Samsung S7070 is a full touchscreen phone with a 3 inch WQVGA resistive display, TouchWiz UI, 5MP autofocus camera, Bluetooth, microUSB, FM radio and MicroSD card support.

The S7070 should be launched sometime in the first quarter of 2010, for a price that’s not known at the moment.

The second new Diva phone, Samsung S5150 Olivia is a clamshell with a mirror-like case and a fancy external display.

The S5150 also features a 2.2 inch QVGA internal display and a 3MP camera. Like the S7070, Samsung S5150 Olivia should be available starting early 2010.

Via GSM Arena

• Samsung S5510 – a Nokia 6600 Fold wannabe?
• Samsung Ultra S Elegant Edition launched in Hong Kong
• Samsung Moment and Sanyo SCP-3810 now available at Sprint
• Samsung Xplorer B2100 officially announced
• Verizon’s rugged Motorola Barrage V860 shows up

The role of the Korean LiMo Ecosystem Association, which is supported by the Korean Government, is to “fully catalyze and empower innovation upon the LiMo Platform within the Korean mobile industry.”

As part of the new Korean initiative, LiMo foundation and SK Telecom will soon launch the Samsung SCH-M510 – Korea’s first LiMo phone.

Samsung SCH-M510 (not to be mistaken for the old Samsung SPH-M510) features a 3.5 inch WVGA AMOLED touchscreen display, accelerometer, Wi-Fi, support for various audio and video media types, Bluetooth and a 5MP camera with autofocus.

Unfortunately, there’s no image of the SCH-M510 available yet, but the specs suggest that the phone may be the Korean version of Vodafone’s Samsung H1.

Via Press release and Press release

• SK Telecom joins other tech companies to speed up Linux platform development for mobile phones
• Samsung Jet goes to Korea as W850 / W8500 / W8550
• LiMo-based Samsung Riedel i8305 coming to Vodafone?
• Vodafone announces 360 services, Samsung H1 and M1 LiMo phones
• Samsung Giorgio Armani W820 / W8200 shows up in Korea

This particular time, Microsoft is announcing that Windows Mobile 7 will make its grand official appearance at the MIX 2010 conference in March 2010. This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to the most eager of WM7 fans, as the new OS was rumored to be announced in Q1, with a Q3 launch.

Complete with the confirmation of the announcement, Microsoft also gave us a sneak peek at a screenshot of Office 2010 for WinMo.

Turns out it was Microsoft Office Vice President Kurt Delbene that let the cat out of the bag. It was a little odd that the VP in charge of Office is speaking in behalf of WinMo, but we just assume they’re a pretty tight-knit bunch.

via Neowin via WMPowerUser

• Nokia, Microsoft sign deal to bring Office Mobile to Symbian smartphones
• Microsoft to limit number of Windows Mobile devices on the way to announcing something major at MWC 2009
• Quickoffice launches MobileFiles Pro, the first editable office app for iPhone
• Vodafone announces Microsoft Online Services with voice and data
• Nokia, Microsoft to announce alliance tomorrow, possibly related to MS Office

Samsung is just getting around to launching the Behold 2 on T-Mobile today, but it’s as if the device is already starting from behind. So how does it fare against some other Android strongholds now on the market?

Unwired View was honored to have an opportunity to try the Behold II before it was released, and there’s been plenty of good and bad to go with that. And we have pics and juicy details to share with you.

Android

Now that we’ve experienced the joys of version 2.0 in the Motorola Droid, it’s hard to go back to earlier versions. This doesn’t make it a terrible phone, but it has nowhere to go but up from this point on.

We won’t discuss the ins and outs of Android much in the review, but Samsung decided to add its proprietary TouchWiz UI to the Android OS, which could be a good or bad thing depending on your views of the UI itself. I found that the TouchWiz has been changed a bit, with a much larger widget box, in order to fit the needs of Android’s interface. The dial pad was also changed, as well as the SMS app, photo albums, and others. My opinion of TouchWiz on Android? Sluggish. It just seems to eat up processor capacity for breakfast. I have found faster performance on stock Android devices with roughly the same processor speeds.

In fact, my first impression of the TouchWiz was mistaking it for the stock Android app drawer. The difference was that this one was on the side instead of the bottom, and the performance was not all that great. It’s as if Samsung had been trying to add too much to a good thing.

Samsung has also added in its new 3D Cube feature to the interface, and even has its own dedicated button on the front. The idea of the cube is that each side is its own shortcut: YouTube, the Amazon MP3 store, music player, video player, web browser or picture gallery. It’s a clever little 3D graphic that you can spin around to find what you want to use. You can also shake the phone and the cube will spin until a random application is picked. While it’s an interesting premise, I don’t see much point to it since the home page has plenty of space to fit shortcuts.

Design

Samsung elected to throw in a 3.2″ AMOLED screen, which was definitely a good idea. At a 320 x 480 pixel resolution and complete with 16.7 million colors, the screen is gorgeous; it’s much brighter, crisper and easier to see as a result.

The Behold II itself is very well designed. It feels good in my hand and doesn’t feel bulky or awkward at all. The lack of physical keyboard helps keep the phone as thin as possible.

The buttons are the huge weakness in the whole design. There are a lot more on the front than I think is necessary. In addition to the usual call/end buttons, Samsung adds in a Menu (options) key, previous/go back, home and the Cube. Also present is the circular D-pad. My feeling is that there should be less buttons on the front and more screen to take up the critical real estate. But beyond that, I was very impressed by the look and feel of the device itself.

On the left side we find the volume keys and spot to put a lanyard.

Up top there’s a 3.5 mm headphone jack (which I was able to plug my stock iPhone headset into) and a MicroUSB charger port.

Over to the right there’s a lock key and camera button.

The plastic back features the camera lens and flash, next to a stylish (depending on your idea of style, I suppose) map of the world.

Underneath the hood there’s the battery, SIM card, and MicroSD card slot. The phone comes with a 2 GB card already installed, and fortunately you don’t have to take the battery out in order to access that memory card.

The Behold II weighs 4.2 oz, which in comparison is 0.5 oz lighter than the iPhone 3GS.

Features of the Samsung Behold II

Camera

One of the strengths of the Behold II is its camera app. It sure doesn’t hurt to throw in the 5 MP camera that the original Behold had, either. The camera app is the same as most other Samsung devices, with the left and right sidebars showing options like flash, timer, shooting mode, and other effects. When Samsung discovered the strength of the camera apps, the company decided to stick with what worked. Smart move.

Here are some pictures taken with the Behold II camera. I decided to take a couple pics of my house since there are plenty of different colors around to accentuate.

Voice Dial/Search

Both voice dial and Google voice search options are included in the phone, which are both very nice to have, and worked out beautifully. For instance, I did a voice search for “T-Mobile Behold 2″ and without any problem or delay it took me straight to the browser already pointed at google.com with the proper search results.

Memory

The Behold II comes with 153 MB of internal memory, so definitely make use of a MicroSD card. It supports as much as 16 GB.

Streaming

Both audio and video streaming are supported. I had no trouble using apps like YouTube and Pandora, and there didn’t seem to be any latency.

