级智能手机大战还在持续升温，而眼下，主战役似乎是在苹果公司(Apple)的iPhone和运行谷歌公司(Google) Android手机操作系统的众多竞争对手之间展开的。
虽 然经济不景气，但消费者对这类售价一般在200美元左右的掌上电脑的热情似乎并没有减退。苹果公司在2010年7月中下旬表示，新款iPhone 4的产量无法满足强劲的需求。台湾手机厂商HTC是许多知名Android手机的代工厂，这家企业也在加班加点地生产，以满足市场需求，如为美国无线运营 商Verizon公司定制的Droid Incredible手机，以及为Sprint公司定制的Evo 4G手机等。
现在，韩国电子消 费品巨头三星公司(Samsung)也开始推出一组令人印象深刻的Android手机，与iPhone展开正面对抗。这一新系列的智能手机名为 Galaxy S Series，三星已成功地让美国四大无线运营商全部同意在今年夏天开始销售该产品。这些手机的内部构造都差不多，但型号不同，外观设计也不一样。
我 已经测试了先期推出的两款Galaxy S手机，即为无线运营商T-Mobile公司定制的Vibrant和为AT&T公司定制的Captivate，售价均为200美元的两年合约捆绑 价格。这两款并不具备苹果最新款手机的全部功能，如用于可视电话的前置摄像头或超高清屏幕等，但都有实力与iPhone 4一较高下。此外，它们也有iPhone没有的一些特点，如更大的屏幕，与社交网络更高的整合度等。
T- Mobile的Vibrant手机较为圆润，外缘线条微微突起，看上去很像去年推出的iPhone 3GS。AT&T的Captivate手机则棱角更为分明，在我看来更时尚一些。虽然两款手机的电池一模一样，但Vibrant宣传的电池续航时 间更长一些。Vibrant的尺寸比Captivate略长，但重量轻一点。
两款手机都是多点触控屏幕，没有物理键盘，但即将推出的为Sprint公司定制的Epic手机将有一个侧滑式的全键盘和一个前置摄像头。
对 Android手机制造商来说，一个关键的挑战在于把自己开发的手机与其他竞争对手的Android手机区分开来。三星的选择是把手机设计得跟 iPhone 4一样薄，而屏幕更大，有4英寸，要比iPhone手机3.5英寸的屏幕大不少，但还比不上Evo手机和摩托罗拉公司(Motorola)Droid X手机4.3英寸的超大屏，后面这两款的屏幕虽大，但手机的尺寸也得跟着变大。
在我的测试中，这两款的通话效果都很清 晰，AT&T那款的效果跟iPhone 4差不多，后者是归AT&T 专属运营的。Captivate手机的500万像素摄像头可以拍出靓丽的图片，还能录制高解析度的视频，电池续航时间不错，但并不特别突出。两款手机在使 用各种功能的时候，电池一般能坚持一天左右。
Galaxy S系列的屏幕使用一种与大多数智能手机都不一样的技术，名为“超炫屏”(Super AMOLED)。三星公司称，这种屏幕具有色彩还原好、对比度高、户外可视性强和亮度高的特点。在我看来，Galaxy S系列的屏幕确实很好，但跟iPhone 4的屏幕相比，无论在户内还是户外都不具有更大的优势，而且在解析度上还要稍微弱一点。
三星还 给Android操作系统增添了一些自己特有的东西。用户可以添加三星公司的“小模块”，比如Buddies Now模块，用于快速找到最好亲友的联系方式；还有一个叫做Social Hub的模块，可以显示手机联络人在社交网络上的更新情况，并将一些媒体应用整合进来。这些都是Android手机和Palm手机的常见功能，但 iPhone手机并不具备。
虽然Android手机软件的改进速度很快，但还是不如iPhone的软件运行流畅。我测试过一些 Android手机，有时候软件运行速度会变慢，有时候会出现一些愚蠢的品质问题。不过，这些问题在Galaxy S系列的三星手机上都没有遇到，我测试的每个功能都运行得很流畅。
Galaxy S系列的另一个亮点是内部存储容量很大，达到16G，还可以用存储卡，机器自带2G的存储卡，用户也可以花钱换一张容量更大的。
三星公司还表示，新系列的智能手机可以安装最多2G的第三方应用程序，这在我所见过的Android手机中名列前茅，而iPhone对可以安装的应用软件总数是有限制的。
与 其它Android手机不同，三星的这两款手机共有约65,000个第三方应用程序可供下载，包括热门的Kindle电子书浏览器和Facebook等。 虽然这个数目要比iPhone的225,000个软件数量要少，但比黑莓手机(BlackBerry)的区区7,000个好多了。
当 然，Galaxy S系列也有一些不足之处。和其它Android手机不同，这个系列的手机没有预装便于在个人电脑和苹果电脑(Mac)上同步资料库的类似于iTunes的 软件。你可以把手机连接到电脑上手工传输文档，但只有Window电脑上才能顺畅运行，而在苹果电脑上，必须打开一个叫做“USB程序调整”(USB debugging)的程序才能工作。
此外，我对这两款手机上“首页”(home)和“搜索”(search)等按键的设计也不太喜欢，这些按键放在屏幕下方的一个控制面板上，但不太容易发现，只有触摸这个控制面板让这些按键亮起来以后才能看到。也就是说，你必须按两次才能使用它们。
不 过，对那些青睐Android手机的消费者或那些不愿意使用AT&T网络的用户来说（Vibrant使用T-Mobile的网络，即将推出的 Droid Incredible和Evo 4G分别使用Verizon和Sprint的网络），Galaxy S系列手机是替代iPhone的不错选择。
The war of the super-smartphones continues to heat up, and, at the moment, most of the combat seems to be between Apple's iPhone and the multiplying array of competitors running Google's Android operating system.
