A spy shot of the Samsung i770 next to its predecessor, the i760, emerged on Tuesday courtesy of Howard Forums member TK093. The upcoming i770 is longer and a lot slimmer than the i760. The i770 maintains its slim profile by shedding the slide out keyboard of the i760 in favor of a full front Qwerty keyboard. The front of the phone is dominated visually by a giant silver ring that encircles an optical touchpad. Similar to the i780, the optical touchpad can be used to control the onscreen cursor. Confused by the idea of a touchpad on a touchscreen device? Don’t worry, there is a toggle switch on the side of the phone that allows you to switch from this unique virtual mouse mode to regular D-Pad mode. According to TK093, the i770 still has the top power button that is used to wake up the phone. Ugh, a minor annoyance but at least there is a system setting that allows you to switch between “wake up with the power button” or “wake up with any button”. No release date or pricing has been announced. We can only hope the release is soon as the aging i760 really needs a replacement and Verizon desperately needs some fresh, new Windows Mobile Professional phones, even this mediocre offering, in its lineup. Hit the jump for a snapshot of the ultra-slim side profile of the i770.

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Sure, the Samsung i760 may be getting a bit long in the tooth, but there’s nothing like a little OS refresh and added functionality to breathe new life into an aging dinosaur. Originally scheduled for a June launch, Verizon has officially released the Windows Mobile 6.1 update for is i760 handset. There’s nothing as sexy as EV-DO Rev. A support in there, but if the following list of improvements don’t get you excited about your oddly-shaped slide out QWERTY mobile companion, then we’re pretty sure there’s no hope left for you:

• Applied, several Bluetooth improvements (updated BT DUN profile, improved scanning)
• Applied, support for YouTube videos
• Applied, Qualcomm patch
• Fixed, memory leakage by replacing POOM API
• Fixed, notification malfunction under certain conditions
• Fixed, certain conditions prevented delivery of MMS
• Added, MEID support (included in BC04 MR)
• Added, WLAN chipset enhancement (included in BC04 MR)

The Samsung i770 may be the talk of the town at the moment, but it looks like the current i760 might be getting a little bit of love before it gets phased out. Rumor has it that the i760 will be the recipient of a fresh Windows Mobile 6.1 update sometime this month. Carriers are beginning to roll out the 6.1 updates in earnest, so this seems entirely plausible, though we don’t have any specifics in terms of an actual date. We’re still betting on the upcoming i770 as the real prize in Verizon’s future lineup, but this should hold you over until you can get your hands on the new model.

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