Verizon ropes in Samsung Fascinate, US Cellular gets a Galaxy S too
By Chris Ziegler 
posted June 28th 2010 12:30AM
posted June 28th 2010 12:30AM
Scoring the top four US carriers plus a top-tier regional with a single family of smartphones in one fell swoop is a major achievement for any manufacturer -- a feat memorably pulled off by the HTC Touch Pro2 -- so you can officially color us impressed now that Samsung has unveiled the Fascinate for Verizon plus an unnamed device for US Cellular, both variants of the Galaxy S (generic version pictured). As a refresher, this is the same phone family coming to Sprint as the Epic 4G, T-Mobile as the Vibrant, and AT&T as the Captivate, so these guys have a bit of an Android coup on their hands. Like the others (Epic 4G notably excepted), the Fascinate is a non-keyboard Android slate and features the usual 4-inch Super AMOLED display, 1GHz Hummingbird silicon, and 5 megapixel camera with 720p video recording; US Cellular's phone looks to be roughly the same thing, though it seems they've yet to choose a retail name for it. Both will be available on an unannounced date for an unannounced price -- but if the market is any indication, $199.99 on contract seems like a good bet. More on these models as we have it.
EPIC!
@TechAndOnlyTech
Really! This is something Google tried (and failed) to do with the Nexus One.
Wow,
I hope 'nobody' is going to complain that we get too many Samsung news, just like they do when it's Apple...
@TechAndOnlyTech Samsung on the offensive!!!
@jayjaync
Kinda different here since there are 5 devices over 4 stories. Kinda different than one phone over 5 stories
@BigJayDogg3
with all these high end android phones coming out,microsoft is really going to have to show us something special for the first windows 7 phone...or there just going to fade away in all the android hype.
@viditbhargava Better comparison http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMsl7ceJuK4
@TechAndOnlyTech
Hmm, Fascinate or Droid X?
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.
@BigJayDogg3 That's funny, Google failed because of their distribution method, they did not initially do what Samsung is doing right now. You couldn't be more wrong to make that comparison.
@TechAndOnlyTech
How come Lord Vader isn't commenting on this Galactic War? Android, Galaxy, and Carriers are right up his alley...
@arnoldphone How cute arnoldphone. Too much bad news about you beloved iPhone nowadays? How about asking Steve Jobs to build proper phones, instead of spamming news about real high quality phones?
Just a thought...
@TechAndOnlyTech
Looks like a winner, but sadly I've heard a lot of complaints about the support of Samsung devices. That's a no-no for me considering the price.
@jayjaync I don't think people will complain about too many Samsung posts. I don't think people really care. I mean, can you imagine people camping out all night, queuing for a Samsung device??
Apple, yes. Samsung, no.
@huzzlehoff
What support are you talking about?
Hardware support: You go with your carrier for phone issues..Get insurance for your phone..
Software support: Android has the best software support available.
@juanvaldez
Doesn't really matter WHY they failed. Fact of the matter is they tried it and it didn't pan out the way they though it would.
I'm not dogging Google because they failed at it, I'm just stating facts here.
2 more to go
@epicsurge really, what 2? It's already on T-Mobile, AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, and U.S. Cellular.
@aliendude5300
If they put this on Cricket, I will be amazed.
@Dante of the Inferno
Well, Cricket is getting the Kyocera Zio...
@Dante of the Inferno You can flash many phones to cricket with everything working perfectly, youtube the droid on cricket ;)
@epicsurge
Samsung has come to play huh, google should take not an get on all the major carriers with Nexus 2!
Samsung with a android 2.1 device on every carrier like this will boost thier market share a ton along with growing Android in the Mobile OS wars
When Samsung said they want a 10% market-share, they were not kidding.
@dementedacademic you mean 100%? :P
@dementedacademic
Korean's have very strong work ethics that rival, if not surpass the Japanese. When they say they intend to sell this many units or get this much marketshare, more often than not, they will make it happen.
They've already upped their forecast 2 or 3 times now. Their original forecast was already "ambitious" by any standards but apparently they are in a position to readjust that upwards.
This is one company you want to watch out for. It's not a company you can ignore. If they come in to compete, they can blindside you hardcore or come at you straight. Remember that only Sammy was able to really take major marketshare away from Nokia in places they decided to compete.
Even Android and iPhone together hasn't been able to make a signifigant dent in Nokia's marketshare.
