When the original Galaxy Note was released by Samsung late last year, a lot of our smartphone-crazed brethren were skeptical with the phablet’s capability to make a mark in the smartphone competition. After all, it was a niche device and not everybody was prepared to tote a device as massive as the Samsung Galaxy Note. It was therefore a big surprise when the phablet became a hit especially after the smartphone-buying population realized the advantages of its massive screen real estate and the fact the fact that it had impressive components under the hood didn’t hurt either.
In US shores, AT&T was the only carrier who picked up on the popularity of the Samsung Galaxy Note. The carrier sort of had exclusivity over the phablet for a couple of months until T-Mobile decided to release its variant of the device. Sad to say, the decision was ill-advised because the Magenta carrier released its version with just a couple of weeks to spare before the Samsung Galaxy Note II was due t get unveiled. This decreased the attention on the original phablet because all eyes were on its successor.
And the Samsung Galaxy Note II did not disappoint. Unveiled last August 29, interest for the second generation Samsung phablet immediately peaked. In fact, the head of Samsung’s Mobile Division, JK Shin, already predicted that sales of the Samsung Galaxy Note II will break the 20 million barrier just like the Samsung Galaxy S III but this is more of a long-term target.
Due to the seeming popularity of the phablet, word on the street is that most major carriers in US shores are now planning to release their respective version of the Samsung Galaxy Note II. Although none of these carriers are yet to make an official announcement, speculations are rampant that T-Mobile will release its variant of the second generation Samsung phablet.
According to our sources, T-Mobile’s version of the Samsung Galaxy Note II will have the same hardware DNA as that of its international version and will run on the HSPA+ network of the Magenta carrier. It is also expected to ship with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean for its default operating system and will be known by its SGH-T889 model number once it hits the shelves of T-Mobile.
Our sources also confirmed that Samsung is already hard at work in testing the Jelly Bean version of Android for the T-Mobile version of the Samsung Galaxy Note II and test builds are compiled every couple of days and sent via OTA update to device testers. In addition to that, our sources also whispered that Samsung is now testing the T899UVALIC Jelly Bean firmware of the Samsung Galaxy Note II which was compiled last September 15, making it a rather fresh build.
Sad to say, T-Mobile is still playing coy and is yet to come out in the open with its release plans for its version of the Samsung Galaxy Note II but we are pretty sure that an announcement is forthcoming in the next couple of days especially that the international version of the phablet is expected to hit the shelves this October.
