Sprint on Monday announced the upcoming availability of the Samsung Galaxy S III smartphone. The nation’s third largest carrier will offer its latest flagship Android handset on Thursday, June 21st, with preorders beginning Tuesday, June 5th. Sprint will offer the Galaxy S III in two flavors, a 16GB model for $199.99 and a 32GB model for $249.99, and it will also be the only U.S. carrier to preload Google Wallet on the device. “Sprint and Samsung take another leap forward together in bringing our customers the best in mobile technology with Galaxy S III on the Sprint 4G LTE network,” said Fared Adib, vice president of product development at Sprint. “Sprint is the only U.S. carrier to offer this device with the simplicity of unlimited data plans. Our customers will appreciate being able to use the robust features and capabilities of this device without worrying about data caps, throttling or silly overage charges.” Sprint’s press release follows below.
Samsung Galaxy S III Comes to Sprint, the Only Wireless Carrier to Offer the Device with Unlimited Data Pricing Plans and Google Wallet Pre-Loaded, on June 21
Pre-order begins June 5 at http://www.sprint.com/galaxysiiiOVERLAND PARK, Kan. (BUSINESS WIRE), June 04, 2012 – Sprint (NYSE:S), the only national wireless carrier offering truly unlimited data for all phones while on the Sprint network1, will offer Samsung Galaxy S® III beginning on Thursday, June 21. Manufactured by Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung Mobile), the No. 1 mobile phone provider in the U.S. and the No. 1 smartphone provider worldwide2, Galaxy S III is powered by Android™ 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich, and boasts a brilliant 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED™ touchscreen and access to the Sprint 4G LTE network when it launches later this year.
Sprint is the only national U.S. wireless carrier to offer Galaxy S III preloaded with Google Wallet™ enabling the phone to act like a personal wallet using Near Field Communication (NFC) to make safe purchases at more than 100,000 participating retailers.
Samsung Galaxy S III will be offered in a 16GB version for $199.99 and 32GB version for $249.99 (excluding taxes) with a new line or eligible upgrade and two-year service agreement at Sprint Stores, Sprint Business Sales, Telesales (1-800-SPRINT1) and Web Sales (www.sprint.com). The 32GB version will be available exclusively through Web Sales.
Customers can pre-order the device beginning Tuesday, June 5, at http://www.sprint.com/galaxysiii. It will be available in two color options – Pebble Blue and Marble White.
“Sprint and Samsung take another leap forward together in bringing our customers the best in mobile technology with Galaxy S III on the Sprint 4G LTE network,” said Fared Adib, vice president – Product Development, Sprint. “Sprint is the only U.S. carrier to offer this device with the simplicity of unlimited data plans. Our customers will appreciate being able to use the robust features and capabilities of this device without worrying about data caps, throttling or silly overage charges.”
Galaxy S III offers the speed of a 1.5GHz dual-core processor and 2GB of RAM for multitasking, amazing graphics and rich HD multimedia content. It also has two cameras – an 8-megapixel rear-facing zero shutter-lag camera with LED flash, 1080p video capture, intelligent camera features and facial recognition and a 1.9-megapixel front-facing camera. New features designed to make the phone easier to use include:
S Voice™ is the advanced natural language user interface that enables search and basic device-user communication. It can be used to turn the volume up or down on the music player, answer or reject incoming calls, shut off or choose to snooze the alarm clock or take a picture by saying “smile” or “cheese.”
Motion simplifies the user experience by understanding the motion of the user. If the user is messaging but decides to call the person instead, they simply lift the phone to the ear and ‘Direct Call’ will dial the phone number. Motion includes quick camera access, missed event alert, double tap to top of list, screen shot, quick pause, quick rotate, turn over to mute, shake to refresh and raise phone to ear to make a call from messaging.
Smart Stay uses facial recognition technology and the front-facing camera to identify the user’s eyes. Smart Stay disables screen timeout if the device detects the user’s eyes are looking at the screen. Galaxy S III is “smart” enough to recognize the user is reading an e-book or browsing the web and maintains a bright display for easy viewing.
Galaxy S III also takes sharing to a new level by making it fast and easy to share pictures, videos and presentations between devices or with friends and groups of people.
S Beam expands on Android Beam™ to enhance device-to-device sharing through NFC technology by adding the ability to share photos, videos, documents and other DRM-free content to Android Beam. This allows a 1GB file to be shared within minutes and a 10MB file within seconds by simply touching another Galaxy S III phone.
AllShare® Play allows users to wirelessly connect Galaxy S III to their PC, tablet or television to immediately share files, stream music, user-generated videos, photos and other DRM-free content to AllShare-enabled devices using Wi-Fi®. It also allows the user to remotely access files on up to six Samsung devices.
AllShare Group Cast lets the user share a presentation or photo album in real time with multiple friends on the same Wi-Fi network.Share Shot allows photos to be easily and simultaneously shared with a group of friends directly from the camera using device-to-device Wi-Fi Direct.
Samsung Galaxy S III customers enjoy an unlimited data experience with Sprint Everything Data plans. Sprint’s Everything Data plan with Any Mobile, AnytimeSM includes unlimited web, texting and calling to and from any mobile in America while on the Sprint Network, starting at just $79.99 per month for smartphones – a savings of $40 per month versus Verizon’s comparable plan with unlimited talk, text and 2GB web, or $10 per month savings versus Verizon’s 450-minute plan with unlimited text and 2GB web (excludes taxes and surcharges).
Sprint announced Atlanta, Baltimore, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City and San Antonio are expected to have 4G LTE and enhanced 3G service in mid-year 2012. The anticipated launch of these large metropolitan areas demonstrates the continued commitment by Sprint to invest in its network through Network Vision. Sprint customers in these areas should soon enjoy ultra-fast data speeds and improved 3G voice quality. For the most up-to-date details on Sprint’s 4G LTE rollout, please visit http://www.sprint.com/4GLTE.
