Tougher Fight on Cards for iPhone 4S as Samsung Stratosphere Arrives on Verizon

Apple Inc.'s iPhone 4S is up against yet another mighty rival, with news trickling in that the Samsung Stratosphere is round the corner. Engadget.com has reported that the new Samsung smartphone will be offered on Verizon Wireless starting Oct. 13.

The tech blog says the LTE Samsung Stratosphere could have a 4-inch Super AMOLED display, run on the Android 2.3 OS and sport a 5 megapixel rear-facing camera. Citing Droid Life, Engadget reported the LTE handset should start offering up its Gingerbread goodness on Verizon starting October 13th.

It had been rumored earlier that the Stratosphere would support LTE as well as CDMA/EVDO. Along with cellular modes, the phone is expected to support both 2.4GHz and 5GHz WiFi. Leaked reports last month suggested that the Samsung smartphone could look similar to the Samsung Epic 4G, another QWERTY slider which has a 4-inch display.

In addition to the Super AMOLED Plus 480 x 800 pixels resolution display, the Android OS and the rear-facing camera, the Stratosphere may also have a 1GHz single-core processor, 512MB of RAM, a 1800mAh battery, 2GB of internal storage and a 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera.

The new iPhone 4s has a new operating system - the iOS 5, a better camera, a new A5 processor, 1080 HD video with real-time video capability, a CMDA+GSM chip, Infinity Blade 2 and a download speed that is many times better than the iPhone 4. It also sports Siri, an intelligent assistant that helps the user get things done just by asking. Prior to the launch of the iPhone 4S, expectations were high that the upcoming iPhone would sport 4G LTE. However, since the iPhone 4S doesn’t have this, users may now have to wait for the release of the next edition iPhone, probably in 2012.

Last week, the Samsung Galaxy S2 became available in the U.S., on AT&T's network for $200 with a two-year contract. It has a 4.3-inch, 800x480-pixel screen that also incorporates Super AMOLED Plus technology and a single LED flash that is capable of capturing 1080p video footage.