While Apple’s new iPhone 4S looks exactly like the old iPhone 4, it comes with arguably significant improvements. One of them is the fact that it can provide faster download speeds (14.4Mbps – double the 7.2Mbps speeds the iPhone 4 is capable of offering).

Last week, when the iPhone 4S was officially unveiled in Cupertino, Apple compared it to some of AT&T’s current smartphones that are marketed as 4G devices: Motorola Atrix 4G, LG Thrill 4G, and HTC Inspire 4G. The infographic presented by Apple (see it below) showed the iPhone 4S as being on par with the other three Android handsets – since they can all handle 14.4Mbps.

What Apple did not say last week was that AT&T’s iPhone 4S would be sold as a 4G handset, too.

The second largest US carrier has already applied a virtual 4G sticker on the iPhone 4S on its official website.

Moreover, according to This is my next / The Verge, AT&T has confirmed that it’s “working with Apple” to enable the iPhone 4S status bar indicator to display “4G” when HSPA+ is in use. Reportedly, “the indicator will require an iOS update to enable.”

Now, I can’t say I blame AT&T for wanting to sell the iPhone 4S as a 4G handset. After all, its iPhone 4S will be the only one in the US to allow downloads speeds of up to 14.4Mbps (since Verizon’s and Sprint’s versions will be stuck with EV-DO rev. A). At least the carrier doesn’t work with Apple for rebranding the new device to call it iPhone 4S 4G.

What I don’t quite understand is why AT&T isn’t marketing other HSPA+ handsets as 4G-capable – take the recently launched Samsung Galaxy S II for example: the 3G radio inside it has to be capable of providing 14.4Mbps download speeds (if not 21Mbps).

Anyway. Pre-orders for the iPhone 4S have started yesterday, and it looks like AT&T has already received more than 200,000 orders. The new iPhone is offered in either black or white, in three versions: 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB. Their prices on contract are $199.99, $299.99, and $399.99, respectively.

After the iPhone 4S is launched (October 14), AT&T will also continue to offer the iPhone 4 (only in an 8GB flavor – for $99 on contract), and the 2-yr old iPhone 3GS (for free on contract).

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Truth be told, AT&T’s HTC HD7S was never an expensive device. In fact, it launched carrying the pretty reasonable price of $99.99 with a two-year contract. And that was direct from the carrier itself, not from a third party retailer having a special offer or anything like that. Speaking of which, we’ve since seen the HD7S go for as low as $49 at Best Buy at one time, but now AT&T has decided it’s got to make the HD7S into a bargain somehow. Too much stock, perhaps?

Anyway, if you’re interested in a Windows Phone device, and AT&T is your carrier, listen up. You can now buy the HD7S from AT&T for just one cent ($0.01) until October 11 (that’s next Tuesday). You’ll still need to sign a new two-year contract of course, but this is practically a free smartphone if you want it.

The HTC HD7S has a 4.3-inch 800×480 touchscreen, a 1 GHz processor, 576 MB of RAM, 16 GB of built-in storage, a 5 MP autofocus camera with dual LED flash and 720p HD video recording, alongside all the connectivity options one should expect from a smartphone in 2011. The HD7S should be updated to Windows Phone 7.5 Mango soon.

If you’re interested in picking one up, head over to AT&T now.
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While Sprint customers are happily pre-ordering their Samsung Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch for $99 at Walmart, AT&T customers have been waiting patiently for their turn at the fun. Good news, AT&T has just posted a “coming soon” page on its website dedicated to the Samsung Galaxy S II.

This page provides a nice picture of the device along with some info on the device. If you are unfamiliar with the GSII specs, it spots a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus display, a dual-core 1.0 GHZ processor, a 8 megapixel camera in the rear with 1080p HD recording, a 2 megapixel camera in the front, and Android 2.3. AT&T also claims that this device is the thinnest smartphone on the market beating the previous record holder, the Samsung Infuse 4G.
Unfortunately, the page doesn’t indicate any info on pricing or availability, but if you are really interested you can sign up for email updates of the device directly from AT&T. We will keep you updated on the status of the AT&T Samsung Galaxy S II.
[UV]