Samsung BlackJack II Unveiled -- a Serious iPhone Killer?
The juggernaut of new iPhone-killers continues on a pace with today's official unveiling of the Samsung BlackJack II, which will be out for AT&T by the end of the year. None other than Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer walked his audience through the super-slim smart phone's first public appearance.
The first BlackJack was super-slim and sexy, but ran on that pesky and sometimes glitchy Windows Mobile 5 operating system. The BlackJack II is just as slim and sexy (and comes in two different, two-toned color schemes), but runs on the more powerful and stable Windows Mobile 6.
Compared to the iPhone (and the original BlackJack), the BlackJack II boasts a seriously impressive list of features, including:
- AT&T Video Share, which lets you do live, one-way videoconferencing with other AT&T-Video-Share-enabled phones.
- Built-in GPS and TeleNav GPS Navigator software that can reroute you if you get lost.
- A 2.0 megapixel camera that doubles as a camcorder.
- An RSS Reader
- World-phone high-speed 3G capability (UMTS/HSDPA) for data, downloading, and Web surfing.
- An improved speakerphone.
- Microsoft Direct Push with Outlook Mobile, for faster reception of most types of e-mail (plus over-the-air syncing of contacts, tasks, and calendar appointments).
- XM Radio Mobile (requires $8.99 per month subscription)
- AT&T Mobile Music (direct-to-phone Napster, eMusic, and the like)
- AT&T's TV streaming service.
The BlackJack II -- out by the end of the year for $149.99 (with a two-year AT&T contract) -- is just one of many new smart phones to hit the market, but it's the second major one to include Windows Mobile 6, which we have to say we've been enjoying with the HTC Touch we're testing out. More smart phones will be announced in the days to come, no doubt, from the CTIA conference in San Francisco. We'll keep you posted.
How about you? Would you buy this phone over the iPhone?
Related Links:
