At CES 2011 earlier this year, tech and consumer electronics analysts were proclaiming 2011 the year of the tablet. And certainly the iPad 2 could not argue with that, due to its massive sales success and popularity. But while everyone is talking tablets, smartphones are flying off the shelves in retail and online stores at record paces, despite the struggling global economy.
Just recently, the Samsung Galaxy S II sold 10 million units in Asia and Europe in the five months preceding September 25 when the sales data was reported by Engadget. That does not include sales in the US where the handset has recently appeared. All major carriers just recently began offering the handset in the US.
To give you an idea of what those sales numbers mean, the popular Samsung Galaxy S, the predecessor to the Galaxy S II, took seven months to reach 10 million units, and that included US sales. While those numbers are not nearly as strong as iPhone numbers (20 million units in the second quarter this year alone), the fact that the handset has finally reached North America shores means nothing but pats on the back all-around for Samsung’s executives and stockholders.
Technically, the Samsung Galaxy S II delivers the same 4.3 inch screen and body style as the European original. AT&T saw no reason to fool with such a successful handset and have Samsung make any tweaks to it, other than making it work on their 4G network as opposed to being a global world phone such as the European model.
That 4.3 inch screen also employs Samsung’s popular Super AMOLED Plus technology that delivers 480 x 800 pixel resolution. Corning has contributed their scratch resistant and glare reducing Gorilla Glass to the handset, 16 million colors are represented, and a light sensor and a proximity sensor are built into the display. The handset arrives in pretty normal fashion physically, in a large, black, slab form factor, but is one of the thinnest 4G handsets currently available.
Samsung also stayed in-house for their processor, which is a 1.2 GHz Exynos dual core chip supported by 1.0 GB of RAM memory, and a 3-D hardware accelerator is also on board. Dual cameras arrive in the form of an eight megapixel and two megapixel set, which offer video chat, video call capability and video recording at 1080P HD at up to 30 fps. The Samsung Galaxy S II is available exclusively on the AT&T 4G mobile broadband network at a retail price of $144 with a two-year activation.
