14 DAY TRIAL // Spotted for the first time during the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Samsung R910 has just received FCC approval.
The R910 is also known as Samsung Forte and it has been touted by the manufacturer as its first LTE (Long Term Evolution) compatible smartphone.
Even though the Korean manufacturer stated that Verizon would be the first carrier to retail the Forte, it seems that MetroPCS will also offer the device, just under a different name.
Rumors say that the device runs a recent build of Android 2.2.1, but in the end a newer flavor of the operating system may be preferred instead.
It is unclear yet if the phone is powered by a 1GHz processor and if it boasts a 5-megapixels camera or a lower one.
Furthermore, the R910 features a custom TouchWiz UI on board, which might lead to the conclusion that the phone will be labeled with a Galaxy S based branding at launch.
In addition to the full slide-out QWERTY keyboard, the R910 is said to feature hotspot capabilities that go along with the included Wi-Fi connectivity.
The R910 will be the second LTE phone to join the MetroPCS offering after the carrier introduced Samsung R900 Craft last year in September.
Unfortunately, the Craft is not so popular because of its low value for money, which is one of the main reasons why MetroPCS wants to raise the standards with the launch of the R910.
Samsung R900 Craft is a mid-entry feature-phone which comes with a 3.3-inch AMOLED capacitive touchscreen with 16 million colors and 480 x 800 pixels resolution.
In addition to the full slide-out QWERTY keyboard, the phone features 165 MB of internal memory, microSD card slot for memory expansion (up to 32GB, 2GB card included), Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g connectivity, 3-megapixel camera with autofocus, dual-LED flash, GPS with A-GPS support (MetroNavigator), as well as 4G LTE capabilities.
The R900 Craft can still be purchased from MetroPCS for $249 after a $50 mail in rebate.