Samsung i9000 Galaxy S
Encyclopedia
The Samsung Galaxy S is an Android smartphone
that was announced by Samsung in March 2010. It features a 1 GHz ARM
"Hummingbird" processor, 8–16 GB internal Flash memory, a 4-inch 480×800 pixel Super AMOLED
capacitive touchscreen display, Wi-Fi
connectivity, a 5-megapixel camera with a maximum resolution of 2560x1920 and, on select models, a front-facing 0.3 MP VGA
camera (640x480). The base version of the phone, the GT-I9000, was quickly followed by variant models for the US carriers such as the Epic 4G, Vibrant, Captivate, Fascinate, and Mesmerize.
The Samsung Galaxy S features a PowerVR
graphics processor, yielding 20 million triangles per second, making it the fastest graphics processing unit in any smartphone at the time of release. Also, upon release, the Galaxy S was both the first Android phone to be certified for DivX
HD, and at 9.9 mm was the thinnest smartphone available.
As of January 2011, Samsung had sold 10 million Galaxy S phones globally. The Galaxy S was named the European Smartphone of the Year at the European Imaging and Sound Association
(EISA) Awards 2010–2011.
Samsung Galaxy S was succeeded by Samsung Galaxy S II
. In October 2011, Samsung announced that it had sold 30 Million Galaxy S and Galaxy S II phones globally.
that Singtel, the exclusive carrier to sell the device in Singapore, were sold out of devices. On Friday June 25, 2010, the phone was launched in Malaysia and South Korea. Overall the launch schedule comprised launches on 110 carriers in 100 countries at the same time. U.S. Variants named as Epic, Vibrant, Fascinate, Captivate, and Mesmerize were released from June through September 2010.
gave the Galaxy S a favorable review with a score of 8.4/10. The Galaxy S was compared to current high-end Android-based phones such as the HTC Desire
, Xperia X10
, Nexus S
, and smartphones using different operating systems like the iPhone 4
, which runs iOS, and HTC HD2
, which runs Windows Mobile
in CNET Asia
.
GSMArena.com described the Galaxy S as having "perfect audio quality," claiming the phone's superior all-round performance made it a "new leader of the Android pack."
TIME listed the Galaxy S as #2 device in "Top 10 Gadgets" of 2010, praising its Super AMOLED display.
The phone was criticized by some reviewers for sub-par GPS performance. Anandtech, reviewing the Epic 4G variant, said "the phone will take an inordinate amount of time to determine your actual location, and/or it won’t pinpoint your location very accurately." Engadget described the GPS in the Vibrant and Captivate variants as "utterly broken and non-functional... this is a problem for which there's no reasonable explanation why it made it all the way to retail devices." Samsung released an application for the Captivate and Vibrant variants only that resets the phone's GPS settings to factory defaults. TechRadar
acknowledged GPS faults in the Galaxy S, and stated that these have been fixed in the Google Nexus S
.
based CPU core with a PowerVR
SGX 540 GPU made by Imagination Technologies
which supported OpenGL ES
1.1/2.0 and was capable of up to 20 million triangles per second. The CPU core, code-named "Hummingbird," was co-developed by Samsung
and Intrinsity
. This processor was subsequently renamed to the Samsung Exynos 3110 in October 2011.
). Some variants also come with either 8 GB or 16 GB of OneNAND memory combined in a package-on-package
stack with the processor. An external microSD card slot supports up to 32 GB of additional storage memory.
touch screen covered by Gorilla Glass
, a special crack and scratch resistant material. The screen is a WVGA PenTile
display manufactured by Samsung.
The Galaxy S LCD (GT-I9003) has a 101.6 millimetres (4 in) SC-LCD (Super Clear LCD) screen.
The Epic 4G features a specialized version of TouchWiz based on TouchWiz 2.5. Because of the Epic 4G's QWERTY slide-out keyboard, the homescreen needed to be able to rotate into landscape mode, and accordingly several key features and applications are absent on the Epic. TouchWiz 3.0 devices do not support this feature, and because of that difference, the Epic 4G ships with a heavily modified TouchWiz 2.5 interface. The customization of homescreens, as well as several other features found on TouchWiz 3.0 devices like the Vibrant, Captivate, and Fascinate, is not supported in the version of TouchWiz that ships on the Epic 4G.
The most important aspect of all three generations of TouchWiz is the widget interface. The most prominent widgets that come with the Galaxy S are the Daily Briefing, weather clock and the Buddies Now widget. In addition to Samsung widgets, standard Android widgets can be added and removed from the homescreens.
Reality Browser, a program that visualizes GPS direction, and Aldiko, an ebook reader. The phone also comes with various upgraded versions of software that came with Samsung's previous generation of smartphones (such as i8910HD and i8000 Omnia II).
, WAV
, Vorbis
, MP3
, AAC
, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA
, AMR-NB, AMR-WB
, MID
, AC3, XMF), video codecs (mpeg4, H.264, H.263
, Sorenson codec
, DivX HD/ XviD
, VC-1
) and video formats (3GP
(MPEG-4
), WMV (Advanced Systems Format
), AVI
(divx
), MKV
, FLV
).
dependent and will normally be upgraded over the air, but this will not occur when a handset is configured for one network operator
but operated on another network. The latest official Android version for a handset configured for any carrier is available using the Samsung Kies
application. There are also third party versions of Android available for the Galaxy S, for example Darky's Rom, but installing them may void the owner's warranty..
