for a phone camera, with a tendency to lose detail in darker areas. Still, the LED flash helps some.

Settings include exposure, various effects, white balance, a choice between auto-focus, macro or face-detection, ISO, metering (centre-weighted, spot or matrix), blink detection, GPS geotagging and anti-shake. There’s also an outdoor visibility mode for the camera app, which tweaks the UI color scheme for easier use in direct sunlight; however, we found the Super AMOLED Plus display was admirably visible in bright conditions.

Video, meanwhile, can be recorded in anything from MMS-friendly 176 x 144 up through 720p and finally 1080p Full HD. There are settings for exposure, white balance, video quality and various effects, and you can record footage with the front-facing camera as well, though only at a fixed VGA resolution. Whether Full HD or 720p, the Galaxy S II’s video is impressive. Footage is smooth and colors accurate, though the auto-focus system can hunt a little in faster moving scenes. Still, there’s little in the way of glitches or blurring, and playbook looks brilliant on the handset’s display.

Samsung Galaxy S II 1080p sample:

Unfortunately, not everything is up to speed with the Galaxy S II’s 1080p HD. Samsung preloads its “Video Maker” app, which offers clip combination, themes, trimming and various other editing options, but it can only handle 720p HD at most. Meanwhile the HDMI output is not via a regular micro HDMI port but by a combination USB/MHL port: that means you need a special adapter, which Samsung doesn’t include in the box. Unfortunately we did not have access to the correct cable, and so couldn’t test direct HDMI connectivity; we’ll update as soon as we can.

Multimedia playback, meanwhile, sees Samsung’s solid codec support win it points. Audio can be in MP3, OGG, AAC, AAC , eAAC , AMR-NB, AMR-WB, WMA, WAV, MID, AC3, IMY, FLAC or XMF format, while video can be in MPEG4, H.264, H.263, WMV, DivX, Xvid or VC-1, and with up to 1080p Full HD playback support. There’s 5.1-channel pseudo-surround when you’re using headphones, while the speaker is sufficient for some personal use (and there’s Bluetooth A2DP for wirelessly connecting to bigger speakers or headphones if you’d prefer).

Phone and Battery

Big, bright screen, dual-core processor, lots of wireless: you’d be forgiven for assuming the Galaxy S II would gulp down juice like a long distance runner after a race. In actual fact, it’s something of a minor miracle. The standard 1,650 mAh battery took us through two days of use – from off the charger at 7am, through a full day with push email active, the display at maximum backlight while outdoors, lots of photography and some video recording, a couple of YouTube clips, GPS with Google Maps, browsing and some calls, then through the night (again, with push email switched on) and through the next day, only expiring that evening.

That’s ridiculously impressive, and we’ll be watching closely to see if it was a fresh-battery phenomenon or a sign that the Galaxy S II really is in the top tier of current smartphones. Even if you really hammer it with your usage, we’re confident you should get a full day out of a single charge.

Phone performance, meanwhile, was good, with the Galaxy S II clinging tenaciously to a signal. Voice calls are strong, and the speakerphone – though certainly not the loudest we’ve ever heard – is good enough for impromptu conference calls.

Pricing and Value

As Samsung’s new flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S II’s relatively high price is understandable. SIM-free and unlocked, in 16GB form it’s coming in at around £500 ($826); if you want an agreement then it looks like a £35 ($58) per month plan – with a two-year commitment – will get you a “free” phone.

In contrast you’re looking at £45 ($74) per month or more if you want a “free” iPhone 4 16GB, while an HTC Desire HD comes “free” on £25 ($41) per month agreements. No word yet on pricing for the HTC Sensation, but we’re guessing it’ll be in line with the Galaxy S II.

Samsung has a range of official accessories incoming for the smartphone, though so far none have been available for us to review. However, eventually there will be a desk charger (with room to charge a spare battery), an extended battery pack which gives the Galaxy S II a total of 2950 mAh to play with, car chargers and a vehicle dock (Samsung also offers a car interface app in its own app store, which automatically boots when the phone is placed into the vehicle dock), and various cases. There’s also a Sound Station dock, which works as an external amp for the Galaxy S II, and of course the MHL HDMI adapter cable.

Wrap-Up

Make no mistake, the Samsung Galaxy S II could very well be the best Android smartphone on the market today. Several iPhone users we showed it to said it was the first Android device that could turn their heads from Apple’s range, though the iPhone 5, expected to debut in the latter half of this year, should make for a strong incentive for existing owners to stick with iOS.

