Samsung’s Response To iTunes Is Coming Soon

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Samsung’s Response To iTunes Is Coming Soon

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Samsung is getting ready to combine both state-of-the-art mobile phone design with an entire content strategy in recognition that in order to remain the U.S.‘s largest handset maker you can no longer rely on hardware alone to stand out of the crowd.

To that end, it has created partnerships with book publishers, movie studios and social networking providers. The true content portion of this strategy is called Media Hub, and is not yet available to users, but is expected to launch this fall through over-the-air updates to its lineup of Android-powered devices.

Samsung is expected to unveil the Media Hub service on Sept. 16, reports PCMag.com, which got a glimpse of the hub when it reviewed the Epic 4G. The store will allow users to rent TV shows and movies for $3 a day, or purchase movies for roughly $12 to $20. Users will be able to start watching videos before they’ve been completely downloaded to the phone.

In essence, Media Hub is Samsung’s response to iTunes. The service is being prepared for Samsung’s lineup of Galaxy S phones, which include handsets on AT&T (NYSE: T) (the Captivate) T-Mobile (the Vibrant) and Sprint (NYSE: S) (the Epic 4G), and soon Verizon Wireless (the Fascinate). In March, Samsung first announced its content strategy at CTIA, where Paramount Pictures announced it would will contribute full-length movies to the phone; and that Skiff will contribute an e-reader application. The Social Hub combines streams from Facebook, MySpace (NSDQ: NWS), and Twitter into one view.

PCWorld says the update will be available to current owners of the Galaxy lineup through a download. That’s a good thing because it has already sold one million in the first month and a half.

By Tricia Duryee