First look at AT&T’s Samsung Galaxy S II

AT&T is launching the Samsung Galaxy S II on Oct. 2 for $199 with contract, but a review unit showed up on my doorstep earlier today. I’ve just unboxed the device, which came with an optional USB to HDMI adapter, and have some first impressions as well as photos to share. If not for the back cover logo of Galaxy S II, the phone appears very much like the Samsung Infuse 4G I reviewed back in May. The dual-core processor, however, shows the difference once you power-on Samsung’s latest smartphone.

 

Some quick thoughts, in no particular order:

My gut reaction: I can see many people happy with this phone on AT&T’s network, but I’ll use it for a few days to see if there are any quirks or gotchas to look out for. I also have no idea how long the battery will last on a charge. Of course, the elephant in the room for this phone is the upcoming new iPhone from Apple; next month could prove a superb smartphone showdown between the Galaxy S II and the next iPhone.

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AT&T launching the Samsung Galaxy S II Oct. 2 for $199

The fastest selling Samsung smartphone, the Galaxy S II, arrives on AT&T’s network October 2 for $199 after contract. The carrier shared the release information Wednesday on its Facebook page, saying the phone will be available both on-line and in retail stores on the launch date. The high-end handset has been available in countries outside the U.S. since May and sold 5 million units in the first 85 days after launching.

Timing of the Galaxy S II on AT&T should prove interesting as the smartphone is arguably the best suited Google Android handset to compete directly against Apple’s iPhone, which is still a top seller on AT&T’s network.

The October 2 launch date for Samsung’s phone appears to be prior to an expected new iPhone. Apple is reportedly holding a press event on October 4, where it’s likely to introduce the next iPhone although the handset may not be available immediately. That would mean the Galaxy S II could enjoy several weeks of sales without competition from the newest iPhone model. Knowing that an updated Apple handset is due soon, however, consumers may hold off on the Samsung device.

To recap the functions and features of the Galaxy S II, the handset uses a fast dual-core processor and large, 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus touchscreen. The thin handset also includes an 8 megapixel rear camera capable of capturing 1080p video which can be piped to a high-definition television set. A 2 megapixel front-facing camera can be used for video chat. And in terms of usability and performance, our own Darrell Etherington said this in his review: “This is the device that comes closest to creating a mobile experience as smooth as Apple’s.”

Of course, Darrell compared the Galaxy S II experience to last year’s iPhone 4. I’m curious to see consumers make the same comparison with Apple’s newest phone, which should rival the Galaxy S II in terms of hardware features. I’ve already suggested that a late U.S. launch of Samsung’s hottest phone could limit sales; we’ll find out next month.

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Samsung stands to lose, not gain, by open-sourcing bada

Since adopting Google’s Android platform, Samsung has witnessed massive growth in its smartphone sales, currently rivaling Apple for the top spot globally. The company’s march to become the smartphone king began in earnest last year with a solid strategy: Design one great device and tweak it slightly for individual carriers as needed. The Samsung Galaxy S was that one great device last year, and its successor, the Galaxy S II, is already Samsung’s fastest-selling smartphone ever.

But Android is only part one of Samsung’s master plan. Part two is bada, the company’s own proprietary mobile platform. While Android has boosted sales, revenue and market share, it has also allowed Samsung to invest time and money into bada as a platform and an ecosystem complete with its own application store. The upstart operating system is already doing well, reportedly outselling Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 platform in the first quarter of this year with estimated sales of 3.5 million handsets. So why then would Samsung want to make the mistake of open-sourcing the bada platform?

How did this same approach work out for Nokia?

The talk of turning bada into an open-source project comes by way of a “person familiar with the matter” who spoke with the Wall Street Journal. The newspaper ran the story on Tuesday and reports that Samsung make take this step next year. While one can’t predict the future, it’s easy to look back and learn from the past, and in this case, Samsung need only look to Nokia, which has recently dropped to being the No. 3 global smartphone maker.

There are a number of reasons that Nokia’s Symbian platform eventually failed in the market: a slowness to modernize, a sometimes clumsy user interface and being late to the game with effective touch controls to name a few. But Nokia’s decision to consolidate the platform in 2008 with plans to open-source it and rely on other hardware partners to improve the code didn’t help either. A few niche handset makers such as Fujitsu still use Symbian, but Sony Ericsson, Motorola and even Samsung eventually abandoned the platform and moved to Android. Nokia, too, has moved on by partnering with Microsoft this past February to use Windows Phone as its primary smartphone platform going forward.

Given that Samsung is able to grow bada smartphone sales and build up the platform’s application store — prior to adding support for Android in March, the Samsung Apps store already had 13,000 bada titles and enjoyed 100 million app downloads — it simply doesn’t make sense to give up control of the platform. There’s little to gain and much to lose in the smartphone market if Samsung does open-source bada.

