14 DAY TRIAL // South Korean mobile phone maker Samsung might delay the release of the new Galaxy S II smartphone to the month of May, some of the latest rumors around the Internet suggest.
Apparently, the handset vendor could make the new smartphone available for purchase in the UK only in early May, although it was expected to launch it before the end of the first quarter of the year.
Online retailer Clove (via Unwired View) says that the first Galaxy S II units are expected to arrive in their warehouse only in May, which does not sound too encouraging.
At the same time, the retailer announced that the device would feature a price tag of £530 (€605) taxes included (this is the 16GB model).
Unfortunately, no specific release date for the mobile phone was offered for the time being, but it seems that other retailers are also confirming a delay in shipments.
In Germany, for example, the Samsung Galaxy S II is expected to arrive on shelves only in late April, featuring a price tag of only €540. Moreover, Amazon Germany lists the handset on its website with a shipping date of May 2nd attached to it.
For the time being, however, nothing was officially confirmed on this, though it might not be too long before Samsung decides to offer specific info on the phone's arrival on shelves.
Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S II smartphone during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, as the successor of last year's popular Galaxy S device.
The new handset comes with a dual-core application processor, a large touchscreen display, 16GB of internal memory and a microSD memory card slot, and support for 3G, WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity options.
The handset also comes with back and front-facing cameras, video recording capabilities, the Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system on board and, of course, access to various services and applications available for the Android platform.
Update: Recent tweets from Samsung state that the Galaxy S II would be launched in April as initially planned, but that it would be rolled-out gradually to various markets (here and here). With no specific time frame unveiled, it could very well mean that the rumors on the late April - early May launch were true.