ATM I'm an HTC user, but Sammy are in it to win it.
@ounkeo
They are also kinda arrogant. Just because Samsung is whoring out their phone doesn't mean Koreans have a stronger work ethic than Japanese or anyone else for that matter.
@Jukah Its not like Samsung is one person, it is a company, they tried pushing their OS Bada, but soon realized that to get any meaningful marketshare, they needed an ecosystem, hence this whole Galaxy thing. The good news is, the phone industry now views Android as a major success, so we will see more awesome phones from LG, Sony etc who have not been all in on Android as well. I hope Nokia adopts Android too, IMO its their only hope.
@dementedacademic
Boo. MeeGo for the win.I don't want just 2 alternatives for my mobile OS
@huzzlehoff
Meego for tablets looks amazing. For phones though... i, personally will stick with android
just when T-Mobile thought they had a "good" flag ship phone Verizon and ATT had to rain on their parade.
@mhe89
The networks do not really attract the same users.
T-mobile allows you to buy your phone off contract (often for a decent price) and buy a plan that costs half of what it would cost on the other networks.
AT&T will lock it down and limit features.
Verizon will probably offer the phone with minimal alterations from the stock configuration.
@mhe89
Verizon & ATT rained on it. Sprint brought a hurricane with their Epic 4G.
@Rickreation Yeah, but who really cares? Just like everything else Sprint does, they rushed something to the market, only to have to backtrack, at which point they'll fall behind. Happened with the Apache and Titan launching without MMS. They rushed them to the market to beat Verizon, and at Verizon release, Sprint's still didn't have MMS. Now they're rushing all these WiMax devices to market, and the WiMax network itself. Meanwhile they'll be rendered obselete inside of two years, and Sprint will yet again backtrack behind Verizon.
@mhe89
You go to T-Mobile because they offer the best bang/buck ratio in terms of service. Not because of hardware. That said, they NEEDED a high-end Android phone to recapture parity with the other guys. As long as they offer a high-end, midrange, and low end Android phone as well as at least one keyboard-bearing option, (and at least Android 2.1) they're covered. They've done that with the MyTouch, MT-Slide, and now this. (I'm not counting the Cliqs as they are STILL stuck on 1.5, and the G1 is on its way out the door.) And word on the street is there are a couple strong Motorola phones on tap for Fall.
What is interesting is the Verizon variant. Where does it fit in their lineup? It seems to stomp all over the Incredible's turf.
Does this phone (galaxy s) get declined in so many versions only in the US or will it be the same in Europe/Asia etc... ??
@jayjaync Rest of the world has the version you see in the pic above.
@adamwjohnson5 argh, I was hoping for an Epic 4g =)
Thanx for the info.
I guess Samsung was serious about overtaking Motorola and HTC in the smartphone market (though I personally prefer Motorola phones), getting there best phone on all the major carriers.
Alright! I hope these all come in July.
Verizon option sounds the best so far. Not feeling the look of the Sprint model.
@adamwjohnson5
Agreed on the Sprint version. Also, why did sprint have to make the Captivate UGLY. It's just not captivating. So far I'm diggin' the Vibrant (T-Mobile). Let's just wait and see what the "Fascinate" looks like.
@Ryan68
I meant AT&T on the Captivate!!!
@Ryan68 Yep the Captivate looks dated. I wonder how much input the carriers had in the design. Lack of front facing camera on the Vibrant is really disappointing. I'm hoping the Verizon model is exactly like the global version but with a Flash.
Uncle Sammy .. give us a GSM version with a front facing camera please! AT&T and T-mo are full of crap removing your front facing camera.
@keplenk Agree, the T-Mobile and ATT models are disappointing. ATT prob didn't want a front facing camera because of the iPhone 4 and T-Mobile maybe didn't include it so they could offer the cheapest model? Who knows.
@keplenk I don't find that a problem at all. I don't particularly like pay for something I'll never use, and a front facing camera is one of those things. I think most people would find they'd use it once or twice and then almost never use it again.
WTF I never even knew US Cellular even existed! X|
@tranquilnight
Don't hear much about it on the major tech blogs, but they are a pretty successful company. Their network is the best hands down in the Midwest. The only knock on them was the lack of the latest and greatest phones. Sounds like they are stepping up to the plate this summer though.
So,I guess this phone will be coming to Canada next year. As always getting left overs from the US.