New Samsung Phone Joins the Megapixel Race

It's the attack of the clones. After releasing its 8-megapixel touchscreen phone on T-Mobile last week, Samsung has announced a similar device but with a physical keyboard. The latest Samsung Ultra Touch S8300 phone is a slider that comes with a bright OLED-based display and a 8-megapixel camera.

The phone has a 2.8-inch AMOLED or active matrix organic light emitting diode anti-scratch touchscreen. OLED screens draw less power than a traditional LCD-based one and are thinner. They are also offer more vivid color displays.

Samsung, which announced the phone ahead of the Mobile World Congress conference in Barcelona next week, says it is positioning the device at premium customers who want a powerful camera phone.

The phone is just 12.7 mm thick though it has a physical keypad. Its 8-megapixel camera is being touted as its highlight by Samsung. Along with the geo-tagging feature and the built in GPS navigation, it makes the phone a good choice for shutterbugs, says the company.

There's no word on when this phone will be available and if it will come to North America. But so far, we are not impressed. Last week, Samsung released its 8-megapixel touchscreen phone called Renoir on T-Mobile The Ultra Touch slider doesn't add any more value to it.