Samsung officially unveiled its hotly-anticipated Galaxy S II Android phone at a media event in Sydney last night, but Optus is the only telco that has confirmed pricing and availability details.
Read our comprehensive Samsung Galaxy S II review, and check out our guide to the best upcoming smartphones in 2011.
Techworld Australia: Nokia N9 vs. Samsung Galaxy S 2
Described by Samsung as the "smartest built smartphone on the market", the Galaxy S II will launch on all three Australian telcos — Telstra, Optus and Vodafone — but Optus is the only company that has announced pricing and availability details for the handset. As revealed last week, Optus will sell the Galaxy S II in stores from 1 June, and it will be available for $0 on Optus' $79 cap over 24 months. Optus will sell the phone for $899 outright.
Samsung was keen to point out that Optus does not have exclusivity rights for the Galaxy S II, and that it was simply quickest of the block to announce its plans. Telstra will sell the Galaxy S II from "late June", while Vodafone is expected to follow in early July. Neither Telstra or Vodafone has announced pricing details for the Galaxy S II, with Telstra saying it will announce this information "a little closer to launch".
The Samsung Galaxy S II is one of the first phones on the Australian market to feature a dual-core processor. The phone also has a 4.3in Super AMOLED Plus display, an 8-megapixel rear camera that doubles as a 1080p HD video recorder, and a 2-megapixel front camera for video calls.
The Galaxy S II runs the 2.3 Gingerbread version of Google's Android platform, and features Samsung's TouchWiz 4.0 UI overlay. Samsung's vice president of telecommunications, Tyler McGee, said that the on-board "apps and content is what sets the Galaxy apart from its competitors". These services include a pre-loaded 30 day free trial of Sydney and Melbourne versions of the Good Food Guide, Navigon's full turn-by-turn GPS navigation app with maps of Australia on board, and the soon to be launched music hub, a subscription based music service that will enable users to download tracks directly to the handset.
The Galaxy S II is also compatible with the newly launched Samsung Dive service, a free remote device management service that can locate, remotely lock, and remotely wipe the handset in the event it is lost or stolen.
