T-Mobile has announced two big new smartphones: the HTC Amaze 4G and the Samsung Galaxy S II.
At GigaOM's Mobilize event, T-Mobile unveiled the two phones as their latest 4G releases. The mobile giant hopes these new smartphones can help boost them up the American carrier rankings, where they currently sit in fourth place behind Verizon, AT&T and Sprint.
First, the HTC Amaze 4G, which is only available on T-Mobile: It's a big one, with a 4.3-inch multitouch screen and a Qualcomm Snapdragon S3 Processor with 1.5 GHz dual-core CPUs. The crown jewel of this handset, according to T-Mobile, is its photography capabilities. The carrier has dubbed HTC Amaze 4G as the "most advanced camera experience of any smartphone." With an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera, 1080 HD video recording with embedded video editor and a dual-LED flash, the Amaze offers a fairly strong picture-taking set. HTC has also bundled SmartShot software with the device, allowing the Amaze to take 5 photos at once and choose the best based on smiles and wide-open eyes. Also included is PerfectPics, a separate photo album on the smartphone that scores and ranks pictures based on "important calendar events, the presence of faces, and overall picture quality," according to T-Mobile's press release.
Non-photography features of the HTC Amaze 4G include NFC-capability (though it won't support the tap-and-pay Google Wallet app just yet), Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread and the HTC Sense user interface.
The Samsung Galaxy S II, meanwhile, has also arrived at T-Mobile. Though it is perhaps more famous for being banned in some European and East Asian countries for iPhone patent infringement than anything else, the phone has come to America on T-Mobile, and will also be offered from AT&T and Sprint.
The Galaxy S II features NFC mobile payment capability (again, not quite yet with Google Wallet), a Qualcomm Snapdragon 1.5GHz processor with dual-core CPUs and Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread. The 4.52-inch touchscreen will be the largest screen available on the T-Mobile network.
Both the Amaze 4G and the Galaxy S II will be available for preorder on the T-Mobile website on October 10 and in retail stores on October 12. The Amaze 4G will cost $259.99 after $50 mail-in rebate with a two year contract, while the Galaxy S II will cost you $229.99 after $50 mail-in rebate and a two-year contract.
A T-Mobile executive recently predicted that his company will not be getting the iPhone 5 whenever it is released this year, so it must be hoping that these new phones are big sellers (or that its $39 billion sale to AT&T, which the U.S. recently sued to block, will go through).
Below, see photos of the brand new Amaze 4G and the Samsung Galaxy S II:
