Samsung's Epic 4G for Sprint seems to live up to its name
By Chris Ziegler 
posted June 28th 2010 12:01AM
posted June 28th 2010 12:01AM
As software goes, the Epic 4G will be running Samsung's reworked version of Android 2.1 offering features like DLNA support and Social Hub. In other words, this is the closest you're going to get to an EVO 4G with a landscape QWERTY slide -- and at 14.2mm thick, you're only about a millimeter and a half thicker than HTC's entry. Like AT&T's Captivate, the Epic 4G is being described as "a Galaxy S smartphone," so it's pretty clear that Samsung's looking to group all of these things under a global brand with big-time name recognition. Neither pricing nor a launch date have been announced -- but hey, the EVO deserves a few more days in the spotlight, wouldn't you say? Follow the break for Sprint's press release.
Samsung Epic 4G, America's First 4G-Capable Phone with Slide-out QWERTY Keyboard and Brilliant Super AMOLED Touchscreen, Coming to Sprint
Samsung Epic 4G brings a living room entertainment experience to a mobile phone, offering HD-like video through the first video store with movies and TV shows, optimized for a 4G handset for rental or purchase
Pre-register to learn more about Samsung Epic 4G at www.sprint.com/epic4g
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – June 28, 2010 – Sprint (NYSE: S) and Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung Mobile), the No. 1 mobile phone provider in the U.S.1, today introduced the second 4G-capable handset from Sprint, Samsung Epic™ 4G, a Galaxy S™ smartphone and Samsung Mobile's first 4G Android™-powered device.
"Sprint takes another leap forward today, announcing its second 4G-capable smartphone," said Steve Elfman, president, Network Operations and Wholesale. "Samsung Epic 4G joins a portfolio of powerful devices offering an unprecedented simplicity and value to our customers as the only national carrier with a 4G network and devices and applications that can leverage the increased data speeds to provide a high-def entertainment and business experience in the palm of your hand."
"Samsung Epic 4G is a powerful member of our Galaxy S smartphone portfolio which offers premium screen, speed and content features," said Omar Khan, chief strategy officer for Samsung Mobile. "The Epic 4G ups the ante with a front-facing camera for video conferencing, a full QWERTY keyboard and lightning-fast 4G speeds."
Samsung Epic 4G is part of a new breed of Samsung smartphones offering their very best in screen, speed and content quality for a premium user experience, and offers a fully integrated multimedia, messaging and social networking experience. It also features an exceptionally thin smartphone design with a slide out, full QWERTY keyboard and 4-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen display.
The brilliant Super AMOLED touchscreen display offers:
• The best representation of color on a mobile phone that matches original content, more than 100 times the contrast quality of other leading displays
• Faster response time that reduces "ghosting" images
• Wide viewing angles to prevent blurring or distortion
• Thinner design to offer more accurate and responsiveness to touch
Entertainment at Its Best
In the coming months, Samsung Epic 4G will have access to the Samsung Media Hub, making it the first and only 4G handset to feature a video store with movies and TV available for purchase or rental, and video content set up for an HD-like entertainment experience on a handset screen. With 4G from Sprint, users will be able to get turbo-charged downloads of a full library of video and literary content powered by some of the biggest names in entertainment.
Samsung Epic 4G also features Samsung's exclusive AllShare service to wirelessly share stored music, pictures and HD video to other DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) certified™ home electronics, including HDTVs, monitors, digital cameras, printers and more. Through AllShare, users will be able to capture moments with the phone's camera and camcorder, and wirelessly show them to friends or family on their DLNA certified HDTV or download music from a PC to Samsung Epic 4G and take on the road.
Amazing Features
Powered by the Android 2.1 platform, Samsung Epic 4G also supports a series of advanced touch screen gestures including multi-touch pinch, long tap and zoom and vertical and horizontal swiping.
Samsung Epic 4G is the only 4G smartphone to offer three fast and easy ways to enter text onto the device – a slide-out full QWERTY keyboard, virtual keyboard and Swype technology, which allows users to input text faster and more intuitively with one continuous finger motion across the virtual keyboard.
