Samsung Galaxy Y, Galaxy Y Pro: Designed with the Generation Y in mind

By | August 24, 2011, 11:07am PDT

Summary: Samsung announced two new Generation Y focused smartphones, the touch-screen Galaxy Y and the keyboard-including Galaxy Y Pro, to rival the BlackBerry and iPhone.

Specifically designed and release with the Generation Y in mind — symbolised with the Y lettering in both phones, the Samsung Galaxy Y and Galaxy Y Pro — could these two smartphones be the perfect BlackBerry and iPhone competitor?

 The two phones, aimed specifically at the younger Generation Y, will be powered by Android Gingerbread.

The Galaxy Y (right) is touch-only, to rival that of the iPhone, while the BlackBerry competitor is the Galaxy Y Pro (left), which includes a fully-fledged QWERTY-keyboard.

However, the phones are not as powerful as one might had hoped.

Part of Samsung’s simplified phone naming strategy, there will be five distinct classes of phones.

Ranging from “Y” entry level phones — which stands for “Young” — through to “S” for premium models, each class will have additional markers to indicate specific functionality of that device.

Directly competing with the new range of BlackBerry Curve’s — Research in Motion’s entry-level smartphone — the two are similar in power, in that both of them are frankly underpowered.

Both have a 2-megapixel camera, Bluetooth 3.0 and Wi-Fi 802.11n with faster wireless transfer speeds, but a measly 832Mhz processor.

The Galaxy Y Pro also launches with enterprise features, for graduate students going into the work environment, including Cisco Mobile and WebEx.

Pricing has yet to be announced. Considering the Samsung Galaxy Tab tablet, a lack lustre competitor to Apple’s iPad was priced at the same rate; one can only hope that Samsung does not make the same mistake twice.

To compete with the BlackBerry and the iPhone — the two phones announced today need to cost less, and subsidies by the carrier need to cost the targeted Generation Y user less per month, too.

But whether the brand power of the Galaxy is powerful enough to rival that of competing BlackBerry and iPhone brands — well, I think we all know the answer to that.

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Zack Whittaker, a criminologist who studied at the University of Kent, Canterbury, is a journalist, writer and broadcaster.

Disclosure

Zack Whittaker

I worked briefly with Microsoft UK in 2006 but no longer have any connection with the company. Regardless, I remain impartial and unbiased in my views.

I don't hold any stock or shares, investments or industrial secrets in any company, but have signed confidentiality agreements with a number of UK and U.S. organisations, whose names I am not at liberty to disclose.

I was involved with Kent Union, the University of Kent's student union, undertaking voluntary, non-salaried, elected positions between early 2009 and mid-2010.

No other company, body, government department, non-governmental organisation or third sector organisation employs me or pays me a salary in any capacity whatsoever.

As a freelance journalist, whenever expenses are given and taken by a company that is not CBS Interactive, these will be disclosed in each relevant post to ensure transparency.

I currently work with a UK law enforcement unit, but this is an entirely separate position which bears no connection to other work.

(Updated: 23rd October 2011)

Biography

Zack Whittaker

Zack Whittaker, criminologist who studied at the University of Kent, UK, is a journalist, writer and broadcaster.

After studying criminology at university, though still in his early-20's, he has already had a series unconventional work and voluntary positions. He has worked with researchers studying neurological illnesses like Tourette's syndrome (which he suffers from), has given lectures on the nature of disabilities in the public community, and occasionally ends up speaking on television and radio discussing the events of the day.

He first had academic work published at the age of 22, then still an undergraduate, and has been cited by a wide range of publications: from the Huffington Post, Business Insider, AllThingsDigital, The Atlantic Wire and CBS News.

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RE: Samsung Galaxy Y, Galaxy Y Pro: Designed with the Generation Y in mind
stigg101 24th Aug
@William Farrell a brick with the corners rounded off is a similar shape to the ipad
How was the tab lackluster? It was thinner, lighter, and offers a better user experience, built for a tablet (unlike the iPad, which remains a grid of icons).
@Droid101 Apparently it isn't possible to simply report about a product, you've got to editorialize about a completely different product at the same time.
0 Votes
+ -
Samsung copy machine
mKind 24th Aug
I wish they do something original
0 Votes
+ -
Untill they're banded in the EU
William Farrell 24th Aug
They are shaped similar to Apple's iPad
@William Farrell a brick with the corners rounded off is a similar shape to the ipad
The google tool bar on these phones looks so awkward and it seems its been forced by some one to shove it on the start screen.
I think you will find the camera is 8 MPs, not 2. It is the front facing camera that rates at 2. Certainly that is what the same ph, called the Galaxy S 11, in the rest of the world has. Also has dual processor so do not know where you get the idea it might be slow.

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