One of the worst-kept secrets in Verizon's stable is finally getting official today; that's right, ladies and gentlemen, meet the Glyde from Samsung. Wearing CDMA guts underneath its F700 clothing, the fashion-friendly QWERTY slider offers a 2 megapixel cam with flash and autofocus, GPS, the full range of Bluetooth profiles, microSD slot, and a true HTML browser. Unlike its crosstown competition -- the LG Voyager -- the Glyde doesn't offer support for Verizon's VCAST TV service, but we imagine most folks will consider that a minor (read: nonexistent) inconvenience. Look for the phone to start circulating into retail channels this week for a princely $249.99 on contract after $50 rebate.

Just in case you haven't learned enough about the forthcoming Samsung Instinct from our hands-on gallery / UI video walkthrough, Sammy has launched a promotional website designed to give you the skinny. Within the site, you can peer at a handful of press shots, get schooled on all of its features and sign up to be notified when it's ready for your hands to be wrapped around it. Nothing too exciting, but those with the Instinct high on their list of next mobile to own will surely find it worth the click over.

Remember when we caught wind that Verizon was prepping a worldband version Samsung's i760 Windows Mobile piece? That rumor's suddenly gained a lot more credence now that we've seen a so-called SCH-i770 pass through the FCC's hallowed halls, especially considering the device outline's uncanny resemblance to that of the aforementioned i760. We'd previously heard that there might be some HSDPA on board, and while we're not seeing any evidence of that from the FCC's test reports, we can confirm that it'll feature EV-DO, WiFi, and Bluetooth in addition to all the GSM you'll need to get by while roaming through mysterious foreign lands. No word on when we might actually see an announcement about this one, but we imagine Verizon doesn't want to wait that much longer -- the i760 design isn't getting any younger, y'know.

[Via Phone Scoop]

Look out, Virgin Mobile subscribers -- Samsung's sliding you one more handset option with its forthcoming Slash. Posted now on the carrier's own website, said mobile packs integrated Bluetooth, a color display, voice dialing, web access and a talk time of 3.5-hours. Additionally, it tips the scales at just 3-ounces and measures 3.8- x 1.8- x 0.7-inches. Unfortunately, we're still waiting on the real details (you know, resolution, price, release date, whether it works in subarctic temperatures, etc.), but feel free to keep a close eye on the read link as its inevitable launch date draws near.

While some manufacturers stay home pouting about mobile TV's slow uptake in Europe, Samsung isn't giving up on the Euro DVB-H market just yet, hoping to entice viewers with better features. The company's new SGH-P960 adds integrated DVR functionality, like pausing live TV when it rings, meaning you won't miss any of the action on the slider's 2.6-inch, 240 x 320 screen. Other TV niceties include picture-in-picture, an on-screen programming guide, and an integrated Bang & Olufsen amplifier. A 3 megapixel cam with LED flash on the back rounds out what sounds like a nice package, but with no word on price or availability outside of Europe it's hard to get too excited.

MediaFLO is about to cut loose for AT&T customers this morning and we've got video to prove it. After the break you'll find Mobile TV running on LG's new $300 (2-year, after $100 rebate) Vu, one of just two Mobile TV compatible handsets launching on AT&T May 4th -- the other being the $200 (2-year, after $100 rebate) Samsung Access. Performance looks reasonably snappy when scrolling through the channel guide although some of the exclusive PIX and CNN Mobile Live content is not yet available. S'ok, AT&T has three more days to throw the big blue switch on the broadcast TV service which includes a $15/month unlimited Mobile TV access plan. Hear that Verizon? AT&T's about to step all over your portable TV game in the US market.

[Via MyFoxUtah]

A nice, thick blanket of 3G might still be years away for China, but who the heck knows -- if they can keep fast-tracking it like they're doing here, maybe they can tighten up that schedule just a teensy bit. After kicking off a trial... like, whoa, this month, China Mobile has already blessed a large enough swath of its nascent TD-SCDMA coverage to deliver some 15,000 compatible Samsung handsets, data cards, and 3 million yuan (about $430,000) worth of minutes to the Beijing Olympic Games' organizing committee this week. It's said that the hardware will be doled out to staff and volunteers helping to get the Games in order, giving them something to do with their leisure hours (we suppose) as they put the finishing touches on the many event venues spotting the city, and presumably, China will be working hard to play up its technological achievement come game time later this year. If you can call a proprietary 3G protocol that lags its CDMA and WCDMA competition by years a "technical achievement," anyway.