The smartphone is designed for an optimal gaming experience with a six-axis sensor that fine tunes its accelerometer's ability to interpret simple movements of the device, so when the phone tilts up and down or left and right, the game can immediately respond in the same directions. A demo of Asphalt 5, a popular racing game, is preloaded exclusively on Samsung Epic 4G allowing users to take full advantage of these advanced gaming capabilities.
It also features:
• Samsung 1GHz Cortex A8 Hummingbird Application Processor supports amazing 3-D graphics, faster upload and download times and the full richness of HD-like multimedia content.
• Dual camera: 5 MP camera/camcorder with autofocus, Power LED flash and 3x digital zoom for HD video3 (720p) video recording and front facing VGA camera for video chat and more
• Visual Voicemail
• Mobile Hotspot capability supporting up to five Wi-Fi enabled devices to share the 4G experience simultaneously
• Android Market™ for access to more than 50,000 useful applications, widgets and games available for download to customize the experience
• Wi-Fi® b/g/n
• 1500 mAh battery
Game-changer for Business Customers
Samsung Epic 4G is designed to deliver one of the best multi-media experience for business users in several vertical industries such as healthcare, education, public safety, construction and professional services through superior speed and display innovation. It offers support for push email and integrated calendar services, including Google™ and Yahoo, as well as Exchange ActiveSync for corporate email including enhanced device management and security features, as well as full support for Google Mobile Services.
With Android's open-software platform, businesses can benefit from several productivity-enhancing applications available in the Android Market™ including bar code scanning, signature capture, document viewing and the ability to stream and upload video for customer approval and archival purposes.
Staying Connected with Social Networking
To make staying connected faster and easier, Samsung Epic 4G includes Samsung Social Hub designed to integrate all your social networking services, messages, personal and business email, calendars and contacts. Additionally, calendar information from portal calendars, such as Google Calendar and social networking services are displayed together in one calendar with two-way synchronization.
As work on finalizing the software is underway, Sprint expects to launch Android 2.2 for Samsung Epic 4G in the near future. With the Android 2.2 upgrade, customers can expect improvements to include the following benefits among others: updates to User Interface, improved EAS Support, improved Browser Performance including Flash 10x Support, voice Dialing Over Bluetooth and application Storage on External Memory.
A Sprint 4G developer guide is available today from the Sprint ADP Web site at http://developer.sprint.com. The Sprint 4G developer guide provides details on developing for an Android 2.1 handset and how to take advantage of the Samsung Epic 4G's unique hardware and software capabilities and the Sprint 4G network. The Sprint Application Developer Program has been providing tools for third-party developers since Sprint first launched the Wireless Web on its phones in 2001.
Sprint will announce pricing and availability in the coming months; meanwhile customers can pre-register for more information about Samsung Epic 4G at www.sprint.com/epic4g.
Blazing trails with Sprint 4G
Sprint 4G offers a faster wireless experience than any other U.S. national wireless carrier, and Sprint is the only national carrier offering wireless 4G service today in 36 markets. Sprint 4G delivers download speeds up to 10 times faster than 3G, giving Samsung Epic 4G the fastest data speeds of any U.S. wireless device available today.2
As the first national wireless carrier to test, launch and market 4G technology, Sprint made history by launching 4G in Baltimore in September 2008.
Sprint currently offers 4G service in 36 markets: Georgia – Atlanta, Milledgeville; Hawaii – Honolulu, Maui; Idaho – Boise; Illinois – Chicago; Maryland – Baltimore; Missouri – Kansas City, St. Louis; Nevada – Las Vegas; North Carolina – Charlotte, Greensboro, (along with High Point and Winston-Salem), Raleigh (along with Cary, Chapel Hill and Durham); Oregon – Portland, Salem; Pennsylvania – Harrisburg, Lancaster, Philadelphia, Reading, York; Texas – Abilene, Amarillo, Austin, Corpus Christi, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Houston, Killeen/Temple, Lubbock, Midland/Odessa, San Antonio, Waco, Wichita Falls; Utah – Salt Lake City; Virginia – Richmond; Washington – Bellingham, Seattle. For more information, visit www.sprint.com/4G.