Despite the weak economy, consumers seem to crave these hand-held computers, which typically cost around $200. Apple this week said it can't make enough of its new iPhone 4 models to meet strong demand. HTC, the Taiwanese-based manufacturer behind many of the better-known Android phones, also is struggling to meet demand for models like the Droid Incredible on Verizon and the Evo 4G on Sprint.
Now, the Korean electronics giant, Samsung, has begun rolling out an impressive new line of iPhone competitors that run on Android. These new super-smartphones are called the Galaxy S Series, and Samsung has managed to get all four top U.S. wireless carriers to agree to start selling them this summer. They share most of the same guts, but carry different model names and exterior designs.
I've been testing the first two Galaxy S phones, the T-Mobile Vibrant and the AT&T Captivate, both of which cost $200 with a two-year contract. Neither has all the features of Apple's latest model, like a front-facing camera for video calls or an ultra-high resolution screen, but they are worthy competitors. They have some attributes the iPhone lacks, like bigger screens and better integration of social networking.
The T-Mobile Vibrant has rounded corners and a prominent border that make it look very much like last year's iPhone 3GS model. The AT&T Captivate is more angular and, to my taste, looks sleeker. Though the two phones share the same battery, the Vibrant claims better battery life. The Vibrant is longer but a bit lighter.
Both phones are multi-touch models which lack physical keyboards, though the upcoming Sprint version, the Epic, will have a slide-out physical keyboard and a front-facing camera.
For Android phone makers, a key challenge is to differentiate their models from others offering the same operating system. Samsung has chosen to do so by combining a design that's almost as thin as the iPhone 4 with a generous, four-inch screen. That's significantly bigger than the iPhone's 3.5-inch display, but smaller than the huge 4.3-inch screen on the Evo and the new Motorola Droid X, which would force the phones to be larger.
In my tests, phone calls on both models were crisp and clear. Reception on the AT&T model was about the same as on the iPhone 4, which only works on AT&T. The five-megapixel camera took sharp pictures. The camera also did a fine job with video, which is high definition. Battery life was good, though not exceptional. The phones lasted through an average day of varied use.
The screen on the Galaxy S is based on a different technology than those on most other smartphones. It's called Super AMOLED, and Samsung claims it has better color reproduction, contrast, outdoor visibility and brightness. To my eye, the Galaxy S screens did look very good, but seemed no better, indoors or outdoors, than the iPhone 4's screen and were slightly less sharp.
Samsung has also added some of its own touches to Android. Users can add Samsung 'widgets,' such as a Buddies Now module that quickly allows access to your closest contacts. There's also something called the Social Hub, which integrates social-networking updates and media with contact entries. This is a common feature on Android and Palm phones, but isn't present on the iPhone.
While it's improving rapidly, Android still isn't quite as smooth as the iPhone's software, and on some Android models I've tested, it can slow down or have a jerky quality. Not so on these Samsung models. Performance in every function I tested was snappy.
Another nice touch on the Samsung models is a generous amount of internal memory -- 16 gigabytes -- in addition to the common removable memory card, which in this case holds two gigabytes but can be replaced at extra cost with a roomier card.
Also, Samsung says the new phones can hold up to two gigabytes of third-party apps, the most I've seen on an Android phone, which, unlike the iPhone, places limits on total app storage.
Like other Android phones, the two Samsung models offer around 65,000 third-party apps, including popular titles like the Kindle e-book reader and Facebook. That's far fewer than the iPhone's 225,000 available apps, but well above the measly 7,000 or so apps available for the BlackBerry.
There are some drawbacks. Like other Android phones, the Galaxy S models don't come with a program like iTunes, which allows easy synchronization with content on a PC or Mac. You can plug the phones into a computer for manual transfer of files, but this only works smoothly on Windows PCs. On Macs, you must turn on something called 'USB debugging' to make this work.
I also wasn't crazy about the home, search and other buttons on these phones, which are found on a panel below the screen but not easily visible until you touch the panel and light the buttons up. That, in effect, means you have to touch twice to use them.
Still, for consumers who prefer Android, or who -- in the case of the Vibrant and the coming Sprint and Verizon versions -- would rather not be on AT&T, the Galaxy S phones present an appealing alternative to the iPhone.