Although we fear the only people who will buy a phone with a projector built into it are the same jackasses people who bring laser pointers into movie theaters, we have to admit the Samsung i8520 Beam is pretty darn cool considering the DLP Pico projector is actually built into the device and not some crappy add-on. But of course, no novelty feature can help a phone’s sales if the rest of it isn’t up to snuff, though it looks like the i8520 has enough packed into its 14.9mm thin frame to get the geek juices flowing:  a 3.7″ WVGA Super AMOLED display, 8 megapixel camera with auto-focus and flash, aGPS, Wi-Fi, DNLA, 7.2Mbps up HSDPA (900/1900/2100MHz), 16GB of internal memory, 512MB ROM / 384MB RAM and an 1800 mAh battery that is said to yield 7 hours and 50 minutes of 3G talk time. OS wise, the i8520 is running Android 2.1 with “Specialized Projector UI”, something which is identical to the bada interface. No word yet on what processor we’re dealing with, although we have fired off an email to Samsung PR. The Samsung i8520 Beam will be available in Europe and Asia starting in Q3.

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AT&T’s first Snapdragon powered handset, the Windows Mobile-powered LG eXpo, is now available now for your buying pleasure. The eXpo has all the latest bells and whistles including a 3.2 inch 800×480 touchscreen display, 1 GHz processor, quad-band GSM, tri-Band UMTS/HSDPA, 5 megapixel autofocus camera with 5X zoom, slide out QWERTY keyboard, GPS, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR and Wi-Fi. All sorts of accessories are available for this phone but noticeably absent from the list is the removable pico projector, one of the big selling points for the device. No word on when the projector will be available but you can score the eXpo alone for $199 after a $100 mail in rebate and a two year commitment.

[Via wmpoweruser]

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As you might have imagined, the unending leakfest continues today with information about two more handsets headed AT&T’s way. First up is the Pantech Aladdin, a QWERTY slider with HSDPA connectivity, 2.2-inch QVGA display, 1.3 megapixel camera, aGPS, Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR, microSD expansion, threaded SMS, and support for Napster, eMusic and other forms of Windows DRM. This entry-level handset will fall in line with the Pantech Matrix / Matrix Pro and is expected later this year. Also expected to drop at AT&T is the LG Monaco, a high-end Windows Mobile side slider. The Monaco will feature a 3.2-inch WVGA touchscreen display, 3.6Mbps HSDPA, 5 megapixel auto-focus camera, QWERTY keyboard, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, microSDHC support and a sweet-sounding Pico projector accessory. The Monaco will reportedly run Windows Mobile 7 which likely pushes the launch date of this phone well into 2010. Hit the jump for the associated slides.

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