First Android-powered device to be offered by Samsung in the US

(Relaxnews) -

Samsung has developed its second Android-powered device (the first to be offered in the US) - the Behold II.

The Behold II is modelled on its sibling, the Behold - a touch-screen feature phone that was released in 2008. The Behold was a WiFi-less feature phone with advanced multimedia capabilities that fell just short of being classified in the smartphone category.

The new addition to the family, on the other hand, is a full-fledged smartphone with a 5 megapixel auto focus camera with built-in flash, a 3.2 inch AMOLED touchscreen display, A-GPS, Bluetooth 2.1, multimedia capabilities and the ability to add up to 16GB of external memory to the device.

The Behold II also features Samsung's TouchWiz interface - a rotating 3D cube-like home screen that provides shortcuts to the phone's most required features such as multimedia, internet and music. Using Google's Android marketplace users will also be able to download applications to further customise the phone.

The Samsung Behold II will join three other Google Android devices currently offered on T-Mobile, the T-Mobile G1, the MyTouch 3G and the Motorola Cliq (which should also be available before the end of the year in the US).

In April, Samsung demonstrated its first Android-powered Mobile phone, the I7500 that has since been launched in the European market. The company has suggested it will release at least three Android-powered phones before the end of 2009.

The Behold II is rumored to arrive in time for the Christmas holiday shopping period but as yet no prices have been provided.