Samsung and Microsoft collaborate to launch the Samsung i600 smartphone complete with push email technology

Samsung Gulf Electronics announced today the launch of the Samsung i600 mobile phone, the first smartphone in the region that runs on the HSDPA network.

Aimed at the high growth business phone market, the Samsung i600 is expected to capture a large part of the regional market share in this category by the end of 2007.

The Samsung i600 Ultra Messaging smartphone runs on Microsoft™ Windows Mobile 5.0 complete with push email technology and Wi-Fi which will enable the user to access the internet anywhere anytime.

Users can further view and edit documents in all popular file formats in English and Arabic, including Microsoft™ Word, Microsoft™ Excel, Microsoft™ PowerPoint and PDF files. The i600 is the world's slimmest HSDPA mobile phone with a full QWERTY keyboard and wheelkey allowing for ease in composing emails and text messages.

The device further supports web applications such as pod casting and RSS feeds. The phone works on a quad band network which covers GSM 850, GSM 900, GSM 1800 and GSM 1900 which will switch bands automatically.

Steve Han, general manager of the hand-held phones division at Samsung Gulf Electronics, said,
'The mobile population is looking for a device that can connect them to both worlds - business and play. The Ultra Messaging i600 mobile phone has a powerful array of in-built features which are desired by consumers on the move."

"The launch of this mobile phone truly depicts the meaning of digital convergence and its success comes from our partnership with the top tier technology companies, where of course Microsoft is on top of the list,' concluded Han.

Tolga Altinordu, director of Microsoft Gulf OEM said: 'The Samsung i600 perfectly illustrates our efforts to offer our customer base the ability to connect to rich digital experiences anytime and anywhere.

We believe that business professionals will find the phone compelling as it provides a range of business and entertainment features at high download and data transfer speeds,' added Altinordu The smartphone features extensive multimedia capabilities including two integrated digital cameras - 1.3 mega pixels at the back and a VGA in the front, video camera and a music player.

The handset has a large 2.3 inch color screen which provides up to 65,000 colors on a TFT LCD screen, further making the phone ideal for conducting business away from the office. The Samsung i600 is now available in the United Arab Emirates.