Samsung’s brand new line-up of five Galaxy S devices hasn’t even shipped yet. But, we’re already hearing chatter about the Galaxy S’ sequel device. The Samsung i9200 (being called the Galaxy S2) is not expected till Q1 of 2011 according to Russian web sources. But, that hasn’t stopped the blogs from writing all about its incredible features. The specifications are listed below, and a device mockup to the right.
Specifications:
- 4.3″ Super AMOLED 2 display
- 720p resolution: 1280 x 720 pixels
- ~340 ppi
- Bluetooth 3.0, WiFi b/g/n
- 2 GHz processor
- 32 GB of internal memory
- microSD slot up to 32 GB
- 1 GB RAM, 4 GB ROM
- 8 megapixel camera with full high definition recording, presumably 1080p, but maybe 720p
- 3.5 mm audio/video jack
- accelerometer, gyroscope, proximity sensors
- Google Android 3.0 w/ no TouchWiz
Where do these rumors come from?
The rumors of this Galaxy S2 slid thru the blogosphere on July 5th as Unwired View posted an article titled “Samsung i9200 Galaxy S2 details leak.” But, where did these rumors start? Well, we’ve traced the sources back to O-Novosti.ru and a VK profile that created the mockup on the right. A few more speculative details were thrown in by a site called Itrans.
The source of the post on O-Novosti.ru was “AndroidTeam.” Doing some picking around we found a Russian forum called “AndroidTeam.” We have a feeling some enthusiasts from this forum are the source of all this madness.
Why are we so darn suspicious?
I’ve listed a few of the reasons to support my case against the validity of the Samsung i9200′s specifications and design.
- Resolution: 1280 x 720? Super AMOLED 2 screen?
This gives me the chills. I’d love to have a full 720p playing phone in my pocket some day. But, we’re in fact a bit far from 720p resolution Super AMOLED displays. Why? Samsung’s just come out with the Super AMOLED technology. Given the slow rise to high resolution mobile displays, we’re questioning whether or not Samsung can pull off a 720p Super AMOLED 2 display by Q1 of 2011. Hell, we don’t even know what a Super AMOLED “2″ display is quite yet. And, Samsung is just now expanding factories to support and create new Super AMOLED screens. We can’t imagine them investing so much into Super AMOLED’s development, and then besting it so quickly. - 4.3″ screen size
It wouldn’t be too unusual if Samsung came out with a phone sporting a 4.3″ screen. But, we think Samsung’s found a sweet spot at the four inches on the Galaxy S. And, we know Samsung thinks 4″ screens are just right. With the launch of the HTC HD2 and Google Nexus One, Samsung desired a balance between the overbearing 4.3″ screen on the HD2 (and now EVO 4G and Droid X) and the still big 3.7″ Nexus One. We think future Samsung phones will stick with a probable four inch screen. - 2 GHz processor
Yes, yes. We know that Sanjay Jha (Motorola CEO) says we’ll see 2 GHz Android phones by Christmas time. But, we think he’ll end up eating his words. Qualcomm is working on bringing out its first phones with higher than 1 GHz processors. And, that’s amazing. We’ll be seeing the MSM8260, MSM8660 and QSD8672 processors with 1.2 GHz and 1.5 GHz capabilities by the end of the year. But, we’re still a bit away from seeing 2 GHz phones. So, why’d they put 2 GHz then? Well, when dreaming up the next superphone, it’s always fun to dream big… and 2 GHz effectively doubles anything on the market today. - 4 GB ROM??
Why would a device running android need 4 GB of read only memory. Doesn’t make sense. The Samsung Galaxy S has 2 GB, and that’s quite a lot. Unless Android 3.0 is super bulky, we’re doubting the need of 4 GB of read only memory. - Android 3.0, release in Q1 2011
We know phone companies are constantly developing new devices. And, we definitely believe the Samsung Mobile team is out there working on something wonderful. But, Samsung just released five quality Galaxy S devices this year. Some of them probably may not come out till Q4 of 2010. And they’re all being released with Android 2.1. That’s one version behind Google’s output of Android 2.2 Froyo. We’re questioning whether or not Samsung will release a breakthrough new phone so early in 2011, right after the Galaxy S launch settles. Time will tell. But, we think Samsung intends to see the Galaxy S through a nice long ride. We already know they’re committed to this device… they pushed it on all five major US carriers! - Naming: i9200
This device is called the i9200. We’re questioning the validity of that name considering the original Samsung Galaxy was the i7500. And, the Galaxy S was the i9000. If Samsung keeps this pattern, the Galaxy S’ successor probably won’t be called the i9200. Only a 200 bump from 9000? Doubtful. - Picture = Photoshop Mockup
The picture is a mockup. We can tell this right off the bat. This isn’t a real device. Now, that doesn’t mean it didn’t come from Samsung’s mobile phone design team. But, considering “samsung.vkontakte.ru” is a Samsung phone owners club, that this is probably just a fan made mockup. We’re researching further into where this picture came from. But, right now… things aren’t looking good. The picture is watermarked with the URL of a Samsung fan club.
So, what happened?
A probable explanation: some Russian guys who love phones found this fan made Samsung concept photo, threw together some dream specs, and posted this baby as the i9200, because it sounded close to Samsung’s Galaxy S (i9000). Since every source is Russian, the blogosphere did little to check the validity of this phone, because most mobile phone blogs are run by English speakers and readers. This disconnect created by the language barrier is allowing foreign-made rumors to easily penetrate through the tech blogosphere’s guard. We saw an example of this last week as Unwired View (curiously, the same blog that kicked this Galaxy S2 ball off…) had to pull back from their statements about a Russian podcast with Murtazin as Google’s Dan Morrill angrily disputed some Android 3.0 rumors they posted earlier.