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Samsung launches Nvidia Tegra 2-powered Galaxy R in Taiwan, coming elsewhere soon

As noted last month, Samsung at IFA 2011 said it would expand the Galaxy S family with new “R”, “W”, “M” and “Y” branded smartphones. Today, they made good on that promise by unveiling the Galaxy R (“R” as in Royal) smartphone in Taiwan. It actually first debuted in Sweden back in August as the Galaxy Z, but it took the company a little more than a month to re-brand it under the Galaxy R moniker. The 4.19-inch handset with Super Clear LCD has virtually the same innards as its Galaxy S counterpart, sans Nvidia’s dual-core Tegra 2 chip.

It’s actually Samsung’s first Tegra-powered Android smartphone. Other features include Android 2.3 Gingerbread. The Tegra 2 chip’s GeForce GPU lends itself great to high-end games, 1080p video output and Adobe Flash. Tegra-optimized games are available through the Tegra Zone app on Android Market. It will be interesting seeing whether the Galaxy R can beat Galaxy S’s Exynos 4210 chip said to clock the fastest GPU on any smartphone today.

For now, the Galaxy R is available in Sweden and Taiwan for a suggested retail price of NT$15,900, or about $546. Samsung said the phone would come to other regions “soon”, including North & Eastern Europe, South East & West Asia, Middle East Asia and China. Nvidia’s video tour of the Galaxy R is right after the break.


[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sxBvpEwgGc&]

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