A wild ride for one of the world’s most popular smartphones got even wilder Wednesday.
The Samsung Galaxy S II, which has sold like gangbusters overseas – particularly in South Korea and the U.K., where it even beat the iPhone in its first month of release earlier this year – will finally make its way onto AT&T’s HSPA+ network on Oct. 2.
You’ll be able to pick one up for $200 when you sign up for a new, two-year contract. Sprint started selling the device – which is Samsung’s fastest selling smartphone – last week, for the same price. No word yet from T-Mobile on a release date, but the nation’s fourth-largest carrier has plans to offer it.
It came as a shocker a few weeks ago when Verizon Wireless said it wouldn’t carry the red-hot Galaxy S II, presumably because it has similar – and perhaps bigger and better offerings – coming down the pike soon. Then an anticipated Sept. 18 or 19 release date for AT&T came and went, causing a lot of anger on social media sites and in the blogosphere from customers who first heard about this device almost a year ago.
The Galaxy S II comes packed with a dual-core, 1.2GHz processor; 16GB of storage; a 4.3-inch touchscreen; and a pair of cameras, including a rear-facing one that’s 8MP.
But will the once highly anticipated Galaxy S II be able to compete, or has fervor for the device waned? We’ll know more later in October if it is the iPhone challenger that some expect it to be. The iPhone 5 is expected to be released on or around Oct. 15.
