Samsung To Unveil Dual-Screen Continuum Smartphone

Clint Boulton eWEEK USA 2012. Ziff Davis Enterprise Inc. All Rights Reserved,

The launch, scheduled for 8 November, means Samsung will not be launching the rumoured Nexus Two Android device

Rumours of Samsung launching a Nexus Two smartphone based on Google’s Android 2.3 operating system on 8 November are laid to rest with the report that the company will be rolling out a different phone that day: the Samsung Continuum i400.

Samsung is holding a press event for 8 November in New York City, and media outlets speculated the consumer electronics maker could roll out its Samsung Galaxy Player music device or the Nexus Two with the new Gingerbread OS.

Continuum launch

However, Samsung officials denied it will launch the Nexus Two that day. Samsung Hub on 3 November said the launch will actually be the Continuum, a dual-screen device sold exclusively by Verizon Wireless in the US starting on 11 November.

Verizon declined to comment on the launch, but confirmed the existence of the device in this Christmas gift idea page.

Specs unearthed at Phone Arena showed the Continuum is much like the Samsung Fascinate, running Android 2.1 with the same 1GHz Hummingbird processor.

However, while the Fascinate sports a 4-inch display, the Continuum’s main screen is a 3.4-inch 480-by-800 WVGA Super AMOLED display atop a 1.8-inch 96-by-480 Super AMOLED display for showing alerts and messages.

The device, the first dual-screen Android handset, also sports a 5-megapixel auto-focus camera and LED flash that supports 720p video recording and DivX video playback.

Nexus Two rumours

Specs from a Verizon Wireless comparison chart later surfaced on Droid Life showing the Continuum side-by-side with the Samsung Fascinate, underscoring the devices’ similarities.

Engadget said the Continuum will sell for $199 with a two-year contract starting on 11 November.

So what of the fabled Nexus Two, a device built by Samsung and loaded with Google-picked software, including the new Android 2.3 OS?

TechCrunch said it’s very real but very delayed due to a hardware issue. IntoMobile said Android 2.3 could still arrive, sans device, on 11 November.

Google launched the Nexus One last January as the first handset based on Android 2.1, selling the device unlocked through its web store for $529 (£327), or $179 with a two-year contract from T-Mobile USA.

The device was unique because, while HTC made the hardware, Google put only the software it wanted on it.

Few people purchased the device and, after Sprint and Verizon Wireless reneged on their plans to offer the device, Google shuttered the web store in the spring, offering the Nexus One to developers as a testbed gadget.