If one thing is for certain when it comes to the gadget world it’s that devices are going to be leaked and specs are going to be subject to rumor. An old friend of ours that’s been helping along with this for the last decade or so is good old Mr. Blurrycam and this time around he’s spied an upcoming Samsung device that seems destined for Verizon.
We first got word of the device when it hit the benchmark scene with its dual-core Snapdragon S4 and a 720p display. Now though, we know a little more thanks to Mr Blurrycam. The device has been spotted in the wild with a body that looks like a Stratosphere design and a set of four capacitive buttons at the bottom of the device to handle interaction. There’s also NFC on offer as well a removable battery but, sadly there’s no sighting of a slide out keyboard. Perhaps this is the beginning of the end of the humble QWERTY-slider.
With a dual-core S4 and an HD display it looks like a good budget offering s headed to Verizon’s 4G network very soon. The real question is how much is it going to retail for, with the Droid RAZR M Verizon set a brilliant price of just $99 and it’s difficult for us to see this being worth any more when on the same network. The device looks like it’s shaping up to be the “Stratosphere III” and if you don’t have fond memories of the Stratosphere II then you don’t have much to see here, but for a budget LTE device it certainly seems capable enough.
Verizon nor Samsung have given out any official word concerning the “godiva”, but we would suspect that an announcement is not too far off. Verizon are going to have price this device pretty well though as their lineup is looking pretty crowded on the value side of things, with the Droid DNA going for just $200 on contract and the RAZR M holding its own at a scant $99.
How much would you be willing to pay for a third iteration of the Stratosphere?
[Via: Engadget]