In 2010, Sprint expects to launch 4G service in multiple markets, including but not limited to, Boston, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Denver, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New York City, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.
More Satisfied Than Ever
Powerful 4G smartphones like Samsung Epic 4G is one of many reasons Sprint is the most improved company in customer satisfaction, across all industries, over the last two years, according to results from the 2010 American Customer Satisfaction Index.
Sprint's improvement was driven in part by substantial gains in two aspects of the survey. In the area of customers' perceptions of value, Sprint now leads both AT&T and Verizon. The company also achieved an impressive improvement in the area of customer loyalty. With these gains, the company's overall ACSI score jumped 14 points over the last two years. In the last six years of the ACSI survey, no other company has improved its satisfaction score by that many points in a two-year period.
The improvements in the ACSI survey come as Sprint has seen nine consecutive quarters of improved customer satisfaction and first call resolution. The company's improvements have also been recognized by other independent third-parties, including Sprint winning the #1 spot for both overall satisfaction for wireless voice service providers and wireless data service providers in a Yankee Group and Mobile Enterprise magazine survey of large business decision makers. Sprint also ranked high in small and medium business customer satisfaction. Also noteworthy was Sprint's two-year Reputation Pulse™ score increase in Reputation Institute's 2010 U.S. Most Reputable Companies Study (published annually in Forbes). Sprint's 18.22 percent gain puts its improvement in the top 10 percent of the 150 largest U.S. companies, ahead of both AT&T and Verizon.
About Sprint Nextel
Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel served more than 48 million customers at the end of the first quarter of 2010 and is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, and is the first and only wireless 4G service from a national carrier in the United States; offering industry-leading mobile data services, leading prepaid brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost Mobile, Common Cents Mobile and Assurance Wireless and instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. With its customer-focused strategy, you can learn more and visit Sprint at www.sprint.com or www.facebook.com/sprint and www.twitter.com/sprint.
About Samsung Telecommunications America
Samsung Telecommunications America, LLC, a Dallas-based subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., researches, develops and markets wireless handsets and telecommunications products throughout North America. For more information, please visit www.samsung.com.
About Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2009 consolidated sales of (US)$116.8 billion. Employing approximately 188,000 people in 185 offices across 65 countries, the company consists of eight independently operated business units: Visual Display, Mobile Communications, Telecommunication Systems, Digital Appliances, IT Solutions, Digital Imaging, Semiconductor and LCD. Recognized as one of the fastest growing global brands, Samsung Electronics is a leading producer of digital TVs, memory chips, mobile phones and TFT-LCDs. For more information, please visit www.samsung.com.
epic eh?
@ericlin Getting it.
So android lovers now have the Evo, the Vibrant, the Epic...
With so many cool android devices being realised lately it basically comes down to carrier choice, doesn't it ?
@ericlin sprint's on roll man! Looks like they're attracting many more customers with services and phones like these!!! Sprint FTW!
@jayjaync forgot the Droid...
and "released", not "realised".
@ericlin
I knew it wasn't going to be called Galaxy S Pro. Like I said on the leaked photos post from a few days ago, Sprint is going for shorter, more catchy names for there 4G phones like the EVO. Epic 4G is an excellent name for this device.
@ericlin epic? ha, looks like every other phone samsung has. People say blackberrys look bad, this thing looks like a toy. ev-do and wi-max? big deal. hspa+ and LTE, yes please.
IMOHO this thing is far from epic, it is just another next gen device that htc and moto will out doo in the coming months.
Oh and the evo looks 100x better than this cheap looking toy. even if both of them are CDMA root phones.
@TerrorX 3 iPhones weren't even changed physically. iPhone 4 is still the same, except thinner and aluminium band. Dont you think thats the same?
I know its just one phone but if they rene the phone with new eatures, they should also renew the design and layout. iPhone 4's layout is still the same.
@TerrorX Define a smartphone that isn't a toy so then I can rip you apart on how ironically wrong you are please!
