AT&T's shoring up its holiday LTE offerings with the help of Samsung. Today, the two companies announced four new 4G-enabled devices hitting Ma Bell's shelves "in the coming months:" two new smartphones, the widely anticipated Galaxy Note II phablet, and a 4G LTE-equipped version of the Galaxy Tab 2 10.1.
No new details were offered for the Galaxy Note II, though we've already gone hands-on with the phone and its 5.5-inch Super AMOLED screen, 1.6-GHz quad core CPU, 2GB of RAM, 3,100 mAh battery and delicious Android Jelly Bean. Neither official prices nor official launch dates were announced for any of the phones. Yesterday, however, Samsung shipped around "Save the Date" invites for an October 24th event, and the only graphic on said invites were a prominent picture of the S Pen stylus.
AT&T's version of the Galaxy Tab 2 10.1, meanwhile, looks to be the same as the Wi-Fi Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 that we've already reviewed, only with an added 4G LTE radio. Don't expect it to run cheap; the Wi-Fi version costs $400 and AT&T recently stopped offering subsidized prices on tablets. On the plus side, that means you won't need a monthly contract for the slate.
The Samsung Galaxy Express is geared towards first-time phone buyers and sports a 4.5-inch Super AMOLED display, a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, a 5-megapixel camera and a 2,000 mAh battery. AT&T promises the Galaxy Express will ship "at a great price," but as previously noted, no official cost was mentioned.
Finally, people who are hard on their phones may want to check out the rugged Samsung Galaxy Rugby Pro, which sports military standard-level protection against water, shock and dust in addition to full-device encryption options. The phone packs a 800 × 480 Super AMOLED display and a 5MP camera capable of capturing 720p video.
Get a daily look at what’s developing in science and technology throughout the world.