At 2:24am (Yes, I was awake) Sprint dropped me an email asking if I, a Premier Customer, wanted to reserve the Samsung Epic 4g. So from my HTC Hero I reserved my next phone; the Sprint version of the Samsung Galaxy S. I hope my Hero isn’t angry with me. I mean it may of been in bad taste, having my phone be an integral part of reserving it’s replacement. My hero and I have been through a lot. As a computer it’s great! Unfortunately it is just a computer with a phone app. But I digress.
The Samsung Epic 4G, being released August 31st, is the second 4G phone being offered by Sprint. The HTC Evo is the first 4G phone and was released back in June to Sprint customers who have been thirsting for a true Android competitor against Verizon‘s Droid and the Nexus one. The Evo still holds the title as Sprints best selling phone on a release day beating the Palm Pre and the Samsung Instinct. Sprint may not have the marketing push behind the Epic as they did with the Evo but we are a few weeks out from its August 31st release.
Friday starts the official pre-order sales for Sprint but Premier customers should have received an email stating they can reserve their Epic 4G now to get the jump on the masses. The Epic 4g is $499.99 but with a new line or eligible upgrade the price drops to $249.99 after $150.00 instant savings and $100.00 mail in rebate. Right now their is no pre-order from Best buy who usually avoids the mail in rebate and turns the M.i.R to instant savings but I am sure they will have their own pre-order soon.
A little about the Epic 4G. It is a slider style smart phone with 4in Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, Android 2.1 and a 1ghz A8 Cortex “Hummingbird” processor. A 5MP camera/camcorder with autofocus, power LED flash and 4x digital zoom. It will be capable of HD video (720p) recording for capture and playback on an HD television, a front facing VGA camera for video chat through pre-installed Qik. Not only will it have access to the Android market but by the end of the year Samsung is releasing their “Samsung Media Hub, a full library of video and literary content powered by some of the biggest names in entertainment”; as for who those big names are still remains a mystery. As a 4g phone it will be capable of peak download speeds of more than 10 Mbps and peak upload speeds of 1 Mbps. Pittsburgh is currently not a 4G city but you can sign up to find out when 4G is available in Pittsburgh on Sprints website. A full list of the Epic’s specs is below.
- 3G/4G capability
- Samsung 1GHz Cortex A8 Hummingbird Application Processor
- 4-inch Super AMOLED capacitive display with pinch-to-zoom
- Google full HTML browser – bandwidth and quality that rival that of netbooks
- Android 2.1, with access to more than 50,000 apps on Android Market
- Simultaneous voice and data capability in 4G and Wi-Fi coverage areas, enabling Web surfing and more while talking Google mobile services, including Google Search, Google Maps, Google Talk, Gmail, YouTube , and Google Calendar sync Visual Voicemail
- Messaging – personal and business email and text messaging, as well as IM through a downloadable Android Market app
- 3G/4G Mobile Hotspot capability – connects up to five Wi-Fi enabled devices
- 4G data speeds (WiMAX) – peak download speeds of more than 10 Mbps; peak upload speeds of 1 Mbps; average download speeds of 3-6 Mbps
- 3G data speeds (EVDO Rev A.) – peak download speeds of up to 3.1 Mbps; peak upload speeds of 1.8 Mbps; average download speeds of 600 kbps-1.4 Mbps
- Dual camera: 5 MP camera/camcorder with autofocus, power LED flash and 4x digital zoom for photos and HD video (720p) recording for capture and playback on an HD television, as well as a front facing VGA camera for video chat and more
- Qik video application for video chat service and live video sharing
- High-quality video streaming and downloads at 3G and 4G data speeds
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 - Samsung Social Hub integrates all of the user’s social networking services, messages, personal and business email, calendars and contacts, and can display calendar information from portal calendars, such as Google Calendar, and social networking services together in one view with two-way synchronization
- Future access to the Samsung Media Hub, a full library of video and literary content powered by some of the biggest names in entertainment
Media player with 3.5mm stereo headset jack - Sprint applications, including Sprint Football Live, Sprint Navigation, Sprint TV, and NASCAR Sprint Cup Mobile
- Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP Stereo and EDR
- Built-in WiFi: 802.11 b/g/n
- Digital compass, six-axis motion sensor, proximity sensor, light sensor, GPS
- Expandable memory: 16 GB microSD card included; supports up to 32 GB
Dimensions: 4.9 inches x 2.54 inches x 0.56 inches (124.8 mm x 64.6 mm x 14.2 mm) (LxWxT)
Weight: 5.46 ounces (155 grams)
Battery: Standard removable 1500mAh Lithium (Li-on) battery
Memory: 1GB ROM, 512 MB RAM
Five-row horizontal sliding keyboard
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- Samsung Epic 4G smartphone announced (gizmag.com)
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