Samsung on Sunday confirmed that it will be showing an LTE version of the Galaxy S II smartphone, alone with an LTE Galaxy Tab 8.9, at the IFA show in Berlin this week.
The original Samsung Galaxy S II is widely considered to be the closest competitor to Apple's iPhone 4. Support for the high-speed 4G LTE network means the Galaxy S II will have an automatic leg up on the competition, running at speeds that are two to three times faster than the iPhone 4, which is a 3G device.
The device is being hyped as the world’s first LTE/GSM/WCDMA-multi-mode phone, but U.S. customers aren't likely to see it our neck of the woods anytime soon. Products announced at IFA are typically released in Europe first, and a direct port of the LTE Galaxy is unlikely to happen. It does, however, provide U.S. carriers with a host of new features to choose from when dialing in their next U.S. LTE device from Samsung.
The Galaxy S II LTE is an upgrade from the original, unlocked Galaxy S II, which is Samsung's fastest-selling smartphone to date. It will be powered by a 1.5-Ghz dual-core processor, along with a 4.5-inch Super AMOLED Plus display, 1080p HD video recording, an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera, and Android 2.3 (Gingerbread).Samsung is planning a "major product announcement" in New York on August 30 (postponed a day due to Hurricane Irene), presumably for the announcement of the Samsung Galaxy S II in the U.S., which has been available unlocked on AT&T since May.
Verizon is currently America's only major LTE provider, and has already said that it will not be supporting the Galaxy S II. But that doesn't rule out the possibility of an LTE device in the future.
Regardless, the Galaxy S II remains a formidable device in its own right, and the addition of LTE only sweetens the pot. Since we don't know anything definitive about the long-rumored iPhone 5, we've decided to see how the unlocked Galaxy S II and the upcoming Galaxy S II LTE compare to Apple's current category killer, the iPhone 4.
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