By and large, mobile TV services across the globe have rallied around
DVB-H,
T-DMB, and
ATSC Mobile, but a couple strange (and very important) bedfellows ended up going a different direction: Japan and Brazil, both of whom use variants of
ISDB-T. In Japan, the service is more commonly known as one-seg, and Brazil's localized version goes by the rather unwieldy ISDB-Tb. Got that? Good -- because Samsung's prepping yet another flavor of its Android-powered
Galaxy S for the local Brazilian market, and the addition of an integrated ISDB-Tb tuner should be just what the doctor ordered to take advantage of that lovely 4-inch Super AMOLED display. It's got Android 2.1 (though
Froyo should be in the cards) and most of the other features you're already accustomed to from other Galaxy S launches; one notable exception, though, is the addition of mobile hotspot capability, something that normal comes stock in Android 2.2. It's coming in September, apparently for a whopping 2,399 reals which works out to something in the neighborhood of $1,367 -- fully unlocked, we hope.
posted August 11th 2010 5:47AM
That price is completely assinine... They did that was for the price of the phone right?
@lucky1995 When the original iPhone launched in Brazil it was reported to be about 3X the cost as most international prices, there is something going on with either taxes and/or market segmentation. For the most part only the really, really rich can afford the regular price will buy so you might as well charge an arm since they can afford it. After all, as long as you get 33%-100% of the same customers as the cheaper version you are making a profit since the support costs would go down. On top of that, they had to pay about $100 US for service every month.
As far as I can tell, this Samsung phone would cost that for a 12 month contract, but have possibly free service (article was optimistic). So, this doesn't seem like a "bad" deal in terms of the market. But it is insane by most standards.
@lucky1995 Ahh, found a more recent article regarding the 3GS (currently the best iPhone option in Brazil).
"But prices can be steep: A 32GB iPhone 3GS can cost upwards of $1,500 Brazilian Real (USD $885), and an unlimited voice and data plan will cost roughly $270 per month or USD $150. To be fair, monthly plans and cell phone handsets tend to be much more expensive in Brazil than in the U.S. because of heavy government taxation."
@juanvaldez
Those prices are silly=P
@ Chris,
"most of the other features you're already accustomed to from other Galaxy S launches; one notable exception, though, is the addition of mobile hotspot capability, something that normal comes stock in Android 2.2. "
You're aware that the I900 & Korean version, SHW-m110s, comes with this stock, right? Korean version also comes with DMB, but that's more common knowledge
So, in reality it's a real minority of carriers that have this blocked.