We scooped it like Houston’s spinach dip back in April and right on schedule, the Samsung T349 is now available from T-Mobile. No, it’s not quite as exciting as some of the other handsets due to drop over the next few weeks and months but the T349 definitely has its place in T-Mobile’s lineup as an affordable messaging phone for tweens. Key features:

• T-Mobile myFaves® enabled
• Messaging services
  • Text messaging (XT9 Predictive Text Technology)
  • Instant Messaging (AIM®, Windows Live^TM Messenger, Yahoo!® Messenger)
  • Picture Messaging
• Support for web2go^SM
• 1.3-megapixel Camera
  • 1280×1024 resolution
  • 4x digital zoom
• MP3 Player: supports MP3, AAC, AAC+
• Stereo Bluetooth® Wireless Technology
• MicroSD Card Slot – up to 4GB
• Speakerphone
• Personal organizer (alarm, calendar, calculator, notes, world time, converter, timer, stopwatch)
• EDGE & GPRS Class: 10; 850/1800/1900 MHz
• Dimensions: 4.49″ x 1.97″ x 0.53″; 3.2 ounces
• Display: 2.2″, 176 x 220 Pixels, 262K TFT Color
• Standard Lithium Ion Battery: up to 7 hours talk time; up to 300 hours standby time

With a SureType-like 20-key keypad and a remarkably affordable $14.99 price point on a 2-year contract, expect to see this puppy popping up in malls across the country faster than you can say Abercrombie.

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We’ve just received this little nugget from one of our ninjas about an upcoming handset for T-Mobile, the Samsung T349. While the device itself is nothing too fancy, it is nonetheless a pretty interesting device in that T-Mobile has describes it internally as a “20-key messaging phone.” Despite the blurriness of the image above, we are able to see that the entry-level T349 indeed features a keypad much like the SureType keypads found on the BlackBerry Pearl and Pearl Flip. Specs are as follows:

• 20-key keypad
• 1.3 megapixel camera w/ video capture
• SMS, MMS, Email and IM
• Bluetooth
• Speakerphone
• Photo caller ID, alarm clock, calculator,
• Mobile backup
• GPRS connectivity

Look for the Samsung T349 to make its retail debut to both pre and post-paid subscribers on May 20th. Believe it or not, this little guy is the first new handset added to T-Mobile’s pre-paid line-up in the past year. Yay?