Samsung's t339 get Charcoal makeover for T-Mobile USA

If the Samsung t339 in jet black was simply too shadowy for your tastes, how's about a few pixels of white and gray meshed in? The WiFi-packin' flip phone has just arrived in an all new, completely groundbreaking hue: Charcoal. We know what you're thinking: "Why didn't T-Mobile issue a more drastically different color?" Our response is that is "we simply have no idea whatsoever," but those digging the shade pictured above can get in now for $0.00 on contract.

ZTE Rock and Samsung Rugby now available at Rogers

Just as we'd heard, the oh-so-tough duo that is the completely unrelated ZTE Rock F165 (right) and Samsung Rugby A836 (left) are now available through Rogers Wireless. As for pricing, you'll be asked to part with $79.99 / $149.99 on contract for each in order of mention, though it seems the former is already on backorder. Guess that unbridled sex appeal just won Canucks over by the thousands, huh?

Another 8MP Samsung set to join Pixon and Innov8?

Samsung's added yet another -- if this guy's the real deal, and we're thinking it likely is -- to its stable of multi-megapixel handsets with this unknown 8MP beastie. Branded with Samsung's Anycall and purportedly packing a WVGA (800 X 480) display, a Xenon flash, and what appears to be a TouchWiz UI, it has all the makings of a worthy companion for the Innov8 and PIxon. Though, that branding has us worried that this phone may well be a Korea-only adventure for Samsung. Mobile World Congress is just around the corner, and if we''re going to learn anything new about it, there's a good chance it'll be then.

Samsung's Ego S9402 launching for way too much in Russia

Man, it's crazy to see what flies as a "luxury phone" these days. The altogether vanilla looking Ego S9402 fittingly feels pretty darn good about itself, and while twin SIM card slots, a Bang & Olufsen sound processor and a 2-inch QVGA AMOLED display are nice inclusions, we're still wondering what we've missed that would justify the 48,990 rubles ($1,543) price tag. Who knows, maybe it's the 5 megapixel camera, metallic casing or the Russian exclusivity. Yeah, definitely the latter.

Samsung Show finally makes projector phones sexy

Is 2009 finally the year of the projector phone? Eh, not likely -- but there are finally a few models filtering into retail after years of talk, prototypes, and empty promises, including the Logic Bolt from independent manufacturer Logic Wireless and this puppy from Sammy. We're told that the aptly-named Show is inbound for release in South Korea before the end of the month, it runs Samsung's ubiquitous TouchWiz platform, and it packs DLP-based pico projector tech from TI, but that's about all we (and Samsung's US reps) seem to know about it. The projector can be used to view media stored in phone memory, pull up mobile TV via Korea's T-DMB airwaves, or simply project light, a function luddites may know better as a "flashlight." Most importantly, it actually isn't half-bad looking -- a symptom of a major manufacturer getting involved and throwing some won and industrial design staff at the thing, we bet.

• samsung 's SCH-r470 TwoStep now official on US Cellular

Samsung's SCH-r470 TwoStep now official on US Cellular

We had an inkling that Samsung's SCH-r470 was headed for US Cellular, and without getting all melodramatic, we'll just inform you that it is. The surprisingly stylish flip phone, more enjoyably called the TwoStep, features a 1.3 megapixel camera, a multimedia player, stereo speakers, a microsd card, Bluetooth, Burnt Orange / Red / Purple hues and a battery good for up to three hours of talk time. Anxious to get your mind around prices and specs? Tough luck.

• Samsung's r470 looks destined for US Cellular

Samsung Armani Night Effect gets exclusive on Vodafone

We've seen the Samsung Armani Night Effect fashion phone pop up pretty regularly over the last few months and it seems it has finally found a home chez Vodafone and Phones 4u sometime in January. We've covered the specs, poked fun at the garish branding, loved the pretty lights, and ultimately ended up confused about the whole thing. We've done our bit so now it's your time to chime in European friends, so what's it gonna be?

Samsung's R470 looks destined for US Cellular

If we have to pick between a flip CDMA dumbphone and, say, a Touch Pro, we're going to take the Touch Pro ten times out of ten -- but as flip CDMA dumbphones go, this thing really isn't half bad looking at all. The samsung R470 just passed FCC muster this week, and as Phone Scoop astutely notes, the manual's mention of "easyedge" indicates that the dazzlingly orange clamshell will likely see duty on US Cellular. We're looking at fairly comprehensive external controls -- likely with a music slant -- along with Bluetooth and microSD expansion, but strangely, we can't find any mention of EV-DO in the test docs. Seems kinda strange for a phone in this category, doesn't it?

• Sprint's pink Instinct shows up on Best Buy's site for outrageous price

Sprint's pink Instinct shows up on Best Buy's site for outrageous price

We'd pegged early January for the release of a pink samsung Instinct on Sprint's airwaves, and Best Buy's doing everything it can to help us hold the line on that with a new "Coming Soon" page advertising just such a product. Unfortunately, they're asking a whopping $599.99 for the pleasure of being the first kid on your block with this thing, but the off-contract pricing in Best Buy's system is usually way out of whack -- we wouldn't worry about paying anything close to $200 on contract by the time you actually step into the store.

• Unified UI previews the future of Samsung hardware

Unified UI previews the future of Samsung hardware

If Samsung devices are your preferred flavor, get very familiar with the interface pictured above. Eased in amongst product announcements during today's CES keynote is the news that all their devices -- camcorders, HDTVs, digital cameras, PMPs and all --will be sharing this style going forward. Seeming to follow the example set by Sony's XMB, and hopefully adding momentum to a trend others will continue, the idea is that users pick it up on one device, and can carry that experience to future purchases without a sharp learning curve. As much as we enjoy figuring out where the contrast setting is for the 20th time, early adopters have more than enough options to memorize. Of course, unified doesn't mean static, and this interface should be plenty customizable. Word is that consumers' first look at the new UI is via Samsung's new digital camera lineup, but other details are few and far between.