Samsung Galaxy S2 Release Date: U.S. Prepares for Huge Launch This Weekend
The globally popular Samsung Galaxy S2 will finally debut in the United States on Sept. 18.
The smartphone has been widely popular around the world since its debut in May. It sold over five million headsets in just three months after its release, making it Samsung’s best selling phone.
“In just a few months the Galaxy S2 has led the way in driving Samsung’s unmatched performance in the smartphone industry,” Samsung president of mobile business and digital imaging Shin Jong-kyun said in a statement.
“This reflects the strong support from carrier partners globally, who in choosing the Galaxy S2 as their flagship device have reaffirmed the device’s status as a premium, market-defining Smartphone.”
Some commentators are calling the Galaxy S2 the “iPhone Killer,” and it is roundly believed that the device will continue its popularity streak in the United States, with versions being released for T-Mobile, Sprint and AT&T, all equipped with 4G capability.
T-Mobile’s version and Sprint’s 4G Touch version both boast 4.52-inch display screens. The AT&T version is more reminiscent of the original, international Galaxy S2 with a 4.3-inch screen.
The Galaxy S2 runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS and is accented by Samsung's TouchWiz UI touch screen capability.
Basic specs include a dual-core 1.2 GHz ARM Cortex-A9 Mali-400MP GPU Orion chipset on the Sprint and AT&T versions and a 1.5 GHz dual core Qualcomm APQ8060 processor on the T-Mobile versions.
More advanced specs include a whole new OS called Ice Cream Sandwich, which is scheduled to be released in October or November, as well as Flash capability, which has been missing from Apple products thus far.
The phone comes in 16/32GB internal memory configuration with 1GB RAM on all networks.
The Galaxy S2 and the iPhone 5 are expected to be in fierce competition throughout the second half of the fiscal year.
While many who have already gotten a taste of the Galaxy S2 say it will easily beat the iPhone 5, surveys have shown that the iPhone 5 has had the most “unprecedented demand” preceding any Apple product release.