Google syncing

This was absolutely the simplest thing I did on the Behold II, though it’s more of an Android feature than the phone specifically; all I had to do was put in my Google login information and all of a sudden I had my Google Contacts, Gmail and Calendar all synced up on the phone. On top of that, any Google app I downloaded from the Market (including Voice) already assumed I wanted to use the same Google account, which made it that much easier.

Messaging

The Behold II supports threaded messaging, which is definitely crucial when doing a lot of texting.

Connectivity

There is support for WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS. Much like the iPhone, GPS is usable in the Google Maps application as well as various Android apps that can be downloaded. For Bluetooth, A2DP and AVRC are present to offer the best possible experience with stereo bluetooth headsets. WiFi was much more bearable than T-Mobile’s 3G network, which will be discussed later.

Apps

Google’s Market for Android phones is very well built up; while it may not have 100,000 apps like iPhone’s App Store does, it still has a very healthy selection of pretty much anything you would ever need or want your smartphone to do. Downloading apps via WiFi was incredibly fast, and I never had to wait longer than 30 seconds for an app to fully download to the phone.

Quick List

On the phone’s home page, one can find shortcuts to the dial pad, contact list, web browser and “Quick List”. Quick List is essentially a menu with the look and feel of a non-smartphone, and offers a few lesser-used shortcuts that could come in handy.

Web browsing

The Behold II uses HSDPA but maxes out at 3.6 Mbps. The only concern I have here is that if T-Mobile follows through on its promise of upgrading the HSPA network to 21 Mbps next year, the Behold II will be left in the dust.

Browsing the web was okay with the stock browser, though there are plenty of other available third-party browsers that can be downloaded through Market.

Social Networking

While it doesn’t come with Facebook or Twitter clients pre-loaded, it does have Google Talk and IM clients already installed. It’s easy enough to download apps from the Market, but I was hoping to see a couple options like the Motorola CLIQ did.

One cool feature thrown into the Behold II was the ability to upload photos directly to an online cloud of your choice. Flickr is the most popular, but a few other services are compatible as well.

Performance of the Samsung Behold II

Let’s get to the meat and potatoes of the review.

Phone performance

Fortunately it’s a world phone, which should always be expected for a device at this price point. Beyond that, I was able to make clear calls without any hassle. I didn’t have any issues of static audio quality or fuzziness.

The Behold II has Visual Voicemail, and after a few attempts I was able to get mine to work. Sadly I was unsure whether it was user error or something going on with the phone. Once set up, the voicemail feature is a breeze and very convenient to have access to it.

T-Mobile 3G/WiFi

The Behold II includes compatibility with T-Mobile’s 3G 1700 frequency but also throws in 2100.

While I had a great experience using the WiFi at my house, I was incredibly disappointed by the performance of the T-Mobile 3G network in my local vicinity. Running a couple speed tests revealed that the upload was faster than download, with the 3G downloading 300 kbps and uploading 650 kbps; it was barely faster than EDGE.

Battery Life

With a 1500 mAh lithium ion battery, the Behold II is rated for 6 hours talk time and 100 hours standby. On a typical day, I used the phone moderately and the battery was down to one bar of service by 6 or 7 PM; in other words, it’s getting about the same battery life as my iPhone, so it’s nothing spectacular. Not great, but not terrible either.

Processor

Packing a 528 MHz ARM 11 processor, it has an average performance amidst all the other Android devices that are also out.

Touchscreen

I haven’t discussed the touchscreen at all yet, so this is a good opportunity to bring it up since it has a great deal to do with overall performance and first impressions. As most phones with touchscreens get compared to the iPhone, it’s natural to do so with the Behold II. The menus and capacitive screen are just about as intuitive and easy to use as the iPhone, though I did find times that I had to press more firmly on the screen in order to scroll effectively. That didn’t occur all the time though, just every once in a while.

The touch keyboard also was difficult to get used to. Using the keyboard in landscape is almost a must, as using it in portrait resulted in pressing the wrong key 8 times out of 10. This will likely be something I could get used to after time, but first impressions were not very good on the portrait on-screen keyboard. Fortunately the transition from portrait to landscape and vice versa were smooth enough, as it only took a second or two for the transition to take place.

Multimedia/Email

In short, the audio quality when playing music or YouTube videos was rather nice; at least, nice enough not to notice any little nuances that were lacking. The UI itself on the media player was okay, but not really inspired.

Setting up email seemed to be easy, especially when having multiple accounts. Once I finished setting up the first email, all I had to do was hit the menu key and choose to add a new account. I was able to put two email accounts on there just fine and was able to differentiate the two. Any business user will easily be able to set up Exchange, which rounds out every possible option for email on Android. The only thing that was a bit annoying to me was that since I had synced up my Google information to the Behold II, my Gmail was separated from the default email client. If there was a way to combine them, it is beyond me.

Overall Impressions of the Samsung Behold II

In a sea of brand-new Android handsets, it’s critical to find a way to stand out of the crowd. It’s difficult to come out with a standard stock Android device and expect to turn heads, so it’s natural for Samsung to have vested interest in using TouchWiz to see how it works out. Sadly, that was probably not a good choice, considering it was more sluggish and a processor-hog.

Strengths included the camera, beautiful OLED screen, and the overall weight and feel of the device.

Weaknesses were the Touchwiz UI, gratuitous use of buttons on the front, small and cramped portrait keyboard, and average (but still slow) processor.

The Behold II will be on sale at T-Mobile for $229 starting today. Overall it was a decent enough device that anyone would be relatively happy with, but my concern is that it didn’t have enough of a WOW factor to turn those heads that may be turned in the direction of the Droid. Frankly, for the same or even lower cost, the Droid seems to have nicer specs. If you are a happy T-Mobile customer that doesn’t want to switch, the Behold II is one of the better Android devices T-Mobile has carried thus far.

What do you think so far? Have you seen one at a local store? Let us know if you’re planning on getting one.

Check out the gallery below for all the other pics of the Behold II.

• Samsung Behold II Announced for T-Mobile, Android is Confirmed
• Review of Samsung Highlight for T-Mobile
• T-Mobile Release Date Rumors: Tap, Behold II
• Google launches Finance for Android
• Archos Android Tablet confirmed for September?

The features of Galaxy Spica include a 3.2 inch HVGA touchscreen display, HSDPA connectivity, Wi-Fi, GPS, Google mobile services, an 800 MHz processor, DNSe 2.0, 3.5mm headset jack, a 3.2MP camera, MicroSD card support and a 1500 mAh battery. Moreover, Samsung i5700 is the first Android smartphone to support DivX.

Samsung didn’t say how much the Galaxy Spica i5700 costs, but we previously heard that its price is of around €320 ($479).

Another new Samsung product announced today is the Samsung Go, a netbook that will be available via AT&T starting November 22 – at about the same time with the Nokia Booklet 3G.

The Samsung Go features Microsoft Windows 7 Starter Edition, 3G, a scratch-resistant display, Intel Atom processor and a battery that can last up to 4 hours. No word yet on the price of AT&T’s new netbook.

