Dallas – Samsung will enter the U.S. Android-cellphone market with the
launch later this year of the touchscreen-only Behold II through carrier T-Mobile, whose Android selection will grow to four
models.
T-Mobile
hasn’t announced pricing or a precise availability date for the Behold II, which
is based on the non-Android Behold offered by T-Mobile since last year. The new
model will join T-Mobile’s currently available Android phones, the HTC-made G1
and MyTouch 3G, and the soon-to-be-released Motorola Cliq, which is due Oct. 19 for online preorder to
existing T-Mobile subscribers and becomes available at retail stores Nov.
2.
Only one
other U.S. carrier, Sprint, has announced Android plans to date. Sprint’s HTC-made Hero becomes available Oct. 11.
Like the
current Behold, the Behold II is a touchscreen-only phone featuring Samsung’s
proprietary TouchWiz user interface, but the new version adds Android OS, AMOLED
screen, and second-generation TouchWiz. TouchWiz II adds motion response,
six-sided rotating-cube display, downloadable widgets, three customizable widget
screens and ability to access select applications even when the phone is in
locked mode. The AMOLED display, which is 3.2 inches, delivers higher contrast,
greater outdoor visibility, lower power consumption and more fluid video in a
thinner package compared to traditional LCD screens.
Behold II
offers three different home screens onto which users can drag and drop widgets.
The six-sided cube menu provides quick access to six multimedia functions, such
including music, photos, videos, Web, YouTube and Amazon MP3 music downloads.
The device
also features Wi-Fi, personal email support, corporate email
support via Exchange ActiveSync, 5-megapixel camera/camcorder with autofocus and
flash, visual voicemail, up to 16GB of external memory, assisted GPS and
Bluetooth 2.1.