Samsung is improving bada quickly by itself

Perhaps bada will mature marginally faster through the efforts of outside companies or developers, but I’d argue that the platform is moving along quite nicely on its own. When bada first debuted in 2010, it looked like a relatively basic mobile operating system – so much so that I thought it was a mistake to launch the platform. Fast-forward to present day, and you’ll see that bada 2.0 has quickly gained more advanced features, and the sales figures have proven me wrong. Last month, Samsung announced capable new bada 2.0 phones and showed off this video of the updated platform, highlighting new multitasking functionality, voice recognition, NFC support and Wi-Fi Direct technology to name just a few:

Keeping control will help market share

With bada 2.0, Samsung has created what it calls a “smartphone for everyone,” meaning it’s a platform for the masses, not the early adopters, and it has done so on its own. What incentive is there to open the platform up to others? If another handset maker wants to use bada, it won’t help Samsung’s hardware sales or market share, although the company could gain marginally through its app store or media hub. There’s just no tangible benefit to take this path, and given the pace of improvement in bada, no reason to give up control of the platform.

The Wall Street Journal article indicates Samsung may use bada to power smart TVs, but in this market too, Samsung is the master of its domain: The company builds and sells its own televisions. Why bother giving competitors such as LG, Sony, Panasonic, Vizio or others the opportunity to use bada in their television sets? All that would do is give up a key differentiator that Samsung now has; it certainly won’t help sell more Samsung televisions.

Another potential pitfall: the F word

If Nokia’s Symbian effort doesn’t scare Samsung off the open-source path, then perhaps a closer look at Android might. Outside of key Google apps such as Gmail and Maps, Android is open for all to use or modify for smartphones, tablets or other devices. I have a treadmill with an embedded Google-powered touchscreen, for example. I can surf the web as I jog, and the treadmill runs custom software showing my speed and pace. This flexibility is great, but it has also helped turn Android into a fragmented mess that required new solutions.

Different devices and manufacturers use different versions of Android, leading to varied user experiences and software incompatibility. And some device makers have used Android without following Google’s guidelines, meaning the expected Google apps or Android Market isn’t on the device at all. By maintaining control of bada, Samsung avoids potential fragmentation issues and ensures an Apple-like stability of experience in terms of user expectations across multiple devices.

Samsung has what others don’t

Simply put, with bada, Samsung has an asset that few competitors can also lay claim to: a viable and growing in-house mobile operating system that’s proving popular. In other words, competing handset makers such as HTC, LG and Motorola, for example, are tied to the Google Android wagon with no chance of breaking away just yet. So far, the Android strategy hasn’t hurt these companies, and instead has brought success to those who embraced it early, and that includes Samsung.

But even as Android becomes more popular, the specter of patent suits loom, both in the case of Java with Oracle and Samsung’s own trials with Apple. And although Samsung is customizing Android phones with its TouchWiz interface, others are doing the same. HTC does this well with Sense, while Motorola’s MotoBlur has shown less success. Regardless of the user interface tweaks, at their core, these different phones all provide very similar experiences because they’re build upon the same underlying Android code.

Why then open-source the one asset that’s not only a decent hedge against such risks but is also selling handsets? It simply doesn’t make sense in my opinion, and if Samsung does open-source bada, I’ll be keen to hear the company’s reasons why it chooses to go that route.

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The connected planet: Smartphones aren’t the only player

The number of connected devices is steadily on the rise, but it’s not smartphones or computers that will lead us to the 50 billion connected devices expected by the year 2020. Rather, the Internet of Things — numerous smart objects that speak to the web and one another — is the next wave of wireless and will power a wide range of devices as we want remote access to everything all the time.

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Samsung Stratosphere: Verizon’s next LTE phone?

Verizon subscribers may have their first handset with both LTE and a slide-out keyboard to choose from this week. The Samsung Stratosphere is reportedly about to launch on the largest carrier in the U.S., according to PocketNow, which has images of the handset. To the disappointment of many, Verizon chose not to carry the most popular Samsung phone, the Galaxy S II.

The Stratosphere’s support for LTE should appeal to those wanting a smartphone with a mobile broadband connection that averages around 12 Mbps, faster than many home broadband connections. The five-row hardware keyboard will separate Verizon customers into two camps, however. Some will want the keyboard feature while others won’t want the added bulk and weight it brings.

Few other Stratosphere specifications are known, although back in July, some details began to appear. The handset was seen running Android 2.3.4 at that time, and an Android Central tipster described the screen as “awesome” after taking a hands-on look. I’d say that means Samsung’s Super AMOLED Plus technology is on board, but we’ll have to see, since the phone looks much like last year’s Sprint Epic 4G.

If the handset has a 5 megapixel camera, as noted in July, the phone may be part of Samsung’s new Galaxy R line, introduced last month and touted as a premium category model with a combination of power, performance and productivity. I’d equate that to one step below the Galaxy S line, or between the mid- and high-end smartphone range, which could still appeal to some who had hoped for a Galaxy S II on Verizon.

When Verizon announced last month that it would forgo the Galaxy S II, I suggested it was due to the phone’s lack of support for Verizon’s new LTE network. There are few other logical reasons not to offer the phone, given that it has received stellar reviews and arguably has the highest specification combo in any single smartphone to date. A new Stratosphere may not replace a Galaxy S II, but it would show that Verizon would prefer to push handsets with LTE, even in the mid-range line.

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