One of four new Android-based Samsung super handsets hit the market via T-Mobile stores Thursday, going head-to-head with Motorola’s Droid X in what is likely to be a busy few months in the smartphone wars.
The design of the Samsung Vibrant, a variant of the Galaxy S, is drawing comparisons to Apple’s iPhone because of its thin shape — at 9.9mm the Galaxy is the thinnest Android phone — and rounded corners, but the four-inch touchscreen is actually bigger than the iPhone’s 3.5 inches.
No iPhone Clone
“I don’t see it as a clone,” said analyst Michael Gartenberg of the Altimeter Group. “The Vibrant is one of the variants of the Galaxy S that’s hitting all four carriers. Most phones today use some variant of the iPhone layout, as the iPhone was a variant on what came before it. I don’t think there’s more to it than that.”
The Vibrant is available for $199 with a two-year plan and a $50 rebate, or without a plan for $499. A data plan is required for smartphone features. The Vibrant has a five-megapixel camera and a one-gigahertz Hummingbird processor. The first Android phone to feature Bluetooth 3.0, it ships with 16 gigabytes of memory with an expansion slot to add up to 32 more gigabytes.
T Mobile is describing the display as “stunning Super AMOLED,” an active matrix organic light-emitting diode, a technology in which South Korea-based Samsung is a leader. To show off its display, the phone ships with the top-grossing, sci-fi film Avatar ready for viewing.
It also has pre-loaded apps for Amazon’s Kindle and a game, The Sims 3, a suburban-life simulation game published by Electronic Arts. An app for MobiTV is also included, with the media-streaming service available for $9.99 a month.
The Vibrant is one of four versions of the i9000 Galaxy…