Samsung is willing to freely upgrade those early devices which do not update via Kies. In the UK at least any Galaxy S should be upgradable to Android 2.3.3.
Canada received the 2.2 upgrade for select carriers on December 10, 2010.
According to Samsung the 2.2 upgrade has come to the USA in 2011 for most versions of the handset (AT&T captivate, Verizon Fascinate, T-mobile Vibrant, Sprint Epic). The 2.2 upgrade was released for T-Mobile on January 20, 2011. It enabled stock Android features that had previously been disabled such as Wi-Fi Calling and Mobile AP.
Verizon's Fascinate was upgraded to Android 2.2 in April 2011. Verizon's Continuum variant, however, remains on Android 2.1.
T-Mobile in the USA made the 2.3 upgrade available on November 15, 2011. Download it at: http://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-1810 .
launch event on 30 June 2010.
This is an upgraded version of the Samsung Galaxy S Fascinate 3G+. It supports 4G HSPA+ Networks and adds a front facing camera.
Smartphone
A smartphone is a high-end mobile phone built on a mobile computing platform, with more advanced computing ability and connectivity than a contemporary feature phone. The first smartphones were devices that mainly combined the functions of a personal digital assistant and a mobile phone or camera...
that was announced by Samsung in March 2010. It features a 1 GHz ARM
ARM architecture
ARM is a 32-bit reduced instruction set computer instruction set architecture developed by ARM Holdings. It was named the Advanced RISC Machine, and before that, the Acorn RISC Machine. The ARM architecture is the most widely used 32-bit ISA in numbers produced...
"Hummingbird" processor, 8–16 GB internal Flash memory, a 4-inch 480×800 pixel Super AMOLED
Super AMOLED
Super Active-Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode or Super AMOLED is a display technology mainly for use in mobile devices such as mobile phones...
capacitive touchscreen display, Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi or Wifi, is a mechanism for wirelessly connecting electronic devices. A device enabled with Wi-Fi, such as a personal computer, video game console, smartphone, or digital audio player, can connect to the Internet via a wireless network access point. An access point has a range of about 20...
connectivity, a 5-megapixel camera with a maximum resolution of 2560x1920 and, on select models, a front-facing 0.3 MP VGA
Video Graphics Array
Video Graphics Array refers specifically to the display hardware first introduced with the IBM PS/2 line of computers in 1987, but through its widespread adoption has also come to mean either an analog computer display standard, the 15-pin D-subminiature VGA connector or the 640×480 resolution...
camera (640x480). The base version of the phone, the GT-I9000, was quickly followed by variant models for the US carriers such as the Epic 4G, Vibrant, Captivate, Fascinate, and Mesmerize.
The Samsung Galaxy S features a PowerVR
PowerVR
PowerVR is a division of Imagination Technologies that develops hardware and software for 2D and 3D rendering, and for video encoding, decoding, associated image processing and Direct X, OpenGL ES, OpenVG, and OpenCL acceleration....
graphics processor, yielding 20 million triangles per second, making it the fastest graphics processing unit in any smartphone at the time of release. Also, upon release, the Galaxy S was both the first Android phone to be certified for DivX
DivX
DivX is a brand name of products created by DivX, Inc. , including the DivX Codec which has become popular due to its ability to compress lengthy video segments into small sizes while maintaining relatively high visual quality.There are two DivX codecs; the regular MPEG-4 Part 2 DivX codec and the...
HD, and at 9.9 mm was the thinnest smartphone available.
As of January 2011, Samsung had sold 10 million Galaxy S phones globally. The Galaxy S was named the European Smartphone of the Year at the European Imaging and Sound Association
European Imaging and Sound Association
European Imaging and Sound Association is a collaboration between different multimedia magazines, that offer tests of cameras, videocameras, audio equipment, mobile phones, etc. The organization was established in 1982. The current president of EISA is Jorge Gonçalves.- External links :*...
(EISA) Awards 2010–2011.
Samsung Galaxy S was succeeded by Samsung Galaxy S II
Samsung Galaxy S II
The Samsung Galaxy S II is a smartphone running under the Android operating system that was announced by Samsung on February 13, 2011 at the Mobile World Congress. It is the successor to the Samsung Galaxy S, with a different appearance and significantly improved hardware...
. In October 2011, Samsung announced that it had sold 30 Million Galaxy S and Galaxy S II phones globally.
Launch
The phone was initially launched in Singapore on June 4, 2010. Before the end of its first weekend on sale in Singapore, Samsung tweetedTwitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
that Singtel, the exclusive carrier to sell the device in Singapore, were sold out of devices. On Friday June 25, 2010, the phone was launched in Malaysia and South Korea. Overall the launch schedule comprised launches on 110 carriers in 100 countries at the same time. U.S. Variants named as Epic, Vibrant, Fascinate, Captivate, and Mesmerize were released from June through September 2010.