The HTC Sensation will bring the main Android competition when it arrives later in 2011, with its qHD display a key differentiator from the Samsung. However, it will have to prove itself against the Galaxy S II’s battery life, screen quality and camera, and that’s no easy challenge.

Is it perfect? No, of course not. While we like some of Samsung’s tweaks – the Kies air app is surprisingly useful, for instance – we’d prefer to see a clean Gingerbread install rather than TouchWiz. How much of a delay that UI modification will force on future Android OS updates remains to be seen, and some changes – such as the keyboard – are frankly backward steps. There are also some annoying teething pains, such as the Video Maker app being unable to handle the Galaxy S II’s 1080p footage.

They pale in comparison to the Samsung’s strengths, however. The display belies its WVGA resolution with Super AMOLED Plus technology that manages to be both frugal and visible outdoors, while the dual-core 1.2GHz processor does a similar balancing act with power use and performance. Together they add up to a smartphone with brilliant battery life and the most future-proof hardware we’ve seen to-date. Layer on top of that a great camera, fulsome multimedia support, broad connectivity and a wafer-thin design, and we’re running out of reasons not to buy the Galaxy S II. Samsung has upped not only its game but the benchmark for smartphones in general.

Announced at MWC 2011, the Galaxy S II has a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus touchscreen, an 8-megapixel rear camera with 1080p Full HD video recording, and a front-facing 2-megapixel camera for video calls. Inside there’s a freshly-overclocked 1.2GHz processor; Phones4u will be throwing in an 8GB microSD card for anybody who pre-orders before the launch date.

We’re expecting to see broader availability of the Galaxy S II from May 1. More information on the smartphone in our hands-on and in the video below.

There’s also an 8-megapixel camera, capable of shooting 1080p Full HD video, along with a front-facing camera for video calls. It also runs TouchWiz 4.0, the latest version of Samsung’s UI modifications, and is expected to eventually get live TV streaming support.

Samsung isn’t talking pricing, though retailers have pegged the SIM-free, unlocked version of the Galaxy S II at around £528. More on the Galaxy S II in our full hands-on.

[via Android Community]

Video demo after the cut

The spec-sheet is impressive alone. A broad 4.27-inch 800 x 480 Super AMOLED Plus display, 8-megapixel rear camera – with 1080p Full HD video recording – on the back and a 2-megapixel camera for video calls up front, NFC, a dual-core 1GHz processor of Samsung’s own making, and all in a chassis just 8.49mm thick at its narrowest.

What’s really impressive is how all these work together, though, and as we’ve grown used to on recent Samsung’s it’s the screen that really sets the bar. The Super AMOLED Plus panel is incredibly bright, crisp and vivid, managing to put Super AMOLED – no slouch itself – in the shade, and that coupled with the waifish profile adds up to a handset that really does feel like a slice of the future.

OS is Android Gingerbread, with Samsung’s TouchWiz 4.0 laid on top. We’d prefer a pure Gingerbread, to be frank, but at least in its fourth major incarnation TouchWiz has grown more refined and less garish in its colors and graphics. Happily Samsung has thought beyond simple UI tweaks, and will be installing a variety of “hubs” onto the Galaxy S II that offer gameplay, media and more. Unfortunately they weren’t present in the firmware Samsung had to show today.

The company won’t have much time to remedy that, however, as the first Galaxy S II units are expected to hit retail later in February, initially in Europe and Asia. No public talk of the North A

Samsung Galaxy S II hands-on

The Galaxy S2 camera is said to be capable of 1080p Full HD video recording, while up front is a 4.3-inch 800 x 480 Super AMOLED Plus touchscreen. Samsung is believed to have included NFC, as on the Nexus S, along with 1GB of RAM, and the whole thing is said to be just 9mm thick. In contrast, the original Galaxy S is 9.9mm thick.

Orion began sampling back in Q4 2010 and was scheduled to go into mass production sometime in the first half of this year. It supports Full HD output via an HDMI 1.3a port – in fact the chip can concurrently run an external display while simultaneously driving two onboard displays, not that we’re expecting Samsung to make the most of that capability – and has an embedded GPS receiver. The same dual-core chip should also power Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy Tab slates.

[via Android Community]

I must remind you here again that this is a conceptual design, and is thusly not entirely built with the current state of technology in mind. Take a peek at the video below “What is being creative?” Starring we believe Kristian Larsen herself, taking this phone PAST the production stage and releasing it as a real product via a lovely two minute ad.

