The Samsung Galaxy S4 equipped with a Snapdragon 800 processor might be released in Korea sometime this week. Korean wireless carrier SK Telecom is apparently ready to launch its advanced LTE network. A Samsung exec talking about the LTE-A ready Galaxy S4 supposedly said, “this product is ready and will hit the market as soon as SK Telecom’s network goes live.”
Samsung is one of the only manufacturers with a device already available that supports LTE advanced speeds. This certainly gives them an edge over the competition, and if SK Telecom’s network rolls out Samsung will make the device available as soon as possible.
However, the competition is weighing their options in order to keep up it seems.
The LG Optimus G2 is currently set to launch on August 7, but with this news it’s likely the launch date will be moved to sometime in July. After all, Korea is LG’s home market and if the Samsung Galaxy S4 is the only LTE capable device on the market they’ll be stealing all the glory. It’s a bummer too because August 7th will be the official LG launch event for the device which will be hosted in New York. If LG does launch the device early in Korea, don’t expect the same to happen elsewhere in the world.
Even better, the Sony Xperia ZU or Togari phablet is launching soon so the Korean market will just be full of awesome LTE devices. Which of the three handsets would you purchase if you had your pick of the litter?
In case you’re not aware, the LTE advanced or LTE-A network is capable of speeds up to 150Mbps. Of course, the manufacturers will need to launch devices that support the new network which is what all of this fuss is about. Updated versions of existing handsets and future handsets are being prepared with the necessary support for the new network.
Those lucky Koreans. Personally, I’m eyeballing that Galaxy S4 equipped with a Snapdragon 800 processor. It really stinks that different models were release in various parts of the world.
What are your thoughts on the matter?