Reception
CNET AsiaCNET
CNET is a tech media website that publishes news articles, blogs, and podcasts on technology and consumer electronics. Originally founded in 1994 by Halsey Minor and Shelby Bonnie, it was the flagship brand of CNET Networks and became a brand of CBS Interactive through CNET Networks' acquisition...
gave the Galaxy S a favorable review with a score of 8.4/10. The Galaxy S was compared to current high-end Android-based phones such as the HTC Desire
HTC Desire
The HTC Desire is a smartphone developed by the HTC Corporation, announced on 16 February 2010 and released in Europe and Australia in the second quarter of the same year. The HTC Desire runs the Android operating system, version 2.2 "Froyo"...
, Xperia X10
Sony Ericsson Xperia X10
The Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 is a smartphone in the Xperia series designed by Sony Ericsson. It is the first Sony Ericsson smartphone to utilize the Android operating system. The phone was shipped with Android 1.6, but an upgrade to 2.1 was made available starting October 31, 2010, with a gradual...
, Nexus S
Nexus S
The Nexus S is a smartphone co-developed by Google and Samsung and manufactured by Samsung Electronics. It was the first smartphone to use the Android 2.3 "Gingerbread" operating system, and the first Android device to support Near Field Communication in both hardware and software...
, and smartphones using different operating systems like the iPhone 4
IPhone 4
The iPhone 4 is a touchscreen slate smartphone developed by Apple Inc. It is the fourth generation iPhone, and successor to the iPhone 3GS. It is particularly marketed for video calling , consumption of media such as books and periodicals, movies, music, and games, and for general web and e-mail...
, which runs iOS, and HTC HD2
HTC HD2
The HTC HD2 , is a smartphone belonging to the HTC Touch family, manufactured by HTC and running the Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system. The phone was designed and manufactured by HTC, and was released in Europe in November 2009, and in December 2009 in Hong Kong...
, which runs Windows Mobile
Windows Mobile
Windows Mobile is a mobile operating system developed by Microsoft that was used in smartphones and Pocket PCs, but by 2011 was rarely supplied on new phones. The last version is "Windows Mobile 6.5.5"; it is superseded by Windows Phone, which does not run Windows Mobile software.Windows Mobile is...
in CNET Asia
CNET
CNET is a tech media website that publishes news articles, blogs, and podcasts on technology and consumer electronics. Originally founded in 1994 by Halsey Minor and Shelby Bonnie, it was the flagship brand of CNET Networks and became a brand of CBS Interactive through CNET Networks' acquisition...
.
GSMArena.com described the Galaxy S as having "perfect audio quality," claiming the phone's superior all-round performance made it a "new leader of the Android pack."
TIME listed the Galaxy S as #2 device in "Top 10 Gadgets" of 2010, praising its Super AMOLED display.
The phone was criticized by some reviewers for sub-par GPS performance. Anandtech, reviewing the Epic 4G variant, said "the phone will take an inordinate amount of time to determine your actual location, and/or it won’t pinpoint your location very accurately." Engadget described the GPS in the Vibrant and Captivate variants as "utterly broken and non-functional... this is a problem for which there's no reasonable explanation why it made it all the way to retail devices." Samsung released an application for the Captivate and Vibrant variants only that resets the phone's GPS settings to factory defaults. TechRadar
TechRadar
TechRadar is an online publication focused on technology company which looks and reviews the most available tech today. TechRadar is owned by the Future plc company, the sixth-largest in the United Kingdom. It has a great number of reviews. Such as: Tablet Computer, Smartphone, PC, Macintosh,...
acknowledged GPS faults in the Galaxy S, and stated that these have been fixed in the Google Nexus S
Nexus S
The Nexus S is a smartphone co-developed by Google and Samsung and manufactured by Samsung Electronics. It was the first smartphone to use the Android 2.3 "Gingerbread" operating system, and the first Android device to support Near Field Communication in both hardware and software...
.
Processor
The Samsung Galaxy S used the Samsung S5PC110 processor. This processor combined a 45 nm 1 GHz ARM Cortex-A8ARM Cortex-A8
The ARM Cortex-A8 is a processor core designed by ARM Holdings implementing the ARM v7 instruction set architecture. Compared to the ARM11 core, the Cortex-A8 is dual-issue superscalar, achieving roughly twice the instructions executed per clock cycle....
based CPU core with a PowerVR
PowerVR
PowerVR is a division of Imagination Technologies that develops hardware and software for 2D and 3D rendering, and for video encoding, decoding, associated image processing and Direct X, OpenGL ES, OpenVG, and OpenCL acceleration....
SGX 540 GPU made by Imagination Technologies
Imagination Technologies
Imagination Technologies Group plc is a British-based maker of a mobile graphics and microprocessor chip technology primarily known for its PowerVR graphics and Pure DAB radio divisions...
which supported OpenGL ES
OpenGL ES
OpenGL for Embedded Systems is a subset of the OpenGL 3D graphics application programming interface designed for embedded systems such as mobile phones, PDAs, and video game consoles. OpenGL ES is managed by the not-for-profit technology consortium, the Khronos Group, Inc.- Versions :Several...
1.1/2.0 and was capable of up to 20 million triangles per second. The CPU core, code-named "Hummingbird," was co-developed by Samsung
Samsung
The Samsung Group is a South Korean multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea...
and Intrinsity
Intrinsity
Intrinsity was a privately held Austin, Texas based fabless semiconductor company; it was founded in 1997 as EVSX on the remnants of Exponential Technology and changed its name to Intrinsity in 2000...
