Samsung Galaxy S announced in Asia--will get Froyo update Tweet

First unveiled at the US-focused CTIA tradeshow earlier this year, the Galaxy S (I9000) is Samsung's flagship Android smartphone. Today, the company announced that this will be available in Asia come June, which could mean as early as next week. The full retail price of this phone is set at S$1,098. That's quite expensive considering its close competitor, the HTC Desire, goes for S$898 unlocked. However, we don't foresee many users buying it at full price, but rather from operators that will surely offer attractive subsidies when purchased with mobile plans.

The Samsung Galaxy S' main claim to fame is the large 4-inch display that utilizes the company's latest Super AMOLED display, which we first saw in the Bada-based Samsung Wave. This screen technology is supposed to give improved image quality and allow better visibility when used under direct sunlight. We haven't tested this feature out conclusively, but liked what we saw during our earlier hands-on of the smartphone.

Though it will initially ship with Android 2.1 (Eclair), we have been told that this model will enjoy an upgrade to the latest Android 2.2 (Froyo). Luke Lee, senior product manager for mobile phones, revealed this during an interview, though he couldn't be more specific as to when the update will be available. Google announced this new version last week during its Google I/O conference. User enhancements for Froyo include Flash 10.1 support, better Exchange integration and the ability to install applications on external storage rather than on the ROM only.

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