The Galaxy Camera, Samsung’s attempt at merging the Android OS with a high-end digital camera, was announced for AT&T back in early October. Since then, the device has launched in the UK, but there was still no word of a US release until today.
Samsung and AT&T announced today that the Galaxy Camera will launch in the US on November 16. Based on the UK’s pricing, I assumed that the Galaxy Camera would cost $399 at launch. I was a little off as the official price will be $499. As it turns out, however, the camera will only cost $399 if you take advantage of a special offer that AT&T is running this holiday season.
“By connecting the Samsung Galaxy Camera through the AT&T wireless network, users can instantly share photos, giving family and friends a glimpse into their favorite holiday moments,” said Chris Penrose, senior vice president, AT&T Emerging Devices. “Customers will receive $100 off the purchase of the new Samsung Galaxy Camera when they purchase any Samsung Galaxy smartphone, making the Samsung Galaxy Camera the perfect gift this holiday season.”
Like all other mobile devices, the pressing question is how much the data plan costs. Using AT&T’s new Mobile Share plan, consumers can pay $10 to share between 1GB and 20GB across all of their devices. For just the Galaxy Camera alone, it will be $15 for 250MB, $30 for 3GB, and $50 for 5GB. You could also save yourself money and trouble by just sticking with the built-in Wi-Fi instead of using mobile data.
In the US, AT&T is offering Galaxy Camera customers 5GB of free storage with its AT&T Locker service. It’s not much, but it’s something. The camera itself features 8GB of internal storage that can be expanded by up to 32GB via microSD.
Nowhere in the press release does it mention the Galaxy Camera being an exclusive to AT&T. The camera should be available through your carrier of choice in the future. We’ll let you know if, and when, it makes the jump to other carriers.