. This processor was subsequently renamed to the Samsung Exynos 3110 in October 2011.
Memory
The Samsung Galaxy S has 512 MB of LPDDR2 RAM (Mobile DDRMobile DDR
Mobile DDR is type of double data rate synchronous DRAM for mobile computers.-Original LPDDR:...
). Some variants also come with either 8 GB or 16 GB of OneNAND memory combined in a package-on-package
Package on package
Package on package is an integrated circuit packaging method to combine vertically discrete logic and memory ball grid array packages. Two or more packages are installed atop each other, i.e. stacked, with a standard interface to route signals between them...
stack with the processor. An external microSD card slot supports up to 32 GB of additional storage memory.
Screen
The Samsung Galaxy S uses a 101.6 millimetres (4 in) Super AMOLEDSuper AMOLED
Super Active-Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode or Super AMOLED is a display technology mainly for use in mobile devices such as mobile phones...
touch screen covered by Gorilla Glass
Gorilla Glass
Gorilla Glass, manufactured by Corning, is an alkali-aluminosilicate thin sheet glass engineered specifically to be thin, light and damage-resistant. Its primary application is portable electronic devices with screens, such as mobile phones, portable media players, and laptop displays...
, a special crack and scratch resistant material. The screen is a WVGA PenTile
PenTile matrix family
PenTile matrix family refers to a family of patented subpixel matrix schemes used in electronic device displays. PenTile is a trademark of Samsung....
display manufactured by Samsung.
The Galaxy S LCD (GT-I9003) has a 101.6 millimetres (4 in) SC-LCD (Super Clear LCD) screen.
User interface
The phone employs the latest proprietary Samsung TouchWiz 3.0 user interface. Unlike TouchWiz 3.0 on the Samsung Wave, it allows up to seven homescreens. However, different from other Android user interfaces, TouchWiz 3.0 allows users to add, delete and rearrange homescreens. The program launcher is also different from other Android user interfaces in that it has an iOS-like program menu which allows customization of shortcuts. In addition, three of the four shortcuts at the bottom of the screen can also be customized.The Epic 4G features a specialized version of TouchWiz based on TouchWiz 2.5. Because of the Epic 4G's QWERTY slide-out keyboard, the homescreen needed to be able to rotate into landscape mode, and accordingly several key features and applications are absent on the Epic. TouchWiz 3.0 devices do not support this feature, and because of that difference, the Epic 4G ships with a heavily modified TouchWiz 2.5 interface. The customization of homescreens, as well as several other features found on TouchWiz 3.0 devices like the Vibrant, Captivate, and Fascinate, is not supported in the version of TouchWiz that ships on the Epic 4G.
The most important aspect of all three generations of TouchWiz is the widget interface. The most prominent widgets that come with the Galaxy S are the Daily Briefing, weather clock and the Buddies Now widget. In addition to Samsung widgets, standard Android widgets can be added and removed from the homescreens.
Bundled applications
Other provided software includes the LayarLayar
Layar is a Dutch company based in Amsterdam, founded in 2009 by Raimo van der Klein, Claire Boonstra and Maarten Lens-FitzGerald. They have created a mobile browser called Layar...
Reality Browser, a program that visualizes GPS direction, and Aldiko, an ebook reader. The phone also comes with various upgraded versions of software that came with Samsung's previous generation of smartphones (such as i8910HD and i8000 Omnia II).
Media support
The Galaxy S comes with support for many multimedia file formats, including audio codecs (FLACFLAC
FLAC is a codec which allows digital audio to be losslessly compressed such that file size is reduced without any information being lost...
, WAV
WAV
Waveform Audio File Format , is a Microsoft and IBM audio file format standard for storing an audio bitstream on PCs...
, Vorbis
Vorbis
Vorbis is a free software / open source project headed by the Xiph.Org Foundation . The project produces an audio format specification and software implementation for lossy audio compression...
, MP3
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
, AAC
Advanced Audio Coding
Advanced Audio Coding is a standardized, lossy compression and encoding scheme for digital audio. Designed to be the successor of the MP3 format, AAC generally achieves better sound quality than MP3 at similar bit rates....
, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA
WMA
WMA may refer to:- Organizations :*Western Manufactured Housing Communities Association, a nonprofit trade association for owners of manufactured home communities in California*Western Marble Arch, a synagogue in central London...
, AMR-NB, AMR-WB
AMR-WB
Adaptive Multi-Rate Wideband is a patented speech coding standard developed based on Adaptive Multi-Rate encoding, using similar methodology as Algebraic Code Excited Linear Prediction...
, MID
MID
-Computers and electronics:* MapInfo Interchange Format; .mid is also sometimes used as the filename extension for some MapInfo files* Media Identification Code , a code indicating the manufacturer of a DVD...
, AC3, XMF), video codecs (mpeg4, H.264, H.263
H.263
H.263 is a video compression standard originally designed as a low-bitrate compressed format for videoconferencing. It was developed by the ITU-T Video Coding Experts Group in a project ending in 1995/1996 as one member of the H.26x family of video coding standards in the domain of the ITU-T.H.263...