The screens are covered with Gorilla Glass, each of the screens is a flexible Super AMOLED (somehow both of these things are possible,) there’s steel mesh holding each screen to the next, LED colored lines run along several sides, and the rest is made of aluminum. Oh, and it’s an Android.

[Via Yanko Design]

As for the tablets, the WSJ reports that the new slates are also headed to the Barcelona show in February. Samsung has been promising various Galaxy Tab models – spanning a range of sizes both smaller and larger than the first-gen 7-inch model – since IFA 2010 last year, though there’s no word on what new screen sizes will be offered.

However, according to Samsung mobile exec Shin Jong-kyun, the new tablets will be based on “fourth generation technology” though it’s unclear whether he’s referring entirely to 4G connectivity. Samsung announced an updated first-gen Galaxy Tab for Verizon’s 4G LTE network last week.

[via Android Community and via OLED-Info]

Even under immense production lights, the screen proved to be very bright and clear. It’s definitely the best Samsung display we have seen so far on a mobile device.

Hardware wise the device must be packing. After our tests with Google Maps and the stock web browser, we were very impressed with the device. Scrolling was very fluid and Maps rendered content very quickly.

This looks like a very impressive device for Verizon’s 4G network. Combining powerful hardware and connectivity to Verizon’s 4G, this will be one of the devices to beat when it’s released the first half of this year.

The device boasts a 1GHz next generation Snapdragon processor that is noticeably faster than its current-gen counterpart. Around back is a EVO-like kickstand that hides the Dolby Surround Sound speaker.

Our first impressions of the device are that it’s an incredibly responsive device. Everything from the software to the glass touchscreen makes this device a really amazing option for anyone looking for an LTE-equipped device.

The 4G-enabled smartphone, which is currently running around without a name (according to the press release, anyway), will be running Android 2.2. Other features of the device will focus on the high-end, with the device boasting a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus display, a 1GHz processor under the hood, an 8MP camera on the back, and a 1.3MP camera on the front for video chats.

The tablet is, not surprisingly, a Galaxy Tab, which is already available on the Verizon network. This one, though, will feature 4G LTE technology on board. It will launch with Android 2.2, and feature a 1.2GHz Hummingbird processor under the hood. There will be a 5MP camera on the back, and a 1.3MP camera on the front. As for the mobile hotspot, it will allow users to connect up to five devices, and access LTE 4G. Full press release is below.

Press Release

LAS VEGAS, NV and BASKING RIDGE, NJ — The operator of the fastest, most advanced 4G network in the United States unveiled a suite of 10 consumer-oriented devices that will run on its 4G LTE network by the middle of this year.

At a news conference at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) today, Verizon Wireless announced a suite of 10 forthcoming 4G LTE devices – including smartphones from HTC, LG, Motorola and Samsung; tablets from Motorola and Samsung; a MiFi from Novatel Wireless and a mobile hotspot from Samsung; and two notebooks from HP – which will transform the wireless experience and offer consumers new ways to connect and share their lives at blazingly fast speeds. Verizon expects these consumer-oriented devices to be available by mid-2011, with some available as early as March 2011.

The company also announced it is expanding its 4G LTE network to an additional 140 markets by the end of this year.

Dan Mead, president and chief executive officer of Verizon Wireless, said, “Today, we’re unveiling the next evolution of 4G LTE for consumers. During this three-year journey, from acquiring spectrum to launch, we not only transformed our network, but also our business by engaging in a strategy of collaboration and openness, while driving partnerships that will make 4G LTE successful across the globe. The result is true magic – the sum of a powerful network, applications, software systems and devices that bring 4G LTE to life.”

Marni Walden, vice president and chief marketing officer of Verizon Wireless, said, “For consumers, our 4G LTE network isn’t about simply doing things faster. It’s about doing things we couldn’t do before. In the consumer electronics arena, it’s not just about devices. It’s about those powerful devices with deeply integrated applications and how our 4G LTE network truly transforms the wireless experience with rich multimedia and real-time response intervals.”