[Via mocoNews]

We've learned from a trusted source that one of the jewels in Verizon's summer 2008 crown, the Samsung Glyde, will finally freaking launch on May 9. Despite a wealth of both in-the-wild and press quality photography of the phone over the past few weeks, it's been less and less clear when exactly Verizon was planning on actually offering it, so we're glad to finally have a date -- particularly considering that it's less than two weeks away. That'll give the Glyde a few comfortable weeks atop the heap ahead of the Dare's arrival, so enjoy it while you can, Samsung.

Update: It'll be $299.99 on a two-year plan before rebate, $369.99 on a one-year, and $419.99 with no strings attached.

Fans of mid and low-end cell phones who happen to live in Hong Kong can add another handset to their lust list, the Samsung Anycall J708, which is quite a sexy and diminutive handset considering its price. The 0.6-inch thick slider costs 1,480 HKD (about $190), which means a slim feature list, but there's plenty for the media-hungry to be getting on with: H.263 and MPEG4 video playback, MP3 and AAC audio playback, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP, a micro SD slot, a 1.3 megapixel camera and EDGE. In the end, it's always nice to see a low-end phone that doesn't look like someone folded a three year old candybar in half and slapped a new coat of paint on it.

[Via Unwired View]

Windows Mobile Standard devices are a whole heck of a lot more refined now than they were in the early days, aren't they? Manufacturers have figured out what form factors seem to work best, the quality of the hardware has improved by leaps and bounds (though it admittedly can't ever really be good enough), and the handsets continue to find ways to squeeze blood out of the WinMo 6 stone by way of new capabilities and new skins. The i640v from Samsung -- a Vodafone exclusive for the moment, hence the "v" -- represents the pinnacle of everything Samsung has learned about making these non-touchscreen smartphones over the last several years, and we can honestly say it's one of the most refined and most attractive Windows Mobile phones we've ever used, period. It's pleasantly compact when closed, sliding open to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard only when needed, and the mirrored finish with chrome accents gives it a high-end touch without crossing the gaudy line. The nav wheel spins just like the BlackJack II's, but the larger diameter is a welcome addition and makes navigating Vodafone's custom skin a breeze.

Samsung, T-Mobile, AT&T -- we implore you, bring a version of this to the States, preferably one with 3G that we can use, k? Thanks!

Thanks to the good folks at Wireless Imports for the hookup!

Gallery:

It's not like Samsung hasn't simplified a good number of its handsets before, but the Anycall CC03 hearkens back to the days when text-messaging was but a dream and haptics weren't even mentioned in the same paragraph as cellular telephones (okay, so maybe that's a stretch). Still, we can definitely appreciate the lo-fi approach given the $65 sticker, and considering that it measures in at just 4.07- x 1.73- x 0.58-inches, we can certainly see quite a few folks picking one up to handle calling, and well, more calling. You'll find dual-band GSM support, speakerphone / SMS functionality and a battery that'll provide around 2.8-hours of talk time. No word on a price just yet, but word on street has this phone available as we speak in Hong Kong.

Have 1,499 reais (about $904) to blow? Live in or around Sao Paulo, Belo Horizonte, or Rio de Janeiro, Brazil? Great, because Samsung has a little something it wants to show you. The V820L pivoting flip is a capable 3G phone in its own right, complete with Bluetooth, a 2 megapixel cam, microSD expansion, and a front-facing secondary cam for video calls, but it also adds digital TV reception for Brazil's nascent ISDB-T spectrum. The relatively expansive 2.6 inch display should be a boon for watching your favorite Portuguese-language programming on the go, though it sounds like the limited coverage could be a big bummer at this point until broadcasters have the time to build out the network just a bit. It sounds like carriers might subsidize the phone a bit to knock down that stratospheric price tag, but even so -- just how much do we want to pay for a few square miles of entertainment?

[Image via Abril.com, thanks Marcelo R.]

Spotted on Wired, we're not quite sure what to make of this ad for Sprint's upcoming Samsung Instinct; we've never much cared for fruits or other fillings in our breakfast batters, but perhaps that's just us.

It seems like a healthy contingent of folks are getting amped for the imminent release of Glyde on Verizon, but we'd always assumed that those folks would be paying a buck or two for the privilege of sporting Samsung's latest and greatest in their pockets on day one. Well, turns out that may not be the case: we've been sent a tip showing what appears to be a screen shot out of Best Buy's system, indicating that it'll be free with any rate plan activation or upgrade. Skepticism is always in order with these sorts of things because even if the screen shot is legit, it's entirely plausible that Best Buy just has it's signals crossed as it preps for launch -- but we can always hope, can't we?

[Thanks, anonymous tipster]