Almost a month to the day after it was officially announced, the Samsung Captivate is available for purchase.  This phone is the first high-end Android device to be sold by the carrier. 

The Captivate is a Galaxy S variant, similar to the recently-released T-Mobile Vibrant.  Features include Android OS 2.1, a 1GHz Samsung Hummingbird SoC CPU, 16GB of built-in flash storage, a 4-inch AMOLED touchscreen, and a 5MP camera with 720p HD video recording.

The direct AT&T price is $199 with a two-year service agreement.  Wirefly has it today for $149.

Learn more about the AT&T Samsung Captivate…

Just in case you needed reminding, the Motorola Droid X and T-Mobile Samsung Vibrant are here – today.  The two Android-powered smartphones have been anticipated for months; one, a keyboard-free update to a popular Motorola handset, the other the first of many Galaxy S Samsung smartphones coming to United States wireless carriers.

The retail price for the Droid X with a two-year Verizon Wireless contract is $199; WireFly has it for $179.  The Samsung Vibrant is also $199 at T-Mobile after a $50 mail-in rebate; Amazon has it for $149 shipped.

Android fans – today’s a good day.

Already have one of these new phones?  Let us know how you like it in the comments section.

The first word from AT&T concerning the Samsung Captivate suggested we’d have to wait a few months to get our hands on it. Well, it looks like “the coming months” has been updated to July – July 18th to be exact.  That’s the day that AT&T Mobility will release the Captivate, the carrier’s first top-tier Android phone.

The Samsung Galaxy S variant will sell for $200 with a two-year service agreement, and will require a data plan (DataPlus costs $15 per month for 200MB of data useage); the price is at checkout, no rebate required.

Of course, third party retailers will almost certainly begin offering the Captivate for less shortly after the handset is released, so if you’re looking to spend less on the new AT&T Android phone, we’ll post other retailers’ prices once they’re available.

Learn more about the AT&T Samsung SGH-i897 Captivate…