@ericlin
damnit...i wish HTC would make a large flagship qwerty slider like this. I've seen samsungs track record when it comes to continuing to upgrade/support their android (actually all phones in general) and it sucks. I'll always be weary of a samsung branded phone. just can't help it
@benthe1
Also, this will be perfect for those that wanted a physical keyboard on the EVO. Thank you Sprint for coming out with some AWESOME phones lately.
@jayjaync good point.
@statickeith Better comparison http://www.mobiletechworld.com/2010/06/26/samsung-galaxy-s-vs-iphone-4-display-video-comparison/
Samsung has confirmed to discontinue Galaxy S on Nov 2010. They will launch Galaxy Q with Android 2.5. (Reference: Samsung's internal docs).
@arnoldphone
Internal code name is M140X. They might not support Galaxy S anymore.
@simbadogg it's name is the HTC Vision (Project Emerald) and it will be phone of the year.
@ericlin My biggest complaint about the Korean version is not lack of LED flash it's it doesn't seem to come with Swype (AFAICT) also it seems the beta for Swype is over and it can't be downloaded from the developer site and the overall software package. I prefer the keyboard on the Galaxy S to the iPhone's keyboard, but the iPhone had great word prediction and correction which makes it overall much better.
...I know, cool story, what I'm saying is I'd kill for Swype and settle for a hardware keyboard, you probably get both.
@rhomaion I was referring to the design of the phone looking like a entry level plasticy looking piece of shit. Mostly unlike the droid x and evo. anyhow, for the most part you are right the majority of smart phones are really expensive toys, blackberry being the closest thing to an exception. considering it is marketed to business folk rather than teens who want lame ass sound boards and wicked apps like that ak-47 app woot.
I like android and everything but i need to see some hardware come out. i hate how many phones they are spitting out yet they are all pretty much the same,
oh, and i will reiterate, EV-DO = hilarious yesterdays joke, WI-MAX is tomorrows joke. good for nothing more than a back-haul for LTE.
@ericlin Looks slick, but I wish Samsung would just ship stock Android instead of their lame iphone knockoff skin. Really cheapens all their devices.
@juanvaldez I forgot to consider/reference the added size/weight due to the hardware keyboard, HTC will have a slimmer and possibly lighter phone with the Evo.
@fourzero40 Good God...the colors on the iPhone look washed out compared to the Sammy.
Contrast ratio on iPhone is a FAIL !!!
@statickeith After watching Apple over the years, specially the last few, it just goes to show they know people are sheep. they release a fundamentally same device every year with some upgrades (some of which should have been there from the beginning i.e. copy and paste and a flash) and people eat it up. they can and will sell millions of iphone4's despite the fact it has some somewhat major design flaws, one of which being the lack of 4g, but there we go again, people are sheep and don't know/care. thats the demographic Apple trys to shoot for, the people who just don't know. filling peoples heads with propaganda and wishful thinking.
Have fun down ranking me fanboys. don't really care. and yah, i know RIM has some catching up to do, just as apple does too. At least I know they are doing 4g right, the LTE way.
@fourzero40 Wow...the iPhone looks washed out. Blacks are not even black ! Engadget is full of it.
We knew about the specs and saw the leaked pix already. The question is if Sprint is gonna charge $10/mo for this device like the Evo.
great build, spacious keyboard and a wonderful wallpaper! ftw :)
:) :) :) :) :) :):) :) :):) :) :):) :) :)
oh, I was just testing out the ":)" key on the Samsung Epic 4G :)
@TerrorX
Why do you choose a rim or google device? You do because it does what you need in a way that you like. Thats the same reason i use my iphone and that really doesn't make me a know nothing sheep.
@katiedonut
Why wouldn't they? It will have to be charged the same $10 (doesn't really matter for me since I get a 25% discount off my plan but even still $10 isn't that much) for premium 4g unlimited data. The bigger question is how much more the hot spot feature will cost.
@TerrorX What do you want Apple to do here, release a 4G phone on LTE when they can't even get UMTS antennas correct? I'm all for throwing them under the bus on the antenna issue because they screwed up but when they get that under control they will have the goods. You are correct about WiMax but, from my own perspective, I appreciate that they have the courage to wait until they think a feature is ready to implement it. I don't think that makes me a fanboy, but to each their own.
