Fret not, T-Mobile fans! It appears as though AT&T isn’t going to be the only carrier graced with an 8-megapixel touch screen phone from Samsung. The long rumored T929, or Leica or Memoir or any other name that has been passed through the rumor mill, has just received its blessing from the FCC. How do we know it’s for T-Mobile? Well, slapping a 1700MHz radio into the phone isn’t going to help it on any other US carrier, is it? That’s right, you’ll get to enjoy HSDPA to make your Internet experience a little more bearable with this one. According to the FCC docs, the T929 will also support GPS and Bluetooth as well. No release dates or pricing as of yet, but we’re thinking it should be reasonable with a contract and all that jazz. We’ll be sure to keep you guys posted!

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Well it’s no Innov8 but we’re still pretty amazed that Samsung is actually going to be bringing its 8 megapixel to the US with some 3G love. No, seriously! The FCC just did its thing, and by that we mean it let us all know about a handset way ahead of schedule – the Samsung M8800L. The L variant is basically identical to its European counterpart but it sports the coveted 850 and 1900 MHz WCDMA bands that we hope for with each new high-end handset announcement and typically don’t see. In other words, it looks like AT&T will soon be getting it’s 8 megapixels on and we can all look forward to some tempting subsidized pricing. Initial rumors pointed to T-Mobile as being a potential carrier for this beast of a camera phone but unless a third version is in the works, it’s unfortunately not looking overly likely.

[Via CellPhone Signal]

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The Internet has been graced with blurry, less than detailed shots of what appears to be an upcoming 8 megapixel monster from Samsung. We’re not sure if this is going to carry the rumored “Memoir” name, but we’re hearing a lot of references to the T929 Leica, which is a rebradned Pixon that we mentioned not too long ago. Onto more important things, it looks like this will be packing an 8 megapixel camera and a touch screen. So far, there isn’t much to be told but if it’s anything like the Samsung Pixon then it might be a pretty exciting device for TMO folks to look forward to. However, it seems it will be more like the Samsung Behold than anything else, which could be good or bad news depending on your take on the Behold. While it’s been speculated that this handset might be Android-powered, we’re going to keep our reservations about that one since Samsung hasn’t been as vocal as other manufacturers regarding jumping on the Google bandwagon. Hit the jump for an additional pic!

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Ever since the Samsung M8800 Pixon was first announced, we hoped it would find its way to the US somehow. To refresh your memory, the Pixon is basically a fully loaded 8 megapixel digital camera that just so happens to have a phone on board as well. Here in the US we’ve gotten pretty used to seeing gems like this pass us by but as it turns out, we may have jumped the gun in assuming that Samsung’s sexy 8 megapixel shooter would be passing us by as usual. According to a new rumor, Samsung will be bringing the Pixon, rebranded as the T929 Leica, to the US by way of T-Mobile. Rumors had been starting to surface and now a little hint might have been uncovered by way of Best Buy’s website. It looks like the retailer may have accidentally included the T929 on the list of handsets compatible with a replacement lithium ion battery that indeed fits the Pixon. Oops. Let’s hope that if this rumor does turn out to be true, Samsung manages to tweak this puppy a bit and work some 1700 MHz 3G love in there…

[Via Cellphone Signal]

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We told you a few weeks about an 8MP shootout between the LG KC910 “Renoir” and the Samsung M8800 Pixon, but GSMArena outdid the folks over at Mobile@Mail.Ru by doing their own 8MP shootout testing four of the hottest 8MP camera phones out there. In their in-depth review, GSM Arena compares the LG KC910, the Samsung M8800 Pixon, the Sony Ericsson C905, and the Samsung INNOV8.  We wont even try to cover all the details of their 7 page review in a single post. Suffice to say that each camera phone has its own strengths and weaknesses. The Samsung INNOV8 is the best universal performer with excellent image quality, capable video recording, and a large display. The Sony Ericsson C905 has the best camera interface, camera handling, and controls. The LG KC910 has a beautiful high resolution touch screen with well balanced camera features and very good image quality. Last but not least, the Samsung M8800 Pixon brings up the rear in terms of image quality and camera features, but has a well organized user interface and above-average video recording. If that piques your interest and leaves you wanting more, then hit the read link and get more one on one mobile camera action than you can stand.