Via Press release and Press release

• Samsung Galaxy Spica officially announced in Russia
• Samsung Galaxy i5700 in press photos, has Android written all over it
• Samsung i5700 Spica (Galaxy Lite) in new video preview
• Samsung i5700 Galaxy Lite in live photos, video
• Samsung Saturn i6500 to be a new Android smartphone

Announced as Samsung SCH-W900 / SPH-W9000 / SPH-W9050, the Korean Corby features a 3 inch WQVGA display – as opposed to the 2.8 inch QVGA screen of the European version.

Furthermore, the improved Corby has 3G connectivity, Haptic UI, DMB TV and more than 100MB of internal memory (the European version has 50MB).

(image from Aving)

The Samsung Corby SCH-W900 / SPH-W9000 / SPH-W9050 will be available in several color versions, including Minimal White, Cupid Pink, Jamaican Yellow and Energetic Green.

Via Samsung

• Samsung Corby S3650 officially announced
• Samsung Anycall haptic phone: 100,000 units sold, pink and white versions on the way
• Samsung S3650 Corby touchscreen phone to cost only €200
• Samsung B3310 launched as Corby Mate in India
• Samsung Corby WEP490 Bluetooth headset announced

According to Telecoms Korea and a Shinhan Investment report, Samsung should ship about 57 million touhcscreen phones by the end of 2009, and it plans to almost double this number in 2010 to reach the aforementioned 100 million mark.

65% of Samsung’s touchscreen phones sold in 2010 should have capacitive displays, notes the report.

LG also intends to ship more touchscreen handsets next year, but only 20% of them will have capacitive screens.

Both Samsung and LG have touchscreen phones that were sold at record paces this year: the Samsung Star, pictured above (10 million units until now), and the LG Cookie (more than 5 million units). Interestingly, both the Star and the Cookie have resistive touchscreen displays, not capacitive.

• 2 million LG Cookie phones sold, 10 million units planed
• Samsung to increase phone sales by 20% in 2010 (to 270 million units)
• LG is the world’s third largest handset producer, with 100 million phones shipped in 2008
• Samsung sold 10 million Star S5230 phones
• 5 million Star S5230 phones already sold by Samsung

Named Samsung WEP490 Corby, the headset comes in various color versions, to match the colorful Corby phones.

The WEP490 Corby features a status LED indicator, echo cancellation, noise reduction and automatic volume control. It can provide a talk time of up to 6 hours, or a stand-by time of up to 10 hours.

The Samsung Corby WEP490 Bluetooth headset should be available  soon in Russia for about $45.

Via Samsung Hub

• Samsung intros new Bluetooth headsets: WEP870, WEP850 and WEP470
• Wirelessly ride in style with Motorola H620 and H560 Bluetooth headsets
• BlueAnt Q1 Bluetooth headset launched at CES
• Motorola Endeavor HX1 Bluetooth headset with bone conduction technology announced
• New, tiny Nokia Bluetooth Headset BH-804, cool like a ninja with a scythe

According to Korea Times, SK will launch Android 2.0 phones next year. Apparently, both Samsung and LG have confirmed the fact that they will introduce Android handsets through SK in the first half of 2010.

SK Telecom might market the rumored Android 2.0 phones as iPhone rivals. KT has already announced that it would launch the iPhone in South Korea, so SK needs to offer alternatives to its customers.

Although SK can, theoretically, sell Apple’s handset as well, it looks like it won’t do it too soon.

“We are maintaining a wait-and-see approach for the iPhone. But we don’t intend to be aggressive and push for an early release,” declared an SK Telecom official.

Motorola (which recently launched the Droid / Milestone) is also readying an Android phone for Korea – now let’s wait and see which company releases its Google OS-based handset there first.

• Motorola to make Korea’s first Android phone
• SK Telecom to make its own handsets?
• Apple allowed to sell the iPhone in South Korea
• LG Wine 3G phone to come in September
• Nokia sees poor handset sales in Korea

China Times had a chat with DonJoo Lee, Senior Vice President of Samsung’s Mobile Communications Division and Digital Media & Communications Business, who says that the company expects to sell 260 to 270 million phones in 2010 and reach a market share of 22%.

In Q1 2009, Samsung sold 51 million phones. 55 million were sold in Q2 2009, while Q3 brought a record of 60 million Samsung handsets shipped. Let’s say Samsung will sell another 60 million phones in Q4 2009 – that would make a total of 226 million units sold throughout the year.

If Samsung manages to ship 270 million phones in 2010, as it hopes to, a 20% year-on-year growth would be achieved.

DonJoo Lee (pictured above) also said that Samsung intends to concentrate on touch-enabled smartphones in 2010. Some of them will run Android, some Windows Mobile and few Symbian. The rest of them will run Samsung’s new bada OS – there will be only several in the first half of 2010, but many more by the end of the year.

• Samsung to make 100 million touchscreen phones in 2010, 65% of them with capacitive screens
• Samsung bada smartphone OS announced, will be launched in December
• 2 million LG Cookie phones sold, 10 million units planed
• Samsung passes 10 million mark in high-res cameraphone sales
• 5 million Star S5230 phones already sold by Samsung

The first device, Samsung B5722, is a touchscreen phone shaped like the Samsung B3410, but with a differed navigation key and without a sliding QWERTY keyboard.

The B5722 features quad-band GSM/EDGE connectivity but it has no 3G. Its first SIM card can operate on the 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz frequencies, while the second one only on 900 / 1 800 MHz.

Here are the rest of the phone’s features:

• 2.8 inch QVGA display with 262k colors
• TouchWiz Lite 1.0
• Access to Facebook and MySpace
• MP3 player
• Bluetooth
• FM Radio
• 3.2MP camera with LED flash
• MicroSD card support (up to 8GB)
• 1200 mAh battery

Just for the record, Samsung B5722 was approved by the FCC today, although it will probably never be released in North America.

The second phone, Samsung C6112 (of which we first heard last month), is a slider that also has quad-band GSM/EDGE connectivity, as well as a 2.4 inch QVGA screen, Bluetooth, Music player, FM radio with RDS, 2MP camera, MicroSD card support (8GB) and a 960 mAh battery.

No word yet on the prices of Samsung B5722 and C6112.

Via Teltarif.de

• 8 new Samsung phones leaked – S5050, C5212, S3310 and E2210 included
• Samsung M3310 and B3410 in official photos
• Samsung Announces 4 Low-End Models; The World Yawns
• Philips X806 and C702 touchscreen phones show up
• Samsung S6700 and C5510 sliders coming soon

Orange is the first British carrier to start selling the iPhone after O2, which had an exclusivity deal with Apple until this fall.

Vodafone and 3 are also expected to sell the iPhone in the UK, although this will probably happen in early 2010.

In related news, Orange UK has launched a so-called business homescreen for the upcoming Samsung Omnia Pro B7330 – a smartphone that’s quite different from the iPhone, featuring Windows Mobile 6.5 and a full QWERTY keypad.

Targeted at medium and large business customers, Orange’s new homescreen provide quick access to email, voicemail, contacts, calendar and so on, “ensuring vital business applications are right at their employees’ finger tips”.

The Samsung Omnia Pro B7330 will be soon available through Orange, coming as the carrier’s first “business WM6.5 device.”

