Basking Ridge, N.J. – Verizon
Wireless will expand its 4G LTE handset selection to six on Oct. 13 with the
launch of its first 4G phone with slide-out QWERTY keyboard through the carrier’s
direct and indirect channels.
The phone is the Samsung
Stratosphere, an Android 2.3 Galaxy S-class smartphone retailing for $149.99
with two-year contract. The price in Verizon outlets is after a $50 mail-in
rebate that takes the form of a debit card.
The Stratosphere follows
Verizon’s Sept. 22 launch of the LTE-equipped Pantech Breakout at $99.99. The
Breakout launch marked the carrier’s lowest launch price for a 4G phone to date
and matched the price of Sprint’s first $99 4G smartphone. At launch, the
carrier priced its other LTE smartphones at $249 to $299, depending on model.
The Stratosphere features
five-row slide-out QWERTY keyboard, 4-inch Super AMOLED display for viewing in
sunlight, and such enterprise-grade features as Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync
and Sybase Afaria remote-device management.
Other features include Google
Mobile Services, Samsung 1GHz Cortex A8 Hummingbird a application processor,
front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera for video chat, and 5-megapixel rear-facing
camera with autofocus, flash, and 480- DVD-quality video capture. The device
also stores 720p HD video.
The device also features mobile
hotspot capability to share a 4G Internet connection with up to eight Wi-Fi
enabled devices or share a 3G connection with up to five Wi-Fi devices. Samsung
AllShare enables the device to share video and other content with other
DLNA-certified devices, and Samsung Media Hub enables downloading of TV shows
and movies for rent or purchase. Other features include stereo Bluetooth3.0 and
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n.
With Verizon 4G service, the
carrier promises the phone will deliver download speeds of 5 to 12Mbps and
upload speeds of 2 to 5Mbps.
