Verizon's Samsung Fascinate To Launch Tomorrow

Verizon Wireless has just announced that the Android OS-powered Samsung Fascinate is going to debut Wednesday, September 8.

This high-end smartphone will sport a 4-inch AM-OLED Touchscreen and a 1 GHz processor. It was first announced back in June, but is just now going to be released.

The Fascinate will be available from Verizon's website on Sept. 8 and in its retail stores on Sept. 9.

This model will cost $200 with a two-year contract -- which has become the standard price for high-end smartphones.

Preview of the Samsung Fascinate
In June, all of the top U.S. carriers committed to releasing versions of the the Samsung Galaxy S, which sports a 1 GHz processor and a Super AMOLED touchscreen. Within a few weeks, AT&T began offering the Samsung Captivate while T-Mobile launched the Samsung Vibrant. Sprint's Samsung Epic 4G debuted a few days ago, but the Samsung Fascinate, Verizon's version, has been on hold.

All the Galaxy S models have a 4-inch display. The Fascinate won't have a physical keyboard, but will ship with the Swype on-screen text-entry system.

It is going to debut with Google's Android OS 2.1, but an upgrade to version 2.2 is in development.

This Samsung device is going to support Verizon's 3G network and include Wi-Fi b/g/n. It will also be able to combine these functions and act as a Wi-Fi hotspot to share its Internet connection with other computers.

This model will include 2 GB of internal storage and is going to be bundled with a 16 GB microSD memory card. Users will have the option of switching this out with higher capacity cards, up to 32 GB.

It will also sport a 5.0-megapixel camera with auto-focus and an LED flash. This will support HD (720p) video recording and playback.

Other features are going to include Bluetooth and a 3.5 mm headset jack.

As it will run Google's operating system, the Fascinate will come with a suite of communication, entertainment, and productivity applications. Many of these will tie into Google services like YouTube and Gmail, but users will also be able to get their business mail through Microsoft Exchange.