Via Press release

• Samsung Omnia Pro B7330 now official; all Omnia phones to get WM 6.5
• Microsoft announces huge list of Windows Mobile 6.5 phones, HTC HD2 included
• Orange UK exclusively launches the Toshiba TG01, free on select plans
• Sprint 2009 roadmap leaked: HTC Rhodium, HTC Cedar, Samsung Dash, BlackBerry Niagara and 8 others
• Orange brings Wikipedia content to its phones

Well, we’ve got a new one: Samsung S359, which, unlike the previously mentioned models, is a low-end slider.

The S359 wasn’t officially announced, but will probably be released soon for a low price.

The known features of Samsung S359 include: 2 inch display with 65k colors, music player with dedicated keys, FM radio, WAP 2.0 browser, VGA photo camera and MicroSD card support (up to 8GB).

The Samsung S359 has CDMA 1X 800MHz connectivity and it should be released by China Telecom.

Via Samsung Hub

• LG KT878 and KV920 announced for China
• Palm Ring P, Samsung F839, C6112 and E1390B coming soon
• 8 new Samsung phones leaked – S5050, C5212, S3310 and E2210 included
• Samsung M3310 dual slider coming soon
• Samsung B5722 and C6112 dual SIM phones show up

The Samsung bada open mobile OS will be launched in December this year, when a SDK (software development kit) is planned to be made available. Samsung expects and hopes that “bada-powered devices will become a significant force in the market in 2010.”

According to a recent report from Korea, bada will gradually replace Symbian and Windows Mobile in Samsung’s smartphone portfolio – so it looks like the new platform will indeed have a significant role in the global mobile market.

Samsung bada is described as being simple for developers to use and having a ground-breaking UI. Screenshots of the new OS are not yet available.

More details about Samsung bada can be found at the platform’s brand new website.

Via Press release

• Samsung confirms its Linux-based smartphone OS
• Samsung’s mobile market share to top 20% by the end of 2009
• Samsung to ditch Symbian, launch fewer Windows Mobile phones?
• Sony overtakes Nokia in brand popularity in Asia
• Samsung results to shine in Q1 2009?

According to HMC Investment Securities, Samsung intends to stop making Symbian handsets starting 2011, and reduce the number of WM devices to 20% (from the total number of smartphones) in 2012.

Next year, the South Korean company plans to launch about 10 Android devices (30% of its total number of smartphones), and several devices based on its own smartphone OS. In 2012, 50% of Samsung’s smartphones may run on its own OS.

Samsung reducing the number of WM phones may not be a surprise, but the fact that the company will no longer make Symbian devices is. After all, Samsung is among the Symbian Foundation’s founding members. But I guess that the HMC report might be wrong. We’ll see.

Via Telecoms Korea

• Samsung almost confirms an Android smartphone for the first half of this year
• Samsung’s first Android phone to come in Q3 2009
• Samsung to increase phone sales by 20% in 2010 (to 270 million units)
• Samsung confirms its Linux-based smartphone OS
• Android and Symbian smartphones to come from Huawei in 2009

The M3310 is a music-oriented dual-slider that comes with external music controls, stereo speakers, 3.5mm headset jack, Bluetooth 2.1, FM radio with RDS, 2.1 inch QVGA display, 3.2MP camera, and MicroSD card support.

The phone can provide a music playback time of up to 75 hours.

Samsung M3310 will be available in two color versions: black and white.

(photos via Mobil.cz)

First seen in September, the Samsung B3410 now appears on Samsung Russia’s official website.

The B3410 is a touchscreen phone with a full QWERTY keyboard. Its features include a 2.6 inch QVGA display, TouchWiz 2.0 UI, quad-band GSM/EDGE connectivity, FM radio, Bluetooth 2.1, 2MP camera, 30MB of internal memory, MicroSD card slot, and a 960 mAh battery.

Both the Samsung B3410 and Samsung M3310 will probably be available soon across Europe. No word on pricing yet.

• Samsung B5722 and C6112 dual SIM phones show up
• Palm Ring P, Samsung F839, C6112 and E1390B coming soon
• Verizon’s Samsung Rogue and Intensity now available
• New Samsung Diva phones: S7070 and S5150 Olivia
• Samsung S3650 Corby and M2520 in live photos

The $1.3 billion will be paid upfront, with additional royalties to be paid afterwards.

According to Telecoms Korea, the $1.3 billion that will be received from Samsung accounts for about 80% of Qualcomm’s net income of fiscal year 2009.

(Samsung S8000 Jet, one of the latest Samsung phones to use a Qualcomm platform)

Reportedly, the new deal with Qualcomm was signed by Samsung “under the most favorable conditions”, thanks to the fact that the South Korean company is Qualcomm’s most important customer.

• Qualcomm and BlackBerry heading for Korea now that WIPI’s gone
• Snapdragon smartbook, smartphone to be launched in Korea this year
• RIM reports strong growth, 3.9 million new BlackBerry subscribers
• HTC prepares about 10 new handsets for 2009
• South Korea scraps WIPI, opens the mobile market to foreign competition

There have been enough leaked pics and videos of the Behold II that its overall look and feel are no longer in question, and certainly no longer a mystery. And we’ve already heard nearly-confirmed rumors that the device will officially be on sale beginning November 18. So now all that’s left is an official proclamation that the Behold II exists and really is coming out when we all expect it to.

Behold II. Tell your friends.

Just in case you need a refresher on what it looks like, check this pic out below:

via IntoMobile

• T-Mobile’s Samsung Behold and Samsung Gravity now official
• Blackberry Storm 2 Official Video is Now Out
• HTC S522 approved by FCC with T-Mobile 3G support
• Nokia N900 delayed a bit, will start shipping in November
• T-Mobile Release Date Rumors: Tap, Behold II

The Star S5230 passed the 10 million mark after six months since its release (May), thus becoming the fastest-selling Samsung phone ever.

Samsung reported that 5 million Star handsets were sold until August. September and October both brought sales of over 2 million units, so the 10 million mark was reached quite fast.

About 5 million Stars were sold in Europe (UK, Italy, the Netherlands and so on), 1.6 million in Latin America, 900,000 in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and 800,000 in China.

Via NewsWire

• 5 million Star S5230 phones already sold by Samsung
• Samsung Star S5230W and S5233W come with Wi-Fi
• 2 million LG Cookie phones sold, 10 million units planed
• Samsung Preston and Samsung Star – new names for the S5600 and S5230
• Samsung sold over 10 million touchscreen phones in 2008

Both new devices are touchscreen phones, but they’re not at all similar and are targeted at different categories of customers.

The Samsung Mythic is priced at $199.99 on contract after a $50 mail-in rebate and features stuff like: a 3.3 inch display, TouchWiz UI, 3G, finger zoom, virtual QWERTY keyboard, full HTML browser, AT&T Navigator, AT&T Mobile TV, Stereo Bluetooth and a 3.2MP camera.

The Mythic looks really nice, as you can see in the photo below:

Priced at $99.99 (also on contract and after a $50 mail-in rebate), the Samsung Flight is a non-3G handset.

The Flight comes with a smaller touchscreen display, full QWERTY keyboard, HTML web browser, AT&T Navigator, stereo Bluetooth, and a 2MP camera.

