Samsung’s popular Galaxy S smartphone that goes under different names depending on which operator you bought it from is due to get an upgrade that’s going to be exclusive to T-Mobile USA. Today T-Mobile sells the Galaxy S and calls it the Samsung Vibrant. Soon there’s going to be a refresh called the Vibrant 4G. Compared to the previous Vibrant, this new model features a front facing camera, runs Android 2.2 (the old one has 2.1), and best of all it supports the full 21 Mbps download speeds of T-Mobile HSPA+ network. All the other 4G devices T-Mobile offers max out at 14.4 Mbps, so this is the first to get a theoretical 46% improvement in download throughput. What’s more likely is that real world download speeds will hover around 12 Mbps, which is still plenty quick. Faster than Clearwire’s WiMAX network and just about the same speed as Verizon’s LTE. We sadly don’t have any additional information, as in when it’s due to come out and how much it’ll cost, but as soon as we find out you’ll be the first to know.
T-Mobile didn’t show anything off at CES now that we think about it, and maybe that’s a good thing. Why blow all that money on a trade show just to launch a product or two and host a party where you need to wine and dine a bunch of journalists when you can instead pour it into improving your wireless network? T-MoNews, the source of this leak, also says that T-Mobile is going to pour more money into advertising the Vibrant 4G than they have any other product. Expect to see it on TV screens and at your local cinema.
Oh and one more thing … T-Mobile is going to bundle the summer blockbuster “Inception” on the Vibrant 4G, so you have something to make your friends jealous.