Samsung P520 is compact iPhone competitor

Looking a little like an iPhone that has been through a hot-wash, Samsung’s recently announced P520 cellphone might be the ideal non-Apple alternative for those with smaller hands or pockets. Just 88 x 54 x 8.9mm (shorter and thinner than the LG Prada) and weighing a mere 102g, it’s a triband GSM handset with, frustratingly, EDGE rather than 3G. That 262k colour, QVGA touchscreen - measuring around 2.6-inches - makes up for it a little, though there’s no word on whether it’s a traditional display or fancy capacitive one like the LG and iPhone.

Other fancies include a 3-megapixel camera, 50MB of internal memory with a microSD slot to augment it, Bluetooth 2.0 (supporting A2DP - are you listening, Apple?), WiFi with UMA, a document viewer and a flip-case that looks similar to the company’s earlier designs which had extended batteries built in. The P520 under its own steam can manage up to 180 minutes talk time or 220 hours standby.

There’s been some talk about whether this could be a potential Google Phone, and while it’s tempting to believe that the search company would partner with someone producing a handset similar in design to the celebrated iPhone but with all the joy of Google’s online applications, the lack of 3G seems like the biggest indicator that it’s not. Plus, I think Google - if they do produce a handset - would be looking for one with a bigger screen to make the most of that online experience.

[via SlashPhone]