Via Press release

• AT&T Intros Four Phones with Opera HTML Browser
• Pantech Reveal now available at AT&T, $80 on contract
• Verizon’s Samsung Rogue and Intensity now available
• Samsung U960 Rogue and U450 Intensity coming to Verizon on September 8
• Verizon’s Samsung Rogue and Samsung Intensity appear in official photos

Previously known as BlackBerry Aries, the Curve 8530 is the CDMA version of T-Mobile’s BlackBerry 8520.

The 8530 features EV-DO connectivity, Wi-Fi, GPS, full QWERTY keyboard, QVGA display, optical trackpad, 3.5mm headset jack, 2MP camera and MicroSD card support.

BlackBerry Curve 8530 will be available at Verizon starting November 20 for $99.99 on contract (after a $100 mail-in rebate).

The other device announced by Verizon – Samsung u640 Convoy – is a rugged Push To Talk clamshell.

The Samsung Convoy meets military specifications 810F standards for dust and shock resistance, humidity, vibration, solar radiation, low/high temperature and altitude. It comes with VZ Navigator, external and internal displays, Bluetooth 2.1, 2MP camera and a 1300 mAh battery. The phone will be available from Verizon starting November 15 for $49.99 on contract.

Another rugged phone that’s headed to Verizon is the Casio G’Zone Brigade which, according to Engadget, is waterproof and features Push To Talk and document viewer. The G’Zone Brigade has a small display and an alphanumeric keypad on the outside, as well as a large display and a QWERTY keyboard on the inside.

The launch date and price of Casio G’Zone Brigade were not announced by Verizon.

Via Verizon here and here

• Verizon announces the rugged Casio G’zOne Rock
• Verizon’s Casio Brigade C741 approved by the FCC
• Verizon to launch Nokia Twist 7705, LG Chocolate Touch VX8575 and more
• BlackBerry Curve 8350i finally launched by Sprint
• Casio Exilim and Motorola Rival launched by Verizon

Only orders of up to £30 are accepted, but you get a 20% discount every time.

The Pizza Hut app will use Vodafone’s location-based services to highlight the nearest Pizza Hut store so that customers can receive their orders as soon as possible.

The Samsung Vodafone 360 H1 is currently available for free with a 2-yr contract agreement and a monthly plan of at least £35 ($58). The smartphone runs on a LiMo platform and features a 3.5 AMOLED touch screen display, HSDPA, Wi-Fi, GPS, 5MP camera and 16GB of internal memory.

Via Pocket-lint

• Vodafone Samsung 360 H1 starts shipping on October 30
• Samsung Jet S8000 already available in the UK, free on select Vodafone plans
• Vodafone UK launches the HTC HD2, free on select plans
• Samsung S5600 launched in the UK via Orange
• Samsung Galaxy i7500 finally available from O2 UK

To be honest, we weren’t expecting to see the Jack to be one of the first 6.1 phones pushed through to 6.5 by its manufacturer. Nothing against the Jack at all; it’s just running Standard since there is no touchscreen capability.

So what does the Jack and any other WM 6.5 Standard phone get? Improved Internet Explorer, full access to Windows Marketplace, and free access to AT&T WiFi hotspots.

Woohoo? Anyone excited about this one?

In order to download the upgrade, check out Samsung’s official place to do so.

• More details on Windows Mobile Marketplace’s Phase 2
• Samsung Jack i637 officially announced by AT&T
• Microsoft is negotiating carrier-branded versions of Windows Marketplace
• Windows Marketplace opens for submissions on July 27; WM 6.0 and 6.1 will be supported
• AT&T finally offers free Wi-Fi for all iPhone users

Opera Mobile 10 beta works with Symbian S60 3rd and 5th edition, so it can be installed on both touchscreen and non-touchscreen phones.

The new version of Opera Mobile has a fresh design, it’s twice as fast as the older versions launched for Symbian, and comes with desktop-like features such as Speed Dial and tabbed browsing.

Here’s a video presentation of Opera Mobile 10 beta for Symbian:

You can download Opera Mobile 10 beta for free from Opera’s official website.

Via Press release

• Opera Mobile 10 for Windows Mobile available now
• Opera Mini 5 beta launched, available for download
• Opera Mobile 9.7 beta announced and available for download
• Opera Mini 5 coming really soon to a phone near you
• Opera 9.5 Mobile beta is out

We knew the Moment was coming on November 1 – and it’s nice to see that Sprint kept its promise and actually released it the day it said it would.

Coming as Sprint’s second Android phone (after the HTC Hero), Samsung Moment features a full QWERTY keyboard, a 3.2 inch HVGA AMOLED touchscreen display, GPS, 3.5mm headset jack, 3.2MP autofocus camera with flash, and an 800MHz processor.

Sprint sells the Samsung Moment for $179.99 on contract (after a $100 mail-in rebate).

Sanyo 3810, the second new phone launched by Sprint today, is an entry-level clamshell with features like: 2.4 inch QVGA internal display, GPS, web browser, Bluetooth and a 1.3MP camera.

The Sanyo 3810 is free on contract, after a $50 mail-in rebate. You can get it in two color versions: Regal Red and Black Onyx.

• Sanyo SCP-2700 and LG Lotus in red announced by Sprint
• Samsung Moment (InstinctQ) with Android announced by Sprint
• Verizon’s Samsung Rogue and Samsung Intensity appear in official photos
• Verizon’s Samsung Rogue and Intensity now available
• Sprint launches Samsung M330, camera-less BlackBerry Tour 9630

The i6500 Saturn has recently received its Wi-Fi interoperability certification (PDF link), so it will surely feature Wi-Fi.

According to Tweakers.net, the rest of the phone’s features should be similar to the ones of Samsung Galaxy i7500, although its processor might be an 800MHz one rather than a 528MHz one. Reportedly, the i6500 runs Android 1.5, but it will probably be launched with Android 2.0.

Unfortunately, we can’t see what the Saturn i6500 looks like, since there are no available photos of it at the moment.

Samsung Saturn i6500 should be released sometime in 2010, for a retail price of around €300 ($442).

• Samsung Galaxy i5700 in press photos, has Android written all over it
• Samsung i5700 Galaxy Lite in live photos, video
• The price of Samsung i7500 Galaxy unlocked: about $800
• Samsung Galaxy Lite i5700 coming soon?
• Samsung Galaxy i7500 in white – coming soon

The Omnia II was designated the Official Mobile Device of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games (held in Vancouver between 12 and 28 February next year), and Bell will offer it with exclusive 2010 Winter Games content.

Customers who buy the Samsung Omnia II from Bell will be able to download the Wireless Olympic Works communications platform (aka WOW), which is offered for free and provides real-time information about the Olympic Winter Games.

Already available in many markets around the world (like China and Australia), Samsung Omnia II features Windows Mobile 6.5, a 3.7 inches WVGA AMOLED touchscreen display, TouchWiz 2.0 UI, Wi-Fi, GPS, 3.5mm headset jack, 5MP autofocus camera, and up to 48GB of storage space.

Bell didn’t announce the price of its Omnia II.