@tobsmonster2
Sooo.. People use Windows because it does what they need in a way that they like?
@bufbarnaby More like a Sammy fail, I'll take text I can read over more color, plus, the colors of the iPhones LED are fantastic, it's not amoled, but it's the best display is a cellphone.
@bufbarnaby It doesn't even look like the Italian guy has the iPhone on full brightness though. It would definitely look better if it was. The colors would still be a little less vibrant but not to the extent that they are in that video
@fourzero40 This is SOOO much better than Engadget's. I'm still waiting for someone to play some actual movies on both. You can already see from viewing the pictures that the black bars on the iPhone4 still have that washed out LCD look, due to the backlighting. It's no wonder they changed the default background to a white/grey gradient.
@simbadogg
I think your going to see better support for these new phones as these companies now know they can get more shelf life out of a cell phone design by just updating the software.
@fowenati Best of both Worlds (touch & slider keyboards) and only slightly thicker? What's not to love? ^_^ .....and DLNA will work with a Sony PS3 and your router to PC too. Would be great for Steve iHitler Jobs to project his ugly finger pointing face on all the screens throughout his house. He could keep tabs on the competition with his "Thought Police" carrying these units around to punish iPhone 4 defectors by shocking them w/ iPhone 4's built-in self stun gun. Oh.... but wait, Samsung didn't include the DLNA feature when they made Apple's Hummingbird A8 Droidless Clone! *_^
@katiedonut
They will- the $10 a month is for 4G services, not just the EVO device. As much as it sucks, they're gonna nail us with charges every way possible.
@statickeith
Ever take a look at sprint's 4g map?
If not you should, basically it skips every populated place in the entire country.
They are on a roll alright, a roll of in marketing deception.
@ericlin
Not impressed with samsung build quality OR their ability to implement anything software-wise. I had an upstage, the instinct was terrible (both versions) the moment is passable, but squeaky and cheap feeling outside of a case - bulky inside one.
I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt because I know they _can_ put out good hardware, but I'm not holding my breath.
I was a huge proponent of hardware keyboards until the Evo and it's glorious 4.3" on-screen offering.
@ericlin
Epic indeed! Sprints really is the kept secret in wireless!
@TerrorX
Why does any phone need 4g when the 3g potential still hasn't been met? It makes no sense.
@simbadogg
Your like me... This is my problem with samsung as well... You get virtually no support... So when it comes to upgrading ur android software u may be in trouble..
@katiedonut More than likely.
@TerrorX
I'm sorry I fail to see how this looks like any other Android device currently out, given that high end phones WITHOUT a keyboard is rare in itself and the 2nd/3rd to be released with a keyboard.
@ericlin: More like Epic Mediocracy.
Enough is enough with these stupid Android hardware statistics. It is now plainly obvious that Android marketers are shilling stats in place of true utility and usability. Whatever the numbers are, you can be sure they cut corners all around.
In other words, cheap crap for deeks (d*cks pretending to be geeks).
Real geeks are sufficiently solvent buy Apple for themselves and use whatever crap their shortsighted employers buy for 'value'.
That's an Epic Fail.
@Ariel Bender
stfu already you stupid apple sackriding idiot.
you are the one who is total FAIL.
@maattp
If you are fortunate enough to be in a WiMax area like I am, it's been fantastic. This weekend, I was sitting in a coffee shop watching USA vs Ghana over 4G on SprintTV. I was in South Pasadena, which is about 10 miles northeast of Los Angeles. Though LA has been announced as getting WiMax up this year, they've been gradually rolling it out over various parts of the area, and not just LA city proper. I know I'm one of the lucky few, but I do believe Sprint/Clear are working double-time to get WiMax rolled out to all the cities they've announced, and their efforts are showing here in LA.
@rhomaion Droid.. its not a toy.. its a BEAST
@maattp 3G potential?? Dude 3G is already a bottleneck.
@McPOW And this one has flash for its camera...such a downer for the normal Galaxy S.
@arnoldphone Yes because that makes complete sense to discontinue a phone 3 months after you release it to the public. ??