SlashGear

SlashGear were lucky enough to be invited by Samsung to a preview event, the undeniable star of which was the company’s rival to the Prada phone: a partnership handset with Giorgio Armani.  Likely to be known as the Armani phone rather than the relatively dry SGH-P520, the handset comes complete with tri-band (900/1800/1900) EDGE, a 2.6-inch QVGA touchscreen and intuitive UI, and a 3-megapixel camera.

More exclusive photos of the Samsung Giorgio Armani handset, plus a UI walkthrough video, after the cut

Samsung obviously see the cellphone as much a media handset as a fashion one: the Bluetooth 2.0 supports A2DP wireless stereo, while the media player itself can handle H.263, ACC+/MP3/WMA, MPEG4, AAC and e-AAC+ formats.  A high-speed USB 2.0 port should see you fill the Samsung up quickly, or you can use microSD cards; it also lets you print via PictBridge or over Bluetooth.  The whole thing measures just 87.5 x 54.5 x 10.5 mm, making it even more compact than the Prada (which came in at 98.8 x 54 x 12mm).

Price, carrier and availability of the 85g handset is as yet undetermined (although a figure of €400 [$568] for Europe was mentioned back in September), but I’m really hoping it reaches the US – I’m impressed!  We’ve got plenty more photos that wouldn’t fit in this post, so check out the gallery.

More over at Samsung Forums