Via Press release

• WiTu AMOLED and OmniaIcon – Samsung Omnia II’s names for Russia and Australia
• Samsung Omnia 2 i8000 reaches new markets, Australia and China included
• Samsung Omnia II i8180 headed to China Mobile
• Verizon’s Omnia II appears on Samsung’s website
• Samsung Omnia II i920 for Verizon gets pictured

The S5560 is a slim touchscreen handset (11.9 mm) with a 3 inch WQVGA display and quad-band GSM/EDGE connectivity. The phone doesn’t have 3G, but it comes with Wi-Fi, so as long as you’re near a Wi-Fi hotspot you won’t need 3G anyway.

Samsung S5560’s other features include: Bluetooth 2.1, 3.5mm headset jack, Music and Video players, FM radio with RDS, 5MP camera (with autofocus and flash), 78MB of internal memory and MicroSD card support, up to 16GB. The phone should be able to provide up to 9.5 hours of talk-time.

It’s said that the Samsung S5560 will be launched in Europe next month (November). Its retail price should be under €300 ($445).

Via Les mobiles

• Samsung Xplorer B2100 officially announced
• Samsung S5200 officially announced
• Samsung S5510 – a Nokia 6600 Fold wannabe?
• Samsung i550 GPS phone gets official
• Dual SIM Samsung B5702 officially announced

The phone is Samsung GT-i6330 (or simply i6330) and, unfortunately, little is known about it.

Anyway, we can see a video-call camera (so the phone should feature 3G / TD-SCDMA connectivity). There’s also a 3.2MP photo camera on the back.

As you can see in the image below, the Samsung i6330 has a rather weird design:

The price and release date of Sasmung i6330 are not known at the moment.

Via Mobile-review

• Samsung Omnia II i8180 headed to China Mobile
• Huawei U7510 – another new touchscreen phone
• Huawei C7300 and T550+ touchscreen phones for China
• Nokia 6788 announced – Nokia’s first TD-SCDMA phone
• Motorola E11 photos and specs show up

Since the S5230 is called Samsung Player One in France, the new special edition model has become Samsung Player One Hello Kitty. It’s the first Hello Kitty touchscreen phone (if we don’t count the Chinese knock-offs), it’s pink and it obviously comes with a Hello Kitty logo, as well as with a cute Hello Kitty face on the back case.

The Samsung E2210 is pink as well, and the Hello Kitty face is featured on its back case too.

French customers can buy the two new Samsung Hello Kitty phones here and here. The S5230 HK costs €219 ($328), while the E2210 HK is priced at only €89 ($133).

• Samsung Star S5230 gets more color versions, Zadig & Voltaire special edition
• Sony Ericsson F305 Hello Kitty Edition – every little girl’s dream?
• Sony Ericsson W350 pink edition released
• Samsung Star Think Pink Edition to help the fight against breast cancer
• Samsung Galaxy i7500 launched by Bouygues Telecom in France, only €89

Well, the wait might be almost over.

This Android handset has been officially announced today in Russia, as Samsung Galaxy Spica.

I checked all the official Samsung PR sites and haven’t found it mentioned anywhere else, so in other countries it will be annoubced later.

Anyway, here are the press pics of Samsung Galaxy Spica:

The specs/features of Samsung Galaxy Spica include 800 MHz CPU, 128 of RAM, 3.2″ touchscreen display, 3.2 mpx camera, 1500 mAh battery, microSDHC (up to 32GB) support, GPS sensor, compass and ability to play unconverted popular video files.

Samsung Galaxy Spica should ship in Russia in Novemeber for 14 000 rubles ( 320 EUR).

(Hat tip for Technozona.bg for pointing in the right direction)

• Samsung Galaxy Spica i5700 available in Europe. Samsung Go announced for AT&T
• Samsung Galaxy i5700 in press photos, has Android written all over it
• Samsung i5700 Spica (Galaxy Lite) in new video preview
• Samsung C5212 officially announced: under $200 dual-SIM phone
• Samsung i5700 Spica and R860 approved by the FCC

Samsung will offer up to $330,000 in prize money. Two top winners will receive $100,000 in cash, each. There will also be smaller prizes: $10,000, $5,000 and $2,000.

All winning applications will be distributed via the Samsung Application Store.

To enter the competition, you must be registered to sell paid apps at the Samsung Application Store Seller Office.

The competition will be open until December 10. For addition information, visit the Samsung seller website.

Via NewsWire

• The Vodafone App Star competition – €100,000 for the best 360 widgets
• Samsung Application Store for smartphones coming on September 14
• Samsung Innovation Quest 2009 debuts, asks you to develop widgets for the Omnia HD
• Samsung launching app store at MWC 2009
• LG Application Store launched in Asia, only for Windows Mobile

The handset makers are: Samsung, LG, Research in Motion and Sharp. It is the first time when giant phone manufactures announce their global commitment to the JIL widget standard.

Reportedly, the Joint Innovation Lab’s widgets “will be capable of enhancing the mobile internet experience for customers on a variety of smartphones as well as mid- and low-cost handsets across several operating systems and distributed through JIL operators’ applications stores”.

Verizon, Vodafone, China Mobile and Softbank have a combined user base of more than 1 billion around the world (North America, Europe, Asia and Africa).

Via Press release

• Vodafone joins the app store race
• Vodafone buys Wayfinder for $29.3 million
• European telecom operators to sell HTC-branded handsets for a change
• Vodafone Music 24/7 service Launched
• QiGi i6 officially supports both Android and Windows Mobile 6.1

The B3310 / Corby Mate has an unusual design, coming with numeric keys on the left side of the screen, and a sliding QWERTY keyboard.

The phone’s other features include: 2 inch QVGA display, quad-band GSM connectivity, easy access to social networking sites, email, Bluetooth 2.1, FM radio, Music player, 2MP camera, 40MB of internal memory and MicroSD card support.

No word yet on the price of Samsung Corby Mate, but Indian customers can check it out on Samsung’s official website.

Via Samsung Hub

• Samsung adds CorbyTXT B3210 and CorbyPRO B3410 to cheap and youthful Corby family
• Samsung B3310 now official in France; comes in blue too
• Samsung S3650 Corby and M2520 in live photos
• Samsung S3650 Corby touchscreen phone to cost only €200
• Samsung Corby WEP490 Bluetooth headset announced

The Samsung i5700 was approved to work on the 850/1900 GSM and 850/1900 WCDMA bands, so you’ll be able to use it on AT&T’s network. Now let’s hope Samsung decides to launch the handset in the US.

Samsung i5700 should come with an AMOLED touchscreen display, Wi-Fi, GPS and a 3.2MP camera. A video preview of it can be found here.

According to the FCC, the Samsung R860 features 1700MHz AWS connectivity, as well as CDMA/EV-DO, so it’s likely headed to MetroPCS or Cricket.

As you can see, the R860 is probably a touchscreen phone. We’ll bring new details about it as soon as we find out more.

Via FCC here and here

• Huawei M228 headed to MetroPCS. Huawei C6100 and G7002 pass the FCC
• Huawei M750, ZTE C90 to be launched by MetroPCS
• Sprint Samsung Ace i325 phone. Live pics and more details
• Samsung S9110 and i920 high-end phones coming soon?
• Verizon’s Casio Brigade C741 approved by the FCC

First we have the Samsung Behold II Android with AMOLED touchscreen and Touchwiz UI, receiving a date of November 18. The Android powerhouse will have WiFi, 3G, 5 MP camera and a customizable home screen, amongst other strong features.

