There are a lot of different milestones in the life of a smartphone. In the case of one of the most highly anticipated handsets of the year, The Samsung Galaxy S IV, these rites of passage take on a little bit more significance than those of it’s counterparts. Right now with Samsung’s 2013 flagship we are in that lull in between the official announcement and when it actually gets into the hands of consumers, so while we already know just about everything we need to about the device there are still some mandatory steps in the process that need be taken in the meantime.
With regards to today’s news pertaining to the Galaxy S IV, it looks like a couple of carrier variants of the smartphone have made their way through the FCC to gain approval. The first of these looks to be the one that is headed to Sprint and has the model number SPH-L720 (Sprint’s Galaxy S III carries with it model number SPH-L710). This device has both LTE and CDMA radios as you would expect from a phone on that carrier’s network, but the real story here is that it also comes with GSM and WCDMA 850/1900 support. The inclusion of these extra radios is a clear indication that Sprint’s GSIV will be able to roam globally when it makes it’s way to the masses.
The second variant of the Galaxy S IV that got approved was model number SCH-R970. According to PhoneScoop, this looks to be the handset that will hit both Cricket and U.S. Cellular. It’s worth noting that both carriers currently offer the Galaxy S III which bears the model number SCH-R530. Unfortunately for customers looking to get the handset on these carriers, this variant of the GSIV doesn’t look to be a global device.
While we know that this phone is going to hit all of the major (and most minor) carriers here in the states, so far we only actually have confirmation from T-Mobile, whose customers will be getting the Galaxy S IV starting the first of May. So if nothing else these two filings give the people who use Sprint, Cricket, and U.S. Cellular something to get excited about. No doubt we’ll be seeing the AT&T and Verizon filings sooner rather than later so stay tuned to this site for more details.