Samsung has been pretty busy in the last few weeks with the announcement of their latest flagship smartphone the Galaxy S III, but not everyone can afford the latest top of the range smartphones, and today we have news of the pricing for the Samsung Galaxy Proclaim for Android’s StraightTalk platform.
The handset is the first Samsung Android handset for StraightTalk, and according to Phonenews the handset will be relying on Verizon’s 3G Non Roaming Prepaid coverage area for service, which will be via the $45 and $60 unlimited monthly service plans. This latest handset comes after Verizon recently launched its own prepaid Android handset with the Samsung Illusion that comes with an $80 prepaid service that includes 1GB of data and priced at $169.99.
Meanwhile the Galaxy Proclaim will cost consumers $179.99 and will be available in the next two weeks. The handset is a midrange device that is powered by a 1GHz processor running the Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system. It has five home screens and a microSD card slot with a pre-installed 2GB card, and the screen is a 3.5-inch HVGA resolution touch display. Camera wise it features a three megapixel shooter capable of video capture.
The handset is a shift for StraightTalk as Verizon have previously been apprehensive to the idea of allowing a prepaid service officially, but recent changes in strategy has seen the company push for the migration of its 4G network at the expense of its older CDMA network, which has recently seen a spike in pressure with the increase in smartphone use.
StraightTalk reps have been saying that the Galaxy Proclaim will feature a 4GB monthly data allotment, which compares to Verizon’s own 1GB plan. This Verizon plan will have an expensive $0.05/MB overage rate where the StraightTalk variant will not have any overage rate. Typical data limits each month on StraightTalk are thought to be around 2GB with a daily limit of 100MB.
Sprint Android handsets are considered to be free from such restrictions because of the service agreement signed by StraightTalk, and you have to wonder about the timing of the Galaxy Proclaim launch as Sprint are getting ready to launch a 4G WiMax service via its Prepaid Group, and StraightTalk customers have previously wanted a device on Verizon’s larger network. To find out more about the Samsung Galaxy Proclaim click here.