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Hands-on with the Samsung Galaxy Grand
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Samsung today unveiled the Samsung Galaxy Grand smartphone, which runs the Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean mobile operating system and sports a 5-inch WVGA display.
The smartphone also features a powerful dual-core 1.2GHz processor, along with 1GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel rear camera offering 1080p video recording and a 2-megapixel front camera.
It also includes 8GB of internal memory with a microSD memory expansion slot, Wi-Fi b/g/n, GPS functionality, and the usual perks, such as an accelerometer, compass, and gyroscopic sensor.
The Galaxy Grand also connects to high-speed HSPA+ networks, but falls short of offering 4G LTE connectivity.
The Korean smartphone giant said the smartphone will be sold in two variants: the I9080, which offers single SIM service, while the I9082 will offer dual-SIM functionality, allowing users to use two separate cell numbers from the same device, such as work and personal numbers.
Samsung
The smartphone also includes built-in features, such as Direct Call, Popup Video, Smart Alert, and S-Voice, the Samsung’s rival to Apple’s Siri voice-activated assistant.
Announced in the midst of the December holiday season, only days before many businesses finish for the year and consumer holiday spending reaches its peak, the Galaxy Grand is leaping into the public consciousness with no pricing or availability information.
We’ve put in questions to Samsung, but did not hear back at the time of writing. It is expected that the smartphone will be shown off at the consumer showcase CES 2013 in January.
Update 8:31 a.m. PT: Samsung had little to offer in response to our U.K.-based writer: “Samsung UK availability of the Galaxy Grand is yet to be announced, a statement regarding UK launch confirmation will be made in due course.”
Update February 25, 2013, 11:06 a.m. PT: Updated with hands-on video from Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.