, Sorenson codec
Sorenson codec
Sorenson codec may refer to either of three proprietary video codecs: Sorenson Video, Sorenson Video 3 or Sorenson Spark. Sorenson Video is also known as Sorenson Video Codec, Sorenson Video Quantizer or SVQ...
, DivX HD/ XviD
XviD
Xvid is a video codec library following the MPEG-4 standard, specifically MPEG-4 Part 2 Advanced Simple Profile . It uses ASP features such as b-frames, global and quarter pixel motion compensation, lumi masking, trellis quantization, and H.263, MPEG and custom quantization matrices.Xvid is a...
, VC-1
VC-1
VC-1 is the informal name of the SMPTE 421M video codec standard, which was initially developed as a proprietary video format by Microsoft before it was released as a formal SMPTE standard video format on April 3, 2006...
) and video formats (3GP
3GP
3GP is a multimedia container format defined by the Third Generation Partnership Project for 3G UMTS multimedia services. It is used on 3G mobile phones but can also be played on some 2G and 4G phones....
(MPEG-4
MPEG-4
MPEG-4 is a method of defining compression of audio and visual digital data. It was introduced in late 1998 and designated a standard for a group of audio and video coding formats and related technology agreed upon by the ISO/IEC Moving Picture Experts Group under the formal standard ISO/IEC...
), WMV (Advanced Systems Format
Advanced Systems Format
Advanced Systems Format is Microsoft's proprietary digital audio/digital video container format, especially meant for streaming media...
), AVI
Audio Video Interleave
Audio Video Interleave , known by its acronym AVI, is a multimedia container format introduced by Microsoft in November 1992 as part of its Video for Windows technology. AVI files can contain both audio and video data in a file container that allows synchronous audio-with-video playback...
(divx
DivX
DivX is a brand name of products created by DivX, Inc. , including the DivX Codec which has become popular due to its ability to compress lengthy video segments into small sizes while maintaining relatively high visual quality.There are two DivX codecs; the regular MPEG-4 Part 2 DivX codec and the...
), MKV
Matroska
The Matroska Multimedia Container is an open standard free container format, a file format that can hold an unlimited number of video, audio, picture or subtitle tracks in one file. It is intended to serve as a universal format for storing common multimedia content, like movies or TV shows...
, FLV
FLV
Flash Video is a container file format used to deliver video over the Internet using Adobe Flash Player versions 6–11. Flash Video content may also be embedded within SWF files. There are two different video file formats known as Flash Video: FLV and F4V. The audio and video data within FLV files...
).
Updates
The Android version is network operatorMobile network operator
A mobile network operator , also known as mobile phone operator , carrier service provider , wireless service provider, wireless carrier, or cellular company, or mobile network carrier is a telephone company that provides services for mobile phone subscribers.One essential...
dependent and will normally be upgraded over the air, but this will not occur when a handset is configured for one network operator
Mobile network operator
A mobile network operator , also known as mobile phone operator , carrier service provider , wireless service provider, wireless carrier, or cellular company, or mobile network carrier is a telephone company that provides services for mobile phone subscribers.One essential...
but operated on another network. The latest official Android version for a handset configured for any carrier is available using the Samsung Kies
Samsung Kies
Samsung Kies is a software application used to communicate between the latest Samsung devices.The latest version is v2.0.3.11082_152, and was released on Sept. 26, 2011...
application. There are also third party versions of Android available for the Galaxy S, for example Darky's Rom, but installing them may void the owner's warranty..
Samsung is willing to freely upgrade those early devices which do not update via Kies. In the UK at least any Galaxy S should be upgradable to Android 2.3.3.
Android 2.2 upgrade
When launched, the Galaxy S had Android 2.1 ("Eclair") installed. An official upgrade to Android 2.2 ("Froyo") began rolling out worldwide in November 2010.Canada received the 2.2 upgrade for select carriers on December 10, 2010.
According to Samsung the 2.2 upgrade has come to the USA in 2011 for most versions of the handset (AT&T captivate, Verizon Fascinate, T-mobile Vibrant, Sprint Epic). The 2.2 upgrade was released for T-Mobile on January 20, 2011. It enabled stock Android features that had previously been disabled such as Wi-Fi Calling and Mobile AP.
Verizon's Fascinate was upgraded to Android 2.2 in April 2011. Verizon's Continuum variant, however, remains on Android 2.1.
Android 2.3 upgrade
An Android 2.3 ("Gingerbread") update became available for Nordic countries, The Netherlands and Germany on April 16, 2011. The update reached UK, Pakistan, India and HongKong by the end of May, 2011. Singapore received the update in June. Australia received the update in August. For other countries it is expected to be available later. The Samsung Epic for Sprint started receiving the Gingerbread update on November 9, 2011 and the update was released for the Samsung Galaxy S 4G on November 15. Currently, the Verizon network is field-testing its gingerbread update for the Samsung Fascinate.T-Mobile in the USA made the 2.3 upgrade available on November 15, 2011. Download it at: http://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-1810 .
In the United States
The T-Mobile Vibrant, AT&T Captivate, Sprint Epic, and Verizon Fascinate were officially announced at a New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
launch event on 30 June 2010.
