14 DAY TRIAL // Wireless carrier AT&T and Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung Mobile) announced on Thursday that the award-winning BlackJack and BlackJack II mobile phones would soon have a successor, in the form of Samsung Jack i637, which is expected to become available for purchase with the carrier as early as May 19.
The new Samsung Jack, like its predecessors, will also be a Windows Mobile-powered handset, and we learn that, while it will debut running under Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard, later this year it will receive an upgrade to the 6.5 iteration of the platform. “The Samsung Jack will be another hit crossover smartphone in the tradition of the BlackJack and BlackJack II,” said Mike Woodward, vice president, Mobile Phone Portfolio, AT&T Mobility Corporation. “The BlackJack series has been the number one selling franchise in Windows Mobile history.”
Given the fact that it comes with Microsoft's operating system, the device will also sport Microsoft Direct Push for synchronization of contacts, calendars and task lists with Microsoft Exchange Server or Xpress Mail, as well as Internet Explorer Mobile and Office Mobile with support for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents.
The specification list of the Samsung Jack shows the candybar form factor, coupled with the front-facing QWERTY keyboard, as well as a 2.4-inch display that boasts a QVGA resolution, a 3.2-megapixel photo snapper that sports video recording features, Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g) capabilities, Bluetooth connectivity, and A-GPS with support for AT&T Navigator, AT&T Navigator Global Edition and other location-based solutions.
When compared to its predecessors, the new Samsung Jack i637 shows a bigger body, yet we learn that this is complemented by the faster 528MHz processor, coupled with 256MB of RAM. The handset comes as a messaging-centric device, and not only that it sports a full-QWERTY keyboard, but it also includes features like support for multiple e-mail accounts, as well as SMS, MMS, and instant messaging capabilities.
Bill Ogle, chief marketing officer, Samsung Telecommunications America, commented, “The Jack takes the best messaging features, coolest multimedia options and cutting-edge productivity tools and packs them into a high-tech phone.” When made available for purchase on AT&T's airwaves on May 19, the Samsung Jack i637 is expected to sport a price tag of $99.99 upon the signing of a 2-year contract agreement and after a $100 mail-in rebate.