Samsung Electronics is introducing a new Galaxy R smartphone, its first to feature Nvidia’s Tegra 2 processor with dual cores running at one gigahertz. The Galaxy R also has a GeForce graphics processor unit (GPU) to support hardware-accelerated Adobe Flash content as well as full HD video capture and playback at 1080p.
Powered by Google’s Android 2.3, Gingerbread, the smartphone sports a bright 4.2-inch LCD touchscreen with 800×480 resolution, a front-facing five-megapixel camera with LED flash, and a rear-facing two-megapixel camera for self-portraits and video chats. The handset also comes with 8GB of built-in memory and support for an optional 32GB SD memory card.
“Because it has a GeForce GPU, you can play high-end console-quality games,” said Nvidia social-media editor Will Park. The Galaxy R ships “with an app on the phone called Tegra Zone, [which] serves up a collection of Android games that Nvidia has helped optimize for the Tegra 2 chip.”
A Portfolio Booster
The Galaxy R promises to further boost Samsung’s already red-hot smartphone portfolio in competing with other Android handsets from Motorola and LG Electronics that also use Tegra 2 processors and GeForce GPUs. Already available in Sweden, the Galaxy R is slated to launch in Asia and in other parts of Europe in the near future.
Sales of Samsung’s new Galaxy S II surpassed five million units in the first 85 days of availability. Moreover, Samsung expects Galaxy S shipments to accelerate in the second half of this year due to its launch in China, the world’s largest mobile-device market.
Apple led the global smartphone pack in the second quarter by shipping 20.3 million iPhones. However, Samsung posted the largest year-over-year growth of any vendor in the three months through June, shipping 19.3 million units.
“Samsung overtook Nokia to become the world’s second-largest smartphone vendor in… Read more
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