- T-MobileT-Mobile USAT-Mobile USA, Inc. is an American mobile-network operator, headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, that provides wireless voice, messaging and data services in the United States, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The company is the fourth-largest wireless carrier in the U.S. market with 33.73...
released a version of the phone called the Samsung Vibrant (SGH-T959) on July 15, 2010, making it the third Android 2.x phone officially supported on the T-Mobile network (after the Nexus One and MyTouch 3G Slide). The Vibrant supports Quad-band GSM operations as well as the T-Mobile 3G network in the UMTS Band IV (AWSAdvanced Wireless ServicesAWS-1 or UMTS band IV, is a wireless telecommunications spectrum band used for mobile voice and data services, video, and messaging. AWS-1 is used in the United States and Canada...
, 1700/2100) and also in the UMTS Band I (2100) / II (1900) where coverage and service is available (for example, the Vibrant will work with AT&T 3G where that carrier operates services on the 1,900 MHz band). This variant, however, does not operate in 3G in the UMTS Band V (850) because its hardware is not configured for that frequency. It includes 16 GB of internal flash memory, it lacks a front-facing camera and LED flash. The price was $199 with a new, two-year contract, or less through some distributors. T-Mobile also bundled the film Avatar, preloaded onto a microSD card, with the phone. T-Mobile also released the Samsung Galaxy S 4G (SGH-T959V) for their 4G4GIn telecommunications, 4G is the fourth generation of cellular wireless standards. It is a successor to the 3G and 2G families of standards. In 2009, the ITU-R organization specified the IMT-Advanced requirements for 4G standards, setting peak speed requirements for 4G service at 100 Mbit/s...
(HSPA+) network on 23 February 2011. T-Mobile bundled the film InceptionInceptionInception: The Subconscious Jams 1994-1995 is a compilation of unreleased tracks by the band Download.-Track listing:# "Primitive Tekno Jam" – 3:23# "Bee Sting Sickness" – 8:04# "Weed Acid Techno" – 8:19...
, preloaded onto a microSD card, with this version of the phone.
- AT&T released a variant of this phone for the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on July 18, 2010 under the name Samsung Captivate (SGH-I897). It includes 16 GB of internal flash memory, but does not have a front camera, FM radio or LED camera flash.
- SprintSprint NextelSprint Nextel Corporation is an American telecommunications company based in Overland Park, Kansas. The company owns and operates Sprint, the third largest wireless telecommunications network in the United States, with 53.4 million customers, behind Verizon Wireless and AT&T Mobility...
announced the release of Samsung Epic 4G (SPH-D700) for August 31, 2010. It features a 4G4GIn telecommunications, 4G is the fourth generation of cellular wireless standards. It is a successor to the 3G and 2G families of standards. In 2009, the ITU-R organization specified the IMT-Advanced requirements for 4G standards, setting peak speed requirements for 4G service at 100 Mbit/s...
radio, a full QWERTY keyboard and reworked version of Android 2.1, as well as some downgrades from other Galaxy models, such as a reduced functionality version of TouchWiz, and a number of applications removed. This version is 14.2 mm thick. This includes the front camera of the international version and also adds a camera flash and comes bundled with a 16 GB micro SD memory card. It is also the only Galaxy S variant with a hardware notification LED. The Android 2.2.1 update brings the same TouchWizTouchWizTouchWiz is a touch interface developed by Samsung Electronics with partners, featuring a full touch user interface. It is sometimes incorrectly identified as an operating system. TouchWiz is used internally by Samsung for sophisticated feature phones, and is not available for licensing by external...
featured on all Galaxy S devices.
- VerizonVerizon WirelessCellco Partnership, doing business as Verizon Wireless, is one of the largest mobile network operators in the United States. The network has 107.7 million subscribers as of 2011, making it the largest wireless service provider in America....
released the Samsung Fascinate (SCH-I500), which removes the front camera found in the international version, and adds a camera flash. The Fascinate was made available on September 9, 2010. Its arrival was heralded by some controversy over Verizon's decision to replace the standard Google Search with Microsoft's Bing Search. Verizon later released the Samsung Continuum (SCH-I400) variant which has a smaller 3.4 inch display but adds a small 480×96 "ticker" screen underneath the main screen for showing alerts and messages, activated by a grip sensor. The Continuum was made available November 18, 2010. The Fascinate received the Android 2.2 update on April 21, 2011. On October 13, 2011, Verizon released the Samsung Stratosphere, a Galaxy S phone similar to that of the Epic 4G, and features a 5-row QWERTY keyboard and the Android 2.3 "gingerbread" software.
- US Cellular launched the Samsung Mesmerize on 27 October 2010. C Spire Wireless (formerly Cellular South), also in the US, currently offers a Galaxy S models named Samsung Showcase. They are very similar, if not identical, to the hardware of Verizon's Samsung Fascinate (SCH-I500).
