[Exclusive Rumor] Verizon's Samsung Prime May Not Arrive Until Q1 2012

[dgstorm]

Unfortunately, sometimes we have to report the not-so exciting rumors along with the good ones. A good source within the industry has indicated that a lot of the rumors floating around about an impending launch of the Samsung Prime this month, are way off base. According to our source, the Verizon Samsung Prime will not be available this year, and that its release is "definitely" set for the first quarter of 2012. This is one time when we would prefer if our source was wrong.

It does seem unusual, especially considering that Samsung has a big announcement coming soon. Would they really try and build the hype for the phone all the way into next year? And, if so, what could Samsung's big announcement be?

This also seems to fly in the face of several reports that Ice Cream Sandwich would be coming soon, and that the Prime would be the first ICS device. Of course, it is possible, though unlikely, that other versions of the Prime will come out before the Verizon version.

Another theory, that has been suggested before, is that the Samsung Nexus and the Samsung Prime really are two different devices.

-Google debuted Android 2.0 on the Nexus One in January 2010
-Google released the Nexus S with Android 3.2 in December of 2010
-Seems that a Q1 2012 release of a hot new device with a cold new OS would fall right in line?

We will keep our ears open.