Hasta La Gadget!

Updated at 12.30 EST to change the release date of the phone

Samsung’s latest phone, the Vibrant, has the body of an iPhone and the brains of an Android.

The Vibrant’s industrial design is shockingly similar to the iPhone 3G: The rounded curves at the corners, the candybar shape, the glossy, black finish and the chrome-colored metallic border around the display. The Vibrant even has its volume and ringer buttons in almost the same spot as the iPhone 3G.

But if you are willing to get past the derivative design, the Vibrant has some sweet tech specs. The Vibrant is part of Samsung’s new portfolio of Android devices collectively called ‘Galaxy S.’

The Vibrant has a 4-inch AMOLED screen that’s bright and vivid and the 1-GHz Hummingbird processor makes the device pretty zippy. There’s GPS, Wi-Fi and a 5-megapixel camera. Overall, the phone (weighing 4.16 ounces) feels remarkably light. By comparison, the iPhone 3G weighs around 4.7 ounces.

There’s one disturbing thing about the phone. The device comes packed with apps you probably don’t need: MobiTV, GoGo Inflight internet and Electronic Arts’ The Sims 3 game. Sure, you can always delete these apps if you don’t use them, but why bundle them into the phone instead of giving users the option to download the apps if they want them? We’d hate to see bloatware start to overwhelm brand-new phones with junk the way it does with most new PCs.

The Vibrant runs version 2.1 of the Android operating system. That means access to all the standard Google apps such as maps, YouTube and e-mail. Setup, as with most Android phones, is easy — just enter your Google e-mail address and the device unlocks access to your Google account and to the Android Market.

Samsung’s skin for the Android is clean and easy to use. But the square icons are, again, very similar in their looks to the iPhone 3G’s.

Samsung has created a Social Hub widget for the device that integrates Facebook, Twitter and MySpace feeds into a single window. That has its limitations, though. For instance, it’s easy to reply and retweet messages, but you can’t see @replies or direct messages from Twitter through the widget.

Samsung’s Vibrant will cost $200 (with a two-year contract) on T-Mobile. The phone, which was originally scheduled to launch on July 21 will now be available starting July 15. But there’s little to make the phone notable, apart from its striking similarity to the iPhone. Without that, the Vibrant is then just another Android phone, albeit one with a pretty good screen and surprisingly light weight.

Check out the photo of the Samsung Vibrant next to the iPhone 3G below.

See Also:

• Samsung Enters Tablet Race With the Galaxy Tape
• Samsung Launches 4G Phone on Sprint
• Motorola Droid Rules Android
• Independent App Stores Take On Google’s Android Market

Photos: Stefan Armijo/Wired.com

A tiny bit of uncertainty has been cleared away thanks to good old Twitter, where T-Mobile has made July 15 (aka, today!) the official launch date for its Galaxy S derivative, the Vibrant. The original Tweet seems to have disappeared into the ether apart from that screenshot above, but T-Mo has reiterated the statement in subsequent missives, telling its followers that the Vibrant will be on sale today. We imagine the typical $199.99 price point will remain unaltered, so all you’ll really need to do now is decide whether this is the Super AMOLED handset for you, or whether you can wait the extra few days until Sprint et al intro their offerings. Decisions, decisions.

[Thanks, Alex]

Update: And it’s now available to buy directly from T-Mobile’s online store [Thanks, Volaris].

Samsung Vibrant launching today, awaits new owners in T-Mobile’s online store originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Jul 2010 04:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oh, sure — SanDisk‘s 32GB microSDHC card has been “shipping” since late March, but have you actually tried to find one? It’s been a lesson in frustration for many, and while a few e-tailers have shown stock off and on, the card has generally evaded archivists who simply need an insane amount of available storage on their handset. Starting tomorrow, however, that should change. Verizon Wireless — of all companies — has somehow managed to become the “only retailer that offers customers the 32GB SanDisk microSDHC card.” We’re assuming it’s referring to brick and mortar retailers, but at any rate, the gem will be on sale tomorrow at VZW outlets for $149.99, or just $99.99 if you purchase one alongside Motorola’s Droid X. The only trouble with that? You’re stuck figuring out what to do with the 16GB microSDHC card that ships inside of the phone. Thank heavens for the Bay, right?

Continue reading SanDisk’s elusive 32GB microSDHC card on sale tomorrow at Verizon: $100 with a Droid X, $150 without

SanDisk’s elusive 32GB microSDHC card on sale tomorrow at Verizon: $100 with a Droid X, $150 without originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Jul 2010 21:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Shazam, an amazing app that lets you identify any song by just holding your phone up to it, has turned off the tap for its free users.

It has introduced a premium version of its app called Shazam Encore for $5 on the Android Market. The paid version of the app went live Tuesday evening.

That means Android users who now download the free version will get a seven-day premium trial, and if they don’t upgrade at the end of that they will  be limited to identifying and tagging just five songs a month.

Shazam hit prime time when it launched its app on the Apple App store in 2008. Since then it has gained 15 million users on the iPhone aone and has 75 million users overall.

In November 2009, Shazam introduced the paid version of its app for iPhone users. The premium version offers unlimited tagging of music and recommendations that suggest other music similar to the track that’s been tagged.

Users who downloaded and used the free app before the introduction of the paid version will continue to get all the features they had, including unlimited access. It’s a smart move on Shazam’s part to keep its existing users happy, while trying to make money off its product.

Photo: (Htwo/Flickr)