- MetroPCSMetroPCSMetroPCS Communications, Inc. , formerly known as General Wireless, Inc., is an American mobile phone service provider. It operates the fifth largest mobile telecommunications network in the US, with 8.9 million subscribers as of May 2011...
began to offer the Samsung Galaxy Indulge, which is the first 4G LTE Android smartphone in the U.S., on February 21, 2011. The Indulge shrinks the screen size from 4 inches to 3.5 inches, removes the front facing camera, reduces the camera to 3.2 megapixels, removes the flash,lowers the screen resolution from 800x400 pixels to HVGA 480 x 320 pixels, and adds a keyboard. MetroPCS also bundled the film Iron Man 2Iron Man 2Iron Man 2 is a 2010 American superhero film featuring the Marvel Comics character Iron Man, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It is the sequel to 2008's Iron Man, the second film in a planned trilogy and is a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Directed by Jon...
preloaded onto a 4 GB micro sd card with the phone.
In Canada
All of Canada Galaxy S phone support Six-axis sensor : Combining the accelerometer and gyroscope.- RogersRogers WirelessRogers Wireless is a wireless telecommunications provider offering mobile phone and data services throughout Canada using Global System for Mobile Communications and Universal Mobile Telecommunications System technology. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Rogers Communications...
released their Galaxy S phone under the Samsung Galaxy S Captivate (SGH-I896) name. It is identical to the Samsung Captivate on AT&T Mobility with minor changes to things like GPS functionality, and it ships with Rogers branding.
- BellBell MobilityBell Mobility is a CDMA and HSPA+ based wireless network and the division of Bell Canada which sells wireless services in Canada...
, Virgin MobileVirgin Mobile CanadaVirgin Mobile Canada is a cellular telephone company that was launched on March 1, 2005 as a joint venture between Virgin Group and Bell Canada. Since May 7, 2009, it is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Bell Mobility. - Pre-launch :...
and SaskTelSaskTelSaskatchewan Telecommunications is a provincial Crown Corporation operating under the authority of the Saskatchewan Telecommunications Act. It is the only remaining Crown Corporation in the Canadian telecommunications industry....
released their Galaxy S phone under the Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant (GT-I9000M) name. This Galaxy S phone is very similar to the international GT-I9000 with 16 GB of flash memory, tri-band HSPA+ @ 21 Mbit/s support, a front facing camera and six-axis sensor combines the accelerometer and gyroscope. - note international GT-I9000 does not support six-axis sensor but Samsung Galaxy S(TM) Vibrant(TM) does support.
- TelusTelus MobilityTelus Mobility is a division of Telus Communications which sells wireless services in Canada on its numerous networks. They currently have three different networks based on three different technologies: CDMA and HSPA+ on its mainstream networks, plus iDEN via its Mike division...
released their Galaxy S phone in May 2011 under the Samsung Galaxy S Fascinate 4G (SGH-T959P) name. The Telus Galaxy S Fascinate 4G
This is an upgraded version of the Samsung Galaxy S Fascinate 3G+. It supports 4G HSPA+ Networks and adds a front facing camera.
- TelusTelus MobilityTelus Mobility is a division of Telus Communications which sells wireless services in Canada on its numerous networks. They currently have three different networks based on three different technologies: CDMA and HSPA+ on its mainstream networks, plus iDEN via its Mike division...
released their Galaxy S phone under the Samsung Galaxy S Fascinate 3G+ (SGH-T959D) name. The Telus Galaxy S Fascinate is the very similar to the T-Mobile USAT-Mobile USAT-Mobile USA, Inc. is an American mobile-network operator, headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, that provides wireless voice, messaging and data services in the United States, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The company is the fourth-largest wireless carrier in the U.S. market with 33.73...
Galaxy S Vibrant (SGH-T959), however it only supports 850/1900/2100 MHz 3G networks and has minor software differences. It shares no direct relation to the Verizon WirelessVerizon WirelessCellco Partnership, doing business as Verizon Wireless, is one of the largest mobile network operators in the United States. The network has 107.7 million subscribers as of 2011, making it the largest wireless service provider in America....
Galaxy S Fascinate as there are major hardware differences.
In India
Samsung released the Galaxy S I9000 in June 2010 in India and became the highest selling smartphone in the Indian market in the year 2010.In Mexico
- TelcelTelcelTelcel is Mexico's largest mobile phone carrier, owned by América Móvil. Founded in 1989 and based in Mexico City, Telcel is the leading provider of wireless communications services in Mexico. As of December 31, 2006, Telcel's cellular network covered more than 63% of the geographical area of...
released the Samsung Galaxy S GT I9000T model on October 2010, available exclusively to its customers.
In Australia
- TelstraTelstraTelstra Corporation Limited is an Australian telecommunications and media company, building and operating telecommunications networks and marketing voice, mobile, internet access and pay television products and services....
released the Samsung Galaxy S GT-I9000T model, available exclusively to its customers in the local market. Its form factor is identical to the GT-I9000 (As used by all other Australian carriers and retailers) but with support for 850 MHz 3G instead of 900 MHz 3G. The GT-I9000T supports 850/1900/2100 MHz 3G.
In Brazil
- In Brazil there is only one model of the Galaxy S, known as GT-I9000B, based on the GT-I9000 base model, but with the addition of an ISDB-T 1seg1segis a mobile terrestrial digital audio/video and data broadcasting service in Japan, Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Peru. Service began experimentally during 2005 and commercially on April 1, 2006. In Brazil, the broadcast started in late 2007 in just a few cities, with a slight difference from...
tuner for digital televisionDigital televisionDigital television is the transmission of audio and video by digital signals, in contrast to the analog signals used by analog TV...
