The Samsung Galaxy is ultra-cool. It’s a sleek, beautifully designed wireless device.
While you might say “Mark, you’re just another gadget geek excited about new, shiny toy”. And while that my be true, a far more significant consideration is how so many non-geeks see the Galaxy as cool. I’m talking about people like my hockey buddies, who enthusiastically show off their new Galaxy phones without any prompting. It is something I haven’t seen with any other non-iPhone device. No one has pulled out their Blackberry Torch to gush about screen, applications or the high-quality videos.
In a smartphone world dominated by the iPhone, the ability to be seen as “cool” is crucial to have any kind of success. The benchmark is so high that devices that aren’t cool have no chance of being widely adopted. Until now, no device has been able to capture the imagination of wireless users. The Galaxy has a huge opportunity to break the rule.
So, what makes the Galaxy so cool?
For one, it’s the design. Slightly longer than an iPhone but a bit slimmer than my iPhone 3GS, the Galaxy S Vibrant I’m evaluating has a nice, comfortable feel. The screen quality is top-notch, which is particularly important to watch videos and movies. In many respects, the Galaxy has the same features and functionality has the iPhone.
While iPhone users may suggest the key competitive difference is the number of applications within iTunes. Truth be told most of the major services are available for Android-powered smartphones such as the Galaxy. In a few minutes, I downloaded two of my go-to mobile apps, Twitter and Facebook. As a GMail user, I like the fact a GMail app came as a standard feature.
Perhaps the biggest appeal of the Galaxy is it seems like a viable alternative to the iPhone for people looking for a cool smartphone. These are consumers who may not want to become part of the Apple Nation, and have no interest in using a Windows-powered smartphone. Before the Galaxy, there wasn’t a compelling option to the iPhone.
Maybe the Galaxy is a cool, shiny toy but from the number of people now using them, it is definitely attracting a lot more attention than any other smartphone.
