Leaked Samsung i897 shows AT&T getting serious about Android
It has been a busy week for AT&T in terms of Android. Already rumored to be announcing a new phone from HTC next month, the carrier appears to be readying a high-end Samsung handset.
The latest phone to surface, the Samsung i897 is rumored to be running Android 2.1 and powered by a Snapdragon 1GHz processor. In fact, almost every hardware detail from the i897 matches up to the Samsung Galaxy S.
Late last week, the AndroidGuys published the first "in the wild" shots of the phone, which shows it has a sleek design. Interestingly, the phone bears a somewhat different design than that of the Galaxy S. The touch-only device is said to offer a 4-inch AMOLED screen, Samsung's TouchWiz 3.0 user interface, and a 5-megapixel camera on back. Rounding out the phone are 2GB internal storage and support for Wi-Fi, GPS, and Bluetooth 3.0.
On a side note, AT&T is also hiring a software engineer to help develop and market Android-related devices. A recent job posting on CrunchBoard indicates the carrier has a spot at its Santa Clara office; duties would include "designing and implementing leading-edge mobile platform software," among other things.
Between these tidbits of information and the rumor that AT&T may announce an HTC phone on June 7, it looks like Ma Bell is waking up to Android. This must surely be welcome news to AT&T customers who currently only have the