Samsung on Thursday unveiled two new dual-SIM smartphones, the Galaxy Y Duos and the Galaxy Y Pro Duos. A phone with two SIM card slots offers a number of benefits; it’s perfect for two people hoping to share a single phone in emerging markets, but it’s also great for business travelers that want to use one account for personal matters and a second as a business line. The Galaxy Y Duos runs Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) and has a processor clocked at 832MHz and a 3-megapixel camera. The Galaxy Y Pro Duos offers similar specs but has a smaller 2.6-inch display and a full QWERTY keyboard. Both phones will initially launch in Russia. The Galaxy Y Duos will then roll out into Europe, CIS, Latin America, Southeast and Southwest Asia, the Middle East, Africa and China. The Galaxy Y Pro Duos will launch in Europe, CIS, Latin America, Southwest Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Samsung’s full press release follows after the break.

Balance work and play with GALAXY Y DUOS and GALAXY Y Pro DUOS

2011.12.22

Samsung adds Dual SIM smartphones into its GALAXY smartphone line-up

SEOUL, Korea – December 22, 2011 – Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd, a global leader in digital media and digital convergence technologies, today announced the latest additions to the GALAXY smartphone series, Samsung GALAXY Y DUOS and Samsung GALAXY Y Pro DUOS. Beginning in January 2012, these new devices will be available in Russia, and GALAXY Y DUOS will be gradually rolled out to Europe, CIS, Latin America, Southeast and Southwest Asia, Middle East, Africa and China. GALAXY Y Pro DUOS will be coming to Europe, CIS, Latin America, Southwest Asia, Middle East and Africa.

GALAXY Y DUOS and GALAXY Y Pro DUOS feature a unique Dual SIM system that maximizes communication flexibility by allowing two separate phone numbers and a simultaneous use of data on the same device. Users who need to balance busy professional and social lives can access and seamlessly switch from one line to the other with GALAXY Y DUOS or GALAXY Y Pro DUOS.

“With the tremendous success of the Dual SIM feature phones, we are now very pleased to be introducing the first Dual SIM smartphones powered by Android™. “We have been actively exploring this market and are well aware of the need for Dual SIM smartphones,” said JK Shin, President of IT & Mobile Communications Division at Samsung Electronics. “With the GALAXY Y DUOS and the GALAXY Y Pro DUOS, Samsung will be offering more choices for all consumers.”

Samsung’s First Full Touch Smartphone with Dual SIM, GALAXY Y DUOS
GALAXY Y DUOS is for young and practical consumers who want to manage their professional career and busy social life with affordable price. Beyond the flexibility of its dual SIM card system, GALAXY Y DUOS is a beautifully designed smartphone contained in a 11.98mm polished metallic casing. Its ergonomic design is complemented by a 3.14” full touch display that provides optimal legibility for a smartphone of its size.

Powered by Android 2.3 Gingerbread and running on a powerful 832MHz processor, GALAXY Y DUOS offers advanced performance and versatility needed to successfully manage busy professional and social lifestyles.

GALAXY Y DUOS also provides users with multiple options to enrich their social lives. It features ChatON, Samsung’s unique cross-platform communication service that connects all mobile users into a single community. Users can also stay connected through Social Hub, which supports email, social network integration and instant messaging, displaying all of your communication in a single inbox.

Samsung’s First QWERTY Smartphone with Dual SIM, GALAXY Y Pro DUOS
Samsung is also introducing GALAXY Y Pro DUOS, which offers additional benefits for young professionals with the combination of a full QWERTY keyboard with a 2.6” display, giving them more business-friendly experience with better flexibility and usability.

GALAXY Y Pro DUOS offers enhanced productivity with the inclusion of Polaris and Find My Mobile professional tools. Polaris offers easy viewing and editing of a wide range of Office documents, enabling you to work with Word, Excel, PowerPoint and even PDF files while on-the-move. Samsung’s Find My Mobile Service ensures peace-of-mind by letting users remotely lock the phone at anytime, as well as trace the phone or remotely wipe its contents in case of loss or theft.

The users can also enjoy Social Hub Premium, offering support for push email and messaging, and seamless calendar and contact synchronization between the phone and users’ Google, Yahoo and MSN accounts.

Images of what appears to be the unannounced Nokia C2-06 have been leaked by Hackintosh India. Judging from the photos, the C2-06 will be a new S40 device with a slider form factor that’s capable of accepting two SIM cards at the same time. A dual-SIM phone is a good option for frequent travelers, or for two people that want to share a single device with two phone numbers. The device appears to have a low resolution touchscreen as well as a slide-out full alphanumeric keypad. Given the lack of amenities like Wi-Fi or 3G, we suspect this Touch and Type phone will likely be launched in emerging markets. Hit the jump for two more images.

[Via Unwired View]

Read

It appears Motorola isn’t willing to part ways the MING smartphone design as a pictures of a previously unseen Android smartphone with the iconic design have emerged out of China. Pretty much everything about this phone is a mystery, although it is rumored to be codenamed North Sea, run Android 2.1 plus MOTOBLUR 1.5 and feature a 5 megapixel camera that can shoot videos at resolutions up to 720p. Interestingly, there appears to be not one but two status bars which could mean this is a dual-SIM device. Not that this would be a huge surprise given the prevalence of such devices in China, it’s just that we’ve never seen such an Android phone from a big-name manufacturer. Would anyone be super sad if this thing is confined to China?

Read

UK-based mobile service provider Geodesa Limited just made a pretty exciting announcement and we can only hope this is the start of a continuing trend. For those unfamiliar with Geodesa, the company’s core product is the GeoSIM — a SIM card with attached service that does away with insane international roaming charges across a pretty massive expanse. It’s newly announced upcoming product, the GeoSIM Dual IMSI SIM card, will take things one step further and provide two local phone numbers — initially one US and on UK number — on a single SIM, thus facilitating free incoming calls in both regions and hugely discounted outgoing calls / SMS. Blurb time:

We are really excited about this ‘market shaking product’ which is generating a great deal of interest from customers and resellers already. In the past, travellers roaming on a US network have had to pay for incoming calls on their mobiles and paid higher charges for making calls. From mid April, all that will change when we roll out GeoSIM Dual IMSI. The USA will effectively become part of Europe in terms of the GeoSIM call rates and free incoming calls. GeoSIM customers will be able to call and receive at the current rates available in Europe or the US no matter which side of the Atlantic they are on.

Interest piqued, frequent fliers? Yes, ours is as well. The GeoSIM Dual IMSI SIM card (guys, work on that name a bit please) will launch in April and we’ll definitely keep an eye on Geodesa to see how the service is received and when it might expand in terms of available number locales.

[Via IntoMobile]

Read

LG has announced its first ever dual-SIM device. Featuring a 3″ WQVGA display and a 5 megapixel camera, the tri-band KS660 is being touted as a great business tool as it allows users to have access to both their business and personal lines with the same device – no battery pulling or fumbling with SIMs required. The major drawbacks to this phone are that it lacks both 3G and WiFi. Also, if you’re a stylus hater don’t even think about the KS660 because it has one tucked away on the right-hand side.

• 105mm × 55mm × 14.9mm, 115g
• Tri-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE (900/1800/1900 MHz)
• 3″ WQVGA (240×400) TFT touch-screen display w/ feedback
• 5 megapixel camera w/ autofocus, flash, and video recording (720×480)
• 50MB in-built memory
• microSDHC
• accelerometer

Not expected to be released for North America or Western Europe, the KS600 should drop in China, Russia and a few other Russian satellite states in Q1 2009.

[Via engadget mobile]

Read