14 DAY TRIAL // Samsung has recently announced that Axiom Telecom will carry the Samsung Galaxy Pro smartphone in UAE. The handset is expected to go on sale in the second week of April for AED 999 (roughly $272). The QWERTY bar phone is one of the latest additions to the Galaxy family and was introduced two weeks ago during the Samsung SEA (Southeast Asia & Oceania) Forum in Singapore.
Initially known as the Galaxy Q, the device was first rumored as a slider Android smartphone featuring a side-slide QWERTY keyboard.
However, the handset emerged at the beginning of last month and was spotted with Sprint’s name on it, which might suggest that Samsung plans to release a CDMA version of the Galaxy Pro.
This doesn't come as a surprise as the Korean manufacturer is known for launching different versions of a handset depending on the market and carrier.
The Galaxy Pro strongly resembles standard Blackberry handsets, which puts it in the business category. It comes with a 2.8-inch capacitive touchscreen with 262k colors support and a native 320 x 240 pixels resolution.
In addition to its four-row QWERTY keyboard, the smartphone is expected to be delivered with the latest TouchWiz UI, optical trackpad, accelerometer sensor for UI auto-rotate, as well as proximity sensor for auto turn-off.
The smartphone is powered by a single 800 MHz processor and runs on Android 2.2. It also features an average 3.0-megapixels main camera, which lacks a LED flash and autofocus capabilities.
In terms of connectivity, the smartphone is HSDPA-enabled and features Wi-Fi, as well as Samsung Hub Premium.
According to Axiom Telecom, the phone will be retailed with a free 2 GB microSD memory card in the sales package.
As a side note, the phone has just been confirmed by Three UK, which will be the first operator to launch the handset in the UK.