Samsung shows i780 with Windows Mobile 6, possible BlackJack 2?

Remember that trick Samsung with Windows Mobile and the mouse pointer? Turns out it's the SGH-i780, a device that was passed around at Dubai's GITEX show earlier this month. From the spec sheet adjacent to the display phone, we can pretty clearly make out Windows Mobile 6 Professional (as opposed to Standard -- score), WiFi, HSDPA, a 2 megapixel camera, GPS, and an "optical mouse" (whatever that means), which explains the presence of a pointer on the screen. HTC pulled this off with the trackball-equipped Artemis; we toyed with it briefly and it seemed usable, so we'll be curious to see what approach Samsung takes. We've heard talk of a BlackJack 2 coming to AT&T later this year; we don't know whether this (or a model based on this) is it, but it certainly looks the part, doesn't it?

[Via the::unwired, thanks Daniel F.]

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 22nd 2007 1:26PM]

It says full touch screen on it...

[ushneb Posted Sep 22nd 2007 2:40PM]

It's also called, "Multimedia Ace!"

I'd be surprised if this wasn't the Blackjack 2.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 22nd 2007 3:11PM]

What would be the point of a mouse pointer since it has a touch screen?

[fernando Posted Sep 22nd 2007 4:16PM]

It says "optical mouse" slash "full browser", so it should be just a small mouse in the browser, like the s60 browser.

And it looks good!

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 22nd 2007 6:49PM]

i remember on the sprint fourms and the phonenews forums that sprint would be releasing a black jack and a samsung phone called the "ACE" hummm.....

[Mark Larson Posted Sep 22nd 2007 9:32PM]

I remember that too, but wasn't it a flip phone?

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 23rd 2007 7:23AM]

"Optical mouse":
Ever flipped your optical mouse around, and toyed with the sensor, using your thumb to move the cursor ? It's more-or-less the same idea here. Basically it's like a very small, over-sensitive touchpad behaving like a trackball, with the obvious engineering advantage that it can be built into a flat surface. It is quite neat once you get used to it. The Raon Everun UMPC also has one.
However on the i780 if you do use it as a mouse pointer it replaces the traditional 5-way navigation pad, which means you can't simply scroll down menus and web pages, you have to use the scroll bar every time. Which renders the whole thing quite pointless.

Other than that, the i780 as been around in various carriers'QA dept for quite some time now (at least in the EU). Overall impression: nice, slick build, not too slow for a WinMob device, but software is not there yet (Samsung is not a major player when it comes to smartphones, and it shows).

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 24th 2007 10:29AM]

Singleband UMTS/HSDPA (2100) only. This thing's not going to AT&T.

[Gero Posted Sep 27th 2007 11:55AM]

No support for HSUPA!