4G LTE devices available from Verizon Wireless by the middle of 2011 include:

Smartphones

HTC ThunderBolt (exclusive to Verizon Wireless) – HTC Sense 2.0, Skype mobile™ with video, 1GHz Snapdragon processor, 4.3” WVGA display, Dolby surround sound, 8-megapixel camera and HD video recording, wireless DLNA capability.
LG Revolution – HD support for streaming, playing and recording video, large 4.3-inch touch screen, Android™ 2.2, video telephony support with front-facing camera and mobile hotspot capability to share a 4G connection with up to eight Wi-Fi-enabled devices.
DROID Bionic 4G – Android with Adobe® Flash® and HTML5, front-facing VGA camera and See What I See video feature, rear-facing 8-megapixel camera, 4.3-inch HD quality screen, HDMI connectivity, dual-core 1GHz processor, 512 DDR2 RAM.
Samsung 4G LTE Smartphone – Android 2.2, Google Mobile services, including Google Search™, Google Maps™ and Gmail™, YouTube™, brilliant 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus touch screen display, powerful 1GHz application processor, HTML5 Web browser, rear-facing 8-megapixel camera with LED flash and front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera to support video chat capabilities, Samsung Social Hub and Media Hub.
Tablets

Motorola XOOM – 10.1-inch HD 4G LTE upgradable tablet, Android™ Honeycomb, 1080p HD video, Adobe® Flash® Player, front-facing 2-megapixel camera for video chats and 5-megapixel camera to capture video in 720P HD. Mobile hotspot capability provides connection for up to five Wi-Fi-enabled devices.
4G LTE-enabled Samsung Galaxy Tab™ – 7-inch enhanced TFT display with 1024 x 600 WSVGA resolution, Android 2.2, Adobe® Flash® 10.1, 1.2GHz Cortex A8 Hummingbird application processor, rear-facing 5-megapixel camera and front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera and camcorder enable video chat capabilities.
MiFi and Mobile Hotspot

Novatel MiFi® 4510L Intelligent Mobile Hotspot – Small enough to fit in the palm of the hand, share Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE and 3G networks with up to five Wi-Fi-enabled devices.
Samsung 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot – Dual-mode device works as a wireless access point to connect up to five Wi-Fi-enabled devices to Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE or 3G networks.
Notebooks

Compaq CQ10-688nr – 10.1-inch diagonal anti-glare widescreen LED display, Intel® Atom N455 processor, up to 8.5 hours of battery life, multi-format digital media card reader, webcam and multiple connectivity options.
HP Pavilion dm1-3010nr – 11.6-inches, HP CoolSense Technology, HD 1080p, VISION Technology from AMD, up to 10.75 hours of battery life, 320 GB of storage, full-size, island-style keyboard, multi-format digital media card reader, HDMI port, Dolby Advanced Audio and GPS for mapping and navigation.
Verizon Wireless also introduced new applications that are being fully integrated into the new smartphones and run seamlessly over the 4G LTE network. An upgraded version of Skype mobile takes advantage of video capabilities enabled by 4G LTE’s incredible speed, allowing users to see and hear friends and family when making or receiving Skype-to-Skype video calls. EA’s ROCK BAND leverages the high-speed, low-latency 4G LTE network to provide the next generation of multiplayer gaming. At launch, this will be the first time the game can be played with friends over the mobile network, which means consumers can rock out with their friends like never before with 20 favorite hits – while on the go.

Since its launch 32 days ago, Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE network has provided laptop users with speeds up to 10 times faster than the company’s 3G network. In real-world, fully-loaded network environments, laptop users experience average data rates of 5 to 12 megabits per second (Mbps) on the downlink and 2 to 5 Mbps on the uplink.

Tony Melone, executive vice president and chief technology officer of Verizon, said, “We will aggressively continue launching 4G LTE markets over the next 36 months. We’ll cover two-thirds of the U.S. population in the next 18 months, and by the end of 2013 we’ll offer our 4G LTE network from coast to coast – everywhere that we offer 3G today. In order to get there, we’ll add more than 140 markets in 2011, including Detroit, Raleigh-Durham, Memphis, Milwaukee, Honolulu, Boise, Mobile, Little Rock, Sioux Falls and Salt Lake City.”

(EDITORS NOTE: A list of initial 4G LTE markets to be launched in 2011 is located at the end of the news release.)

Verizon Wireless’ primary 4G LTE network vendors, Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent, are providing the underlying infrastructure for the 4G LTE network. Verizon Wireless’ 700 MHz spectrum gives the company specific advantages with 4G, including improved in-building penetration and a contiguous, nationwide network footprint.

Verizon Wireless is also working with rural companies to collaboratively build and operate a 4G network in those areas using the tower and backhaul assets of the rural company and Verizon Wireless’ core 4G LTE equipment and premium 700MHz spectrum. Rural operators are leveraging Verizon Wireless’ scale for infrastructure while they keep their customers on the cutting edge of technology. Bluegrass Cellular is the first rural wireless provider to partner with Verizon Wireless, and to date, more than 200 organizations have expressed interest in collaborating with Verizon Wireless to bring 4G LTE to rural America.

Since 2007, when Verizon Wireless jump-started the global 4G LTE ecosystem with its selection of LTE for its 4G technology, the company has developed deep partnerships to spearhead a broad LTE ecosystem, including the LTE Innovation Center in Waltham, Mass., and an LTE Applications Center, soon to open in the San Francisco area.

Melone concluded, “2011 will be a gang buster year, especially as we combine our growing 4G LTE network with our amazing lineup of 4G devices and applications that take advantage of high speed and low latency.”

Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE network already reaches more than one-third of all Americans. A list of initial 4G LTE markets to be covered by Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE network in 2011 include:

Huntsville, Alabama
Mobile, Alabama
Montgomery, Alabama
Little Rock, Arkansas
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Gainesville, Florida
Lakeland-Winter Haven, Florida
Pensacola, Florida
Sarasota-Bradenton, Florida
Tallahassee, Florida
Augusta, Georgia
Honolulu, Hawaii
Kahului-Wailuku, Hawaii
Lahaina, Hawaii
Boise-Nampa, Idaho
Carbondale-Marion, Illinois
Wichita, Kansas
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Hammond, Louisiana
Detroit, Michigan
Flint, Michigan
Fayetteville-Lumberton, North Carolina
Greensboro-Winston-Salem-High Point, North Carolina
Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina
Wilmington, North Carolina
Dayton-Springfield, Ohio
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Erie, Pennsylvania
State College, Pennsylvania
Charleston, South Carolina
Columbia, South Carolina
Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina
Hilton Head, South Carolina
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Clarksville, Tennessee
Cleveland, Tennessee
Kingsport, Tennessee; Johnson City, Tennessee; Bristol, Virginia/Tennessee
Knoxville, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Beaumont-Port Arthur, Texas
Bryan-College Station, Texas
Provo-Orem, Utah
Salt Lake City-Ogden, Utah
Centralia, Washington
Olympia, Washington
Charleston, West Virginia
Madison, Wisconsin
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

For more information about Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE network, visit www.verizonwireless.com/lte. To see a replay of the Verizon 4G LTE News Conference webcast from CES 2011, visit http://www.verizonwebcasts.com/ces/2011/news.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Media can access high-resolution images and video of the 4G LTE devices and other multimedia assets related to Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE network in the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.)

About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless operates the nation’s fastest and most advanced 4G network and largest and most reliable 3G network, and serves more than 93 million customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with 80,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE, NASDAQ: VZ) and Vodafone (LSE, NASDAQ: VOD). For more information, visit www.verizonwireless.com. To preview and request broadcast-quality video footage and high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.

NOTE: This press release contains statements about expected future events and financial results that are forward-looking and subject to risks and uncertainties. For those statements, which may include or be preceded by such words as “expects,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “seeks,” “estimates” and similar expressions, we claim the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this presentation and we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise them for any reason.

The following important factors, in addition to those discussed under “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K (No. 333-160446), could affect future results and could cause those results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements: changes in economic conditions; our ability to complete transactions relating to acquisitions and dispositions, including the integration of the Alltel business; changes in the ratings of our debt securities or those of Verizon Communications; adverse conditions in the credit markets impacting cost or availability of financing sufficient to meet our capital requirements; our ability to acquire and retain customers; our continued provision of satisfactory service to our customers at an acceptable price; the effects of competition; our ability to adapt to changing conditions in the wireless industry; the ability of our key suppliers to meet their obligations to us; the effects of material changes in available technology, including technology substitution and the cost of deployment; the impact of continued unionization efforts with respect to our employees; adverse regulatory and taxation developments; the effects of litigation; the impact of equipment failures, natural disasters, terrorist acts or other breaches of network or information technology security; and the effects of any required future changes in accounting assumptions.

On the back there’s an 8-megapixel camera while a 1.3-megapixel camera on the front does video call duty. It’s a slim device, despite the screen size, with AT&T describing the Infuse 4G as being the carrier’s slimmest handset.

We don’t know a huge amount about Super AMOLED Plus, beyond Samsung saying it increases the number of sub-pixels for more detail and better outdoor visibility. The AT&T Samsung Infuse 4G is expected to arrive later in 2011.