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Want an 8MP shooter but cant decide which one?  With four sweet phones currently filling this category we feel your pain. The folks over at “Mobile@Mail.Ru” also understand your dilemma and have done a very detailed comparison of two of the latest 8MP phones, the LG Renoir and the Samsung Pixon . Besides the awesome 8MP capability which they have in common, what features differentiate these two camera phones and which one is the best for the shutterbugs among us? We will start off with the LG Renoir. The Renoir offers a Schneider-Kreuznach Lens and a Xenon flash which on paper (and in practice) outperforms the cheap plastic lens and dual LED flash of the Pixon. The Renoir also has an active autofocus which the reviewer deems superior to the Pixon’s passive autofocus. Mark that as two in the column for the LG Renoir. You can score a few for the Samsung Pixon as the reviewer notes that the speed of the Pixon camera is higher than the Renoir and the Pixon’s UI is easier to use. One caveat, the reviewer does not clarify (or our Russian is a little rusty and we missed it) what is meant by the “speed” of the camera; whether it is the time to first picture, the number of frames per second or the ISO. We will have to take his word for it that the “speed” is better on the Pixon. Hit the jump for some side-by-side sample photos.

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Not to be outdone by their Korean competitor, LG is whipping out their own 8 megapixel camera with the KC780. They’re also calling this one the thinnest 8MP camera that can be had – so if it’s going to be any thinner than the Samsung Pixon M8800, they’ll have to shave it below 13.8mm. Though it looks like they took the time to take very professional-looking press photos for the upcoming device, there is no solid confirmation of specs, release dates, or price. But if we had to guess, it will very likely be a quad-band GSM phone with 3G capabilities, maybe a touch screen (even if just for few commands and buttons) though it’s unusual for a slider, and a nice video recorder (if you’re slapping on such a camera, why not?) All they need to do is make sure the price is right and they might have a winner on their hands.

[via GSMarena]

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Everyone and their grandmother rocks a camera phone these days. We’ve finally reached a point where even the cheapest of cheap entry-level handsets is at least packing a 1.3 megapixel shooter, allowing user to capture those dark, fuzzy, pixelated memories while on the go. Samsung’s freshly-announced handset however, the Pixon M8800, should most certainly not be lumped into the same category as these shoddy camera phones. In fact, it’s more of a “phone camera” than a camera phone. Sure it can make calls, send and receive messages, browse the web and handle a few games, but none of those features will even be a consideration for would-be owners. No, it’s the 8 megapixel camera and the wide array of top-notch photo and video features that take center stage here. In fact we’re going to list them separately in the specs since the rest is really just gravy:

• 8 megapixel camera with autofocus
• 16x digital zoom and Fast Shutter
• Dual Power LED flash
• ASR (Advanced Shake Reduction)
• WDR (Wide Dynamic Range)
• Face Detection, Smile Shot, Face Link (face tagging) and Photo memo
• Auto Panorama Shot
• Geotagging support (integrated GPS)
• Photo Browser (Accelerometer Sensor, Tilt and flip, Sorting by Face/Time/Color/Folder)
• 30 fps D1 (720 x 480) video capture
• 120 fps (QGVA) slow motion video capture
• MPEG4, WMV, DivX, XviD playback support
• TV-out

That’s right people, we weren’t joking. The Pixon M8800 is strictly business when it comes to photos and video. The rest of the story; Meh.

• Quad Band GSM (850/900/1800/1900) / GPRS / EDGE
• WCDMA 2100 / HSDPA 7.2 Mbps connectivity (2100 only?! Fail)
• 3.2″ 240 × 400 262K color WQVGA TFT display (262K colors?! Fail)
• FM Radio with RDS
• Music Player (MP3, AAC, e-AAC+, e-AAC+, WMA)
• SRS (Surround Sound System) Virtual 5.1CH
• DNSe (Digital Natural Sound engine)
• Bluetooth 2.0 and USB 2.0

So there you have it people – Samsung’s new Pixon M8800 phone camera. As far as a launch schedule goes, it will be available in France sometime near the middle of October and will then be released throughout Europe and Asia. As for US availability… Please, this is Samsung we’re talking about here.

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