Bellevue, Wash. – T-Mobile
announced pricing and an Aug. 6 availability date for the big-screen Samsung Galaxy
Note hybrid smartphone/tablet.
The device will be
available through select T-Mobile stores and the carrier’s web site on Aug. 6,
but an availability date through the indirect-retail channel wasn’t announced.
The Android 4.0
device with 5.3-inch HD touchscreen will be priced at $249 with a Classic voice
and data plan after a $50 mail-in-rebate card with a two-year service
agreement.
With Value voice
and data plans, which are priced lower than the Classic plans, the handset’s price
drops to an out-of-pocket $199 with two-year service agreement, but users also
pay an additional $20 per month for 20 months under T-Mobile’s Equipment
Installment Plan (EIP).
Samsung’s Galaxy
Note made its way to AT&T early this year at $299 and now retails for $249.
The device,
sometimes called a phablet because it is a cross between tablet and phone,
comes with an S Pen, which lets users sketch drawings, write notes, or compose
handwritten emails and texts.
Samsung contends the device will replace
multiple devices for many consumers, including e-readers, because of the
display’s size and use of proprietary high-definition 1,280 by 800 Super AMOLED
technology, said to make the display easy to read indoors and outdoors.
For the T-Mobile
network, the Android 4.0 Note will incorporate multiple features not in the
AT&T version,
The T-Mobile version will feature Android 4.0,
whereas the AT&T version currently features Android version 2.3.6
(Gingerbread), and the T-Mobile version will use 4G HSPA+42 technology, whereas
the AT&T version features 4G LTE and HSPA+ wireless technology. T-Mobile’s
Note will also add Wi-Fi calling and the T-Mobile 4G Pro App Pack, an
aggregation of applications designed to make it easier to find business-related
applications. The apps include Dropbox, Evernote, Square, TripIt, CamScanner
and LinkedIn. The device also adds T-Mobile TV for watching live TV
programming.
