Samsung Galaxy Note 7 U.S. pricing revealed, and it's not cheap

Samsung's impressive new Galaxy Note 7 doesn't launch until Aug. 19, but pre-orders begin today.

In the U.S., the Note 7 will be available on Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint and U.S. Cellular in three colors: Blue Coral, Black Onyx and Silver Titanium. Here's how much it'll cost on each carrier.

On Verizon, the Note 7 will be available on a monthly installment plan of $36 per month for 24 months or $864 upfront.

AT&T is selling the Note 7 for $29.34 per month for 30 months or $879.99 upfront.

T-Mobile's selling the phone for $32.50 per month for 24 month ($69.99 down) or $849.99in full.

Sprint is offering the Note 7 for $35.42 paid over 24 months, $349.99 (after mail-in rebate) with a 2-year contract, or $849.99 in full.

U.S. Cellular hasn't announced pricing for the Note 7.

IMAGE: RAYMOND WONG/MASHABLE

The phones are identical on all of the carriers. Looking at the numbers, AT&T is the most expensive option followed by Verizon. T-Mobile and Sprint offer the best deal on the Note 7.

Shoppers who pre-order the Note 7 also get a free gift of their choice: a Gear Fit 2 or 256GB microSD card.

T-Mobile is also throwing in a full year of Netflix, which makes it the most attractive deal.

Mashable got to spend some time with the Note 7 and was impressed by all it has to offer.

Notable specs include:

• 5.7-inch Quad HD Super AMOLED display with dual-curved edges
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor
• Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow
• 4GB of RAM
• 64GB of storage (expandable to 256GB via microSD)
• IP68 dust and water resistance (including the S Pen)
• 3,500 mAh battery
• 12-megapixel f/1.7 back camera
• 5-megapixel f/1.7 front camera
• Fast wired and fast wireless charging
• USB Type-C
• 3.5mm headphone jack
• Fingerprint scanner
• NEW iris scanner
• Works with new Gear VR

Hitachi to invest $2.8B in IoT; launches new unit and platform

Hitachi is doubling down on its already sizeable Internet of Things (IoT) interests with a $2.8 billion investment in IoT-related activities over the next three years. As well, the Japanese industrial giant unveiled a new U.S.-based unit that will focus on boosting its booming IoT business and launched a new IoT core platform.

According to a Bloomberg report, Hitachi is earmarking $2.8 billion in spending on IoT research and development, capital spending and acquisitions. Its new IoT-focused unit, the Hitachi Insight Group, will get around $918 million of the total IoT investment. This new unit employs about 6,000 people; the remainder of the IoT budget will be spent across other IoT initiatives at Hitachi, involving another 10,000 employees.

The new IoT unit, announced on May 10 at the IoT World conference, will focus on expanding Hitachi’s current roster of 33 IoT solutions that generated a hefty $5.4 billion in 2015 revenue. The new subsidiary, headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., will springboard off Hitachi’s existing IoT collaborations with AT&T, Microsoft, Intel and SAP.

Hitachi Insight Group’s first order of business was to unveil its new enterprise-grade IoT core platform Lumada at the Internet of Things World Conference and Exposition.

“Through the formation of Hitachi Insight Group and the Lumada IoT core platform we will provide Hitachi’s customers and partners with the fastest and simplest path to develop and deploy comprehensive digital solutions at scale,” said Hitachi senior vice president Keiji Kojima.

The new unit will unite its IoT and digital branches under one aegis that will target increased market share in the global IoT industry, which IDC projects will grow to $1.46 trillion by 2020. Hitachi Insight Group will develop R&D and go-to-market strategies in four of Hitachi’s key IoT segments: Smart Industry, Smart Energy, Smart City and Smart Healthcare.

Hitachi also launches Lumada platform

Meanwhile, Hitachi said the Lumada platform will form the core foundation that all of Hitachi’s future IoT products and services will be based upon. The company says that Lumada’s open and adaptable architecture will enable simulation models, data orchestration, content intelligence, streaming analytics and other Hitachi software technologies.

“Lumada was specifically designed to address the challenges associated with IoT solution creation leveraging Hitachi’s rich OT (operational technology) and IT (informational technology) expertise and technologies,” Hitachi said in a release. “Lumada accelerates synthesizing of actionable insights, delivering faster time to value and supporting better decisions that lead to real world outcomes, like increased productivity and safety, streamlined processes, reduced operational costs and carbon footprint, or improved quality of life. “

Hitachi’s existing portfolio includes a broad array of IoT concerns including: renewable and sustainable energy; intelligent transportation; precision agriculture and manufacturing; solutions and services for public safety and smart cities; construction and mining; and urban development and water treatment.

“IoT represents a critical inflection point, in which the interests of business, industry and society are now intersecting and aligning like never before,” said Kevin Eggleston, Hitachi Insight Group’s general manager for the Americas.

IoT revenues up 15%; cloud computing a big driver

A new report shows healthy revenues for 21 benchmarked Internet of Things (IoT) companies in the last quarter of 2015, with revenue growing by almost 15% to levels approaching $7 billion. Cloud computing and IT infrastructure are especially potent drivers of IoT revenues, as vendors help companies cope with ever increasing rivers of data.

In a press release Technology Business Research (TBR) reported that commercial IoT opportunities drove year-over-year growth in the fourth quarter by 14.8% among the 21 companies it tracks in its regular Commercial IoT Benchmark report. Total revenues for the quarter were $6.7 billion among benchmarked vendors that include Verizon, Microsoft, Intel, Google, Amazon, Siemens, Cisco, Ericsson and Oracle.

See also: Hackers drive huge growth in IoT security market

“Effectively, every type of IT and operational technology (OT) vendor will have a stake in the growing commercial IoT market, as IoT solutions will drive increased use of diverse IT and OT products and services,” said Dan Callahan, a TBR analyst specializing in devices and IoT.

TBR says revenue growth is being driven by a rise in go-to-market refreshes by top vendors who are striving to become known as early leaders in the commercial IoT space.

“In addition to building interest in established IT products, commercial IoT will create growth in specialized business consulting, hardware, network, development, management and security components,” said Callahan. “IT and OT vendors that are quick to capture IoT opportunities within their current customer base, and attract new ones through developer programs and investing in growing mindshare, will enjoy additional, immediate, revenue opportunities.”

Revenues driven by explosive growth in data management needs

TBR’s report showed vendors are looking to become early IoT leaders in order to drive profits in this emerging industry. Vendors who take an early IoT leadership position are benefiting because there is less competition, customers have limited outsourcing options due to early IoT’s security challenges, and clients require custom solutions due to the lack of technology standards.

Cloud computing services posted the highest year-over-year revenue growth rate of 79% to record $604 million in the quarter. This growth is being propelled by the vastly increasing need being created for platforms to process and store data.

TSR also noted strong growth in IT services and ICT infrastructure, which charted a 51.4% growth rate in revenue for the quarter. This subsector is benefiting from the increasing capacity requirements created by the huge streams of IoT data that is being generated, as more companies struggle to tame the growing flood of information into actionable insights.