. They are manufactured locally by Samsung, to take advantage of tax cuts associated with the local production. It is possible to record ISDB-T 1seg broadcasts to a memory card for playback later, and take screenshots of the programs. The tuner also supports features like a programming guide and Closed Caption. This model is also available in the rest of Latin American countries.
In South Korea
- There are two variants of the Galaxy S in South Korea. As well as Galaxy S (SHW-M110S) exclusively for SK TelecomSK TelecomSK Telecom Co., Ltd. or Sunkyoung Telecom is a South Korean wireless telecommunications operator, controlled by the SK Group, one of the country's largest chaebol. As a part of SK Group, SK stands for Sun Kyung.SK Telecom is a provider of mobile service in Korea, with 50.5% of the market share as...
subscribers, "Galaxy U (SHW-M130L)" (which is slightly smaller and has AMOLED Plus instead of Super AMOLEDSuper AMOLEDSuper Active-Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode or Super AMOLED is a display technology mainly for use in mobile devices such as mobile phones...
) for LG U+ and "Galaxy K (SHW-M130K)" for KTKT-Science:* kT in Physics* Knot , a unit of velocity * Kardashev scale, method of measuring an advanced civilization's level of technological advancement...
are also available. All the South Korean variants have T-DMB tuner, and are sold under "AnycallAnycallAnycall is a South Korean mobile phone brand established by Samsung Electronics in 1993. Like other mobile phone brands in South Korea, they provide technology such as cameras, internet access, and digital TV through Digital Multimedia Broadcasting.Samsung mobile phones are sold through the...
" branding.
In China
There are three Galaxy S variants available in China:- China TelecomChina TelecomChina Telecom Corp. Ltd. is a Chinese state-owned telecommunication company. It is the largest fixed line service and 3rd largest mobile telecommunication provider in the People's Republic of China.-Sectors:...
offers a CDMA2000CDMA2000CDMA2000 is a family of 3G mobile technology standards, which use CDMA channel access, to send voice, data, and signaling data between mobile phones and cell sites. The set of standards includes: CDMA2000 1X, CDMA2000 EV-DO Rev. 0, CDMA2000 EV-DO Rev. A, and CDMA2000 EV-DO Rev. B...
variant SCH-I909 which supports both CDMA and GSM networks - China MobileChina MobileChina Mobile Limited is a Chinese state-owned telecommunication company that provides mobile voice and multimedia services through its nationwide mobile telecommunications network, the largest of its kind in the world...
has a TD-SCDMATD-SCDMATime Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access or UTRA/UMTS-TDD 1.28 Mcps Low Chip Rate , is an air interface found in UMTS mobile telecommunications networks in China as an alternative to W-CDMA. Together with TD-CDMA, it is also known as UMTS-TDD or IMT 2000 Time-Division .The term...
variant GT-I9008 which supports the CMMB mobile television service and runs the OPhoneOPhoneOPhone is a mobile operating system running on the Linux kernel. It is based on technologies initially developed by Android Inc., a firm later purchased by Google, and work done by the Open Handset Alliance...
2.0 platform - China UnicomChina UnicomChina Unicom or China United Netcom Ltd , is a Chinese state-owned telecommunications operator in the People's Republic of China.-History:...
has a WCDMA version GT-I9088
In Japan
- NTT DocomoNTT DoCoMois the predominant mobile phone operator in Japan. The name is officially an abbreviation of the phrase, "do communications over the mobile network", and is also from a compound word dokomo, meaning "everywhere" in Japanese. Docomo provides phone, video phone , i-mode , and mail services...
carries the SC-02B, an apparent variant of the GT-I9000, but without a front-facing camera.
Legal
In a lawsuit filed April 15, 2011, Apple accused Samsung of committing patent and trademark infringement with its Galaxy line of mobile products. That includes the Galaxy S smartphone and the Galaxy Tab tablet. In later reports in August 2011, Apple was allegedly caught doctoring images that were used in the court patent case against Samsung.See also
- Samsung Infuse 4G
- List of Android devices
- Samsung Galaxy TabSamsung Galaxy TabThe Samsung Galaxy Tab is an Android-based tablet computer produced by Samsung introduced on 2 September 2010 at the IFA in Berlin.The Galaxy Tab has a TFT-LCD touchscreen, Wi-Fi capability, a 1.0 GHz ARM Cortex-A8 Samsung Exynos 3110 processor, the Swype input system, a 3.2 MP rear-facing...
- Nexus SNexus SThe Nexus S is a smartphone co-developed by Google and Samsung and manufactured by Samsung Electronics. It was the first smartphone to use the Android 2.3 "Gingerbread" operating system, and the first Android device to support Near Field Communication in both hardware and software...
- Android
- Samsung Galaxy S IISamsung Galaxy S IIThe Samsung Galaxy S II is a smartphone running under the Android operating system that was announced by Samsung on February 13, 2011 at the Mobile World Congress. It is the successor to the Samsung Galaxy S, with a different appearance and significantly improved hardware...
External links
- Official Samsung Galaxy S homepage
- Official Source Code for the Samsung Galaxy S (Sprint Version is SPH-D700 DI18)
- Samsung Apps
- Samsung Support page
- ARM NEON Multimedia Applications