Samsung announced today that a new handset is available for US mobile users: the so-called Samsung Messager (model name SCH-R450). The device was released via MetroPCS and it targets young users who send lots of text messages or make heavy use of Instant Messaging applications on their phone(s).

To meet the needs of its future buyers, Samsung Messager comes equipped with a full QWERTY keyboard that slides out horizontally to unveil four rows of easy-to-type-on keys. Furthermore, the SCH-R450 also brings: a 2.1 inch TFT display with 262K colors and 176 x 220 pixels, MP3 player with "a rich user interface", stereo Bluetooth, Advanced Voice Recognition (AVR), a 1.3 Megapixel camera (with video recording, most probably), MMS and SMS, email capabilities, speakerphone and microSD card support for up to 2GB.

Talking about the new MetroPCS handset, Bill Ogle, Chief Marketing Officer of Samsung Telecommunications America, declared, "The stylish horizontal slider of the Samsung Messager is easy to use. The Samsung Messager's attractive layout and QWERTY keyboard is a great fit for people who love text messaging".

The Samsung Messager is offered for $199, free of any contract, and can be bought either online, from MetroPCS's official website, or from its retail stores.

In conclusion, if you want an alternative to LG's Rumor, the Messager from Samsung might be exactly your thing.

Samsung's handsets are not new to MetroPCS, as the regional US carrier has had many other South Korean devices into its line-up of products, Samsung Spex and Samsung MyShot being among the latest released.

No word yet if the new QWERTY Samsung will be launched by other North American mobile operators too, but this is likely to happen - especially since the previously-released Samsung phones at MetroPCS (Spex and MyShot) are also being sold by carriers like Cricket and Alltel.