The next one is the T-Mobile Tap, which was announced less than two weeks ago. The Tap is a rebranded Huawei U7510, which features 3G, GPS, TeleNav location based services, stereo Bluetooth, and a 2MP camera. Not a whole lot seems to be known of this device, but look for it available in stores on November 11.

Naturally there seems to be more hoopla around the Behold II than the T-Mobile Tap, but given the features of the former this shouldn’t come as a surprise to most.

via TmoNews

• T-Mobile myTouch 3G Fender, T-Mobile Tap and Nokia 3711 announced
• Android and Symbian smartphones to come from Huawei in 2009
• Huawei U8220 Android phone coming as T-Mobile Pulse?
• Samsung and T-Mobile Ready for Behold II Event on Nov 12
• Huawei Android phones confirmed for Q3 2009

A new video preview of the Samsung i5700 has just appeared over at the ai.rs blog, this time showing the black version of the handset.

It’s said that the features of Samsung i5700 are similar to the ones of Samsung Galaxy i7500, save for the fact that the unannounced phone has a 3.2MP flash-less camera and, apparently, only 100MB of internal memory.

Well, here’s the new video:

If Samsung introduces the i5700 Spica / Galaxy Lite this year, the smartphone will probably come with Android 1.6 on board – like the Acer Liquid A1.

• Samsung Galaxy i5700 in press photos, has Android written all over it
• Samsung i5700 Galaxy Lite in live photos, video
• Samsung Galaxy Spica officially announced in Russia
• Samsung Galaxy Lite i5700 and HTC Tatoo (Click) show up in France
• Samsung Galaxy Lite i5700 coming soon?

BGR has leaked the new lineup that’s supposed to start off their voyage into HSPA+. Some phones are obvious while a few others are a pleasant sight to see.

First off, we all knew the iPhone is coming next month to Bell, so no surprise there. There have also been rumors of the Samsung Omnia II floating around. But we have learned that the Bold and Bold 2 (9700) are coming, Samsung Impact, LG Xenon, Nokias 2730 and 6350, and 3 HSPA laptop cards from Novatel (2 of which will offer 21 Mbps, a third will have 7.2).

Notable items: both the Bold and Bold 2 will be sold at the same time, though the original is rumored to be offered at a lower price ($149 for original, $249 for new). The iPhones will be $149, 199 and 299 for the 8, 16 and 32 GB respectively.

That’s all that was on the list for now, but I’m sure there will be a few others coming out that we haven’t heard of. Just make sure you get a new contract with these phones so you don’t get charged an additional monthly fee.

via BGR

• Bell to Deploy HSPA Network by Next Month
• AT&T to upgrade its 3G network to HSPA 7.2Mbps
• Samsung Reclaim launched by Bell; Samsung Omnia 2, Impact and Galaxy coming to Canada soon
• 5 mpx Samsung SGH-G800: 3x optical zoom, microSDHC card and HSDPA support
• Bell’s Samsung Omnia II is the Official Mobile Device of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games

The phone, called Samsung i8180 Chai or Samsung i8180c, seems to have most of the features you’ll find in the i8000, including Windows Mobile and a 3.7 inch AMOLED touchscreen display.

However, the i8180 has China-specific features as well, like WAPI, TD-SCDMA connectivity and CMMB (China Multimedia Mobile Broadcasting).

The Samsung i8180 / i8180c looks really nice, as you can see in the photos below:

At the moment, the release date of Samsung i8180 is not known, but the smartphone will probably hit the Chinese market in the next few months.

Via Tweakers.net and 163

• Motorola MT710 oPhone is like a keyboard-less Droid for China
• LG to ship more 3G phones than Samsung, thanks to demand from China
• Nokia 6788 announced – Nokia’s first TD-SCDMA phone
• HTC to conquer China with its Android Magic smartphone
• Beijing Olympics seen to boost sales of white-box handsets in China

Customers can already pre-order the H1 via Vodafone’s official website. The LiMo-based phone can be yours for free with a contract agreement for two years and a monthly plan of at least £30.

The Samsung 360 H1 will come with Vodafone’s new 360 service, as well as with nice features like: a 3.5 inch AMOLED screen, 3D UI, HSDPA, GPS, Wi-Fi, 5MP autofocus camera, and 16GB of internal memory.

By the end of the year, Vodafone will also launch the Samsung 360 M1 – also a LiMo phone, but with fewer features than the H1.

• Vodafone’s Samsung H1 to have a Pizza Hut home delivery app
• LiMo-based Samsung Riedel i8305 coming to Vodafone?
• LiMo forms Korean Association, will launch the Samsung SCH-M510 via SKT
• Vodafone announces 360 services, Samsung H1 and M1 LiMo phones
• Samsung S5600 launched in the UK via Orange

The M8400 is Samsung’s second WiBro-enabled handset, after the SCH-M8300 model, and KT expects it to boost wireless Internet usage.

The new smartphone will allow users to make VoIP calls and, as you can see in the faulty rendering below, it has a touchscreen display and is based on Windows Mobile.

The release date and price of Samsung M8400 are not known at the moment.

Via Telecoms Korea

• Samsung SCH-W760 to offer infrared video calling
• Samsung develops LTE phone chipset, will demo it at MWC 2009
• Samsung Giorgio Armani W820 / W8200 shows up in Korea
• Samsung and LG to release Android phones in Q3 2009 at the earliest
• Windows Mobile 7’s Internet Explorer could use open-source WebKit

The F488i comes with an upgraded “3x TouchWiz User Interface”, which includes Shortcut Pages and Extended Desktop. The F488i also offers Online Widgets, Social Networking Widgets (MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, Picasa, Flickr), Feature Tab Page View, and Photo Contracts.

Other features are similar to the ones found in the F480/F488: 240 x 400 pixels display, GSM and HSDPA connectivity, document viewer and 5MP autofocus camera with LED flash.

Samsung didn’t say if there will be a European F480 with upgraded TouchWiz UI too.

Via Samsung Mobile Hong Kong

• Samsung revamps its TouchWiz UI
• Samsung Ultra S Elegant Edition launched in Hong Kong
• Samsung Omnia II i920 for Verizon gets pictured
• Samsung opens TouchWiz to third parties by launching Mobile Widget SDK
• Samsung Anycall U608 Slimmest Slider Starts Shipping in Asia

Today, Samsung announced that the Armani B7620 will be available in Germany starting next month (November), and its price is indeed “about €700” – more exactly, it’s €729 ($1086).

As you may already know, the new Samsung Armani comes with Windows Mobile 6.5, as well as with a full QWERTY keyboard, a 3.5 inch WVGA AMOLED touchscreen display, HSDPA connectivity, 5MP autofocus camera, and 8GB of internal memory.

The Samsung Armani B7620 smartphone should reach other European markets before the year’s end.

