Verizon poised to offer entry-level Samsung Galaxy Stellar

Verizon appears to be following up the entry-level Pantech Marauder with yet another smartphone aimed at first-time Android adopters. Android blog Droid Life recently caught wind of a Samsung model, which could be a similar offering only from a bigger brand.

Details of the Samsung Galaxy Stellar 4G are scarce at this point but it will should run for $99 with a two-year service agreement. What's more, the smartphone looks to come with a "Starter mode" featuring on-device help. From the sounds of it, the mode provides a preset layout with tips, tutorials, and app settings to help Android newcomers get off and running painlessly. Considering how many people are jumping ship from basic feature phones to something a little smarter, it stands to reason that phone makers and carriers want to ensure a smooth transition for their customers.

The handset has already found its way onto Best Buy's website, along with additional hardware details. We'll still have to wait on the official announcement but we do know it will feature a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, a 4-inch WVGA (800x480) display, 3.2-megapixel camera, and front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera. Tied with the model number of SCH-i200, we can now link the handset to the Jasper model that has seen its share of rumors.

Additional information indicates the phone connects to Verizon's 4G LTE network and comes with Amazon apps, though it's not clear which. While Droid Life posits that this could be the loading of Amazon titles in place of Google Play, I am not so sure. I doubt that Verizon and Samsung would toss aside the Google experience that has been on nearly every Android model since the beginning. The biggest OS tweak we've seen from either of these two companies was the integration of Bing search in place of Google for the Samsung Fascinate. My gut tells me the Stellar 4G will have Amazon Mobile, Amazon Kindle, and Amazon MP3 loaded, with maybe the Amazon Appstore in for good measure. Of course, I'd be OK with being wrong here if only because it would shake things up a bit.

Also, given the fact that pricing and mail-in rebate details are already in place, I expect an announcement could happen soon. I wouldn't look for much fanfare around this device though, perhaps a simple press release with a launch shortly after.