Via Press release

• Samsung Armani Windows phone (B7620) video hands-on
• Samsung Pixon 12’s price in Spain: €639, unlocked
• Samsung Giorgio Armani W820/W8200 in press photos
• Samsung Louvre B7610 to feature an AMOLED screen, 5MP camera and more
• Samsung Giorgio Armani W820 / W8200 shows up in Korea

The S7750 is built from PCM (Post Consumer Material), which is basically extracted from water bottles, and it’s free from harmful substances such as Phthalate, BFR (Brominated Flame Retardants) and PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride).

Samsung Blue Earth comes with a unique UI (based on TouchWiz) that’s “designed to draw attention to preserving our fragile environment.”

The new phone comes with a solar panel on the back, which should allow you to charge it in the most eco-friendly way possible. Even if you don’t use the solar panel, the handset’s standard charger is quite eco-friendly as well, since it uses only 0.03W of power in standby mode.

Unlike most of the eco-friendly phones released until now, the Samsung Blue Earth isn’t a low-end device. Its features include a 3 inch touchscreen display with 240 x 400 pixels and 16 million colors, HSDPA, Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, stereo FM radio, 3.2MP camera, 130MB of internal memory, and MicroSD card support.

As for the price of Blue Earth S7750, Samsung still hasn’t announced it.

Via Press release

• Samsung’s Blue Earth phone is both awesome and solar-powered
• Samsung S7550 Blue Earth has TouchWiz; caught on video
• Cheap Samsung E1107 Crest Solar phone announced
• LG has solar powered eco-friendly phone too
• Keomo Solar Nemerix 16 Bluetooth GPS Receiver on Solar Power

In Russia, the i8000 Omnia II is named Samsung WiTu AMOLED (the first Omnia was called simply WiTu, and since the Omnia II has an AMOLED touchscreen display, it’s obvious why the new name).

In Australia, the i8000 Omnia II is marketed as Samsung OmniaIcon, and it looks like it’s available only via Optus for the time being.

Regardless of its name, the Samsung Omnia II is a really nice Windows Mobile handset, coming with a 3.7 WVGA screen, HSPA, 800MHz CPU, Wi-Fi, GPS, 5MP camera and up to 16GB of internal memory.

Via Samsung Hub and WMpoweruser

• Bell’s Samsung Omnia II is the Official Mobile Device of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games
• Samsung Omnia II i8000 and Omnia Lite B7300 smartphones announced
• Samsung Omnia EUR 286 in Russia. May get cheaper still elswhere
• Samsung Omnia Pro B7610 now official
• Samsung Omnia II i920 for Verizon gets pictured

The bad news is that, for the moment, the FCC doesn’t mention anything about the Pixon12 featuring US 3G, so if you somehow manage to buy it, you’ll probably be using it on the GSM/EDGE US frequencies only (850/1900 MHz).

Even so, the Pixon12 M8910 is a great handset – at least for those who want their touchscreen phone to have a 12MP camera with autofocus, Xenon flash and wide 28mm lens.

Another Samsung phone approved by the FCC today is the SGH-A886.

We don’t know much about this Samsung A886, but it might be headed to AT&T – perhaps as a slightly different Solstice A887?

• Samsung Pixon 12 M8910 to become the world’s first 12MP phone
• Samsung Pixon 12’s price in Spain: €639, unlocked
• 8MP Samsung Memoir, a US version of Samsung Pixon?
• Samsung M8920 to bring a 12MP camera with 3x optical zoom
• 8MP Samsung T929 Memoir approved by FCC

The B7620 is actually not just a phone, since it runs on Windows Mobile 6.5 – so it’s obviously a smartphone. The new Giorgio Armani handset from Samsung also features a full QWERTY keyboard, so it should be a good choice for those who want a fashionable device but also a completely-equipped smartphone.

Other features include: 3.5 inch WVGA AMOLED display, 5MP autofocus camera with, GPS and 8GB of internal memory.

The folks over at HDblog.it had the chance to play a bit with the Samsung Armani B7620 and recorded it all on video:

Samsung Armani B7620 costs slightly over $1,000 and it will probably be available before the year’s end in Europe.

• Samsung Armani B7620 goes to Germany in November, costs €729
• Samsung Giorgio Armani Windows Mobile 6.5 smartphone unveiled
• Samsung Giorgio Armani W820 / W8200 shows up in Korea
• Samsung AMOLED 12M W880 – officially the world’s first 12MP camera phone with 3x optical zoom
• Samsung Giorgio Armani W820/W8200 in press photos

Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer himself presented the new device, saying that it’s “the most fashionable phone he’s ever had a chance to talk about.”

Resembling the Samsung Armani W820/W8200 feature phone, the WM 6.5 Samsung Armani doesn’t seem to have a name yet. Anyway, apart from Windows Mobile 6.5, it features a 3.5 inch AMOLED touchscreen display, GPS, 5MP camera, 8GB of internal memory, MicroSD card slot, and a full QWERTY keyboard.

The Samsung Armani Windows phone will cost €700 ($1032), although its release date is not known at the moment. Until the handset hits the market, here’s a video promo of it:

Via Blogosfere.it and Engadget

• Samsung Armani is SGH-P520 touchsreen card phone
• Samsung Armani B7620 goes to Germany in November, costs €729
• Samsung Armani Windows phone (B7620) video hands-on
• Samsung D980/D988 – DuoS with touchscreen
• Samsung Giorgio Armani W820/W8200 in press photos

According to All About Phones, the handset might be called Samsung Galaxy i5700 Spica, and not Galaxy i5700 Lite. Also, it looks like the i5700 doesn’t use Samsung’s TouchWiz UI.

The features of Galaxy i5700 are similar to the ones of Galaxy i7500, save for the 3.2MP camera without flash and the internal memory (i5700 seems to have only 1GB).

The Galaxy i5700 should be announced by Samsung this month. Its price is obviously not known at the moment.

• Samsung i5700 Galaxy Lite in live photos, video
• Samsung i5700 Spica (Galaxy Lite) in new video preview
• Samsung Galaxy i7500 from O2 UK in August
• Samsung Galaxy Lite i5700 and HTC Tatoo (Click) show up in France
• Samsung S5050 appears in press photos

We don’t know why Sprint ditched the Instinct branding for this new Android smartphone, but Moment sounds pretty good anyway.

The features of Samsung Moment include: 3.2 inch AMOLED touchscreen display, full QWERTY keyboard, EV-DO Rev A connectivity, GPS, 3.5mm headset jack, stereo Bluetooth, quick access to networking sites (Twitter, Facebook, Flickr), visual voicemail, MicroSD card support up to 32GB, and an 800MHz processor.

Samsung Moment will be available from Sprint starting November 1. The smartphone is priced at $179.99 with a 2-yr contract agreement and after a $50 instant savings and a $100 mail-in-rebate. Customers can pre-register for the device on Sprint’s official website.

The Moment comes only few days after another Samsung Android handset, the Behold II for T-Mobile, was announced.

Via Sprint

• Sprint intros the Android HTC Hero – available starting October 11
• Acer Liquid A1 to come in November for €380 unlocked
• Samsung Moment and Sanyo SCP-3810 now available at Sprint
• HTC HD2 to hit the UK on November 11, unlocked
• Sprint intros the HTC Snap S511 and Samsung Exclaim