And it's coming to Vodafone Spain. We're not sure why only Vodafone would think that a white version of the F700 is such a great idea ('cause it is), so we're kinda hoping Verizon takes note.

[Via PHONE Magazine]

Verizon Wireless customers, you may want to sit down for this one. Samsung's oh-so-sexy SGH-F700, which is currently thrilling quite a few Vodafone customers, could be headed to The Network -- and soon. According to Phone Arena, the Verizon variant of the F700 will be dubbed the SCH-U940, but actual details beyond that are scant. We are told that the unit will boast a 440 x 240 resolution touchscreen, QWERTY keyboard and a two-megapixel camera, but beyond that we're left to wonder. No worries though, as the phone will reportedly be landing "in a few months," so keep your eyes peeled, cool?

Those paying attention should know full well by now that Samsung's SGH-F700 (you know, the Croix) is set to make everyone not a Vodafone customer uber-envious here soon, but just in case you missed it, Sammy is making sure you're up to speed. The handset will boast a three-megapixel camera, a 3.2-inch 432 x 240 resolution touchscreen, QWERTY keypad, Bluetooth 2.0, USB, a microSD expansion slot, HSDPA, and an integrated media player that handles H.263 / H.264, MP3, and AAC formats. We know what you're really after, so check out a bit more eye candy after the jump.

Vodafone's pretty proud of the fact that it has landed an exclusive agreement to offer arguably the most desirable product presently sitting in Samsung's lineup -- the be-all, end-all Ultra Smart F700 -- and it's not afraid to flaunt the fact. Addressing media this week, the carrier's talking up its blockbuster holiday offering (of which the F700's arguably the flagship) and taking emphasis off the iPhone, which seems to be about the only freaking device left off Voda's 25-plus handset launch schedule at this point. Echoing sentiments voiced by Nokia shortly after the iPhone's announcement, Vodafone exec Jens Schulte-Bokum points out that they "believe [3G] is necessary to deliver a compelling music and Internet experience," a feature conspicuously missing from Cupertino's version one. He goes on to say that the iPhone initially "won't support 3G," though it's not clear whether he's referring to the device that's already out or the one that'll be launching in Europe any day (or week or month) now. Of course, he says they "like the iPhone" in the same breath, so we certainly wouldn't rule out carrier involvement here -- but for the moment, the F700's their baby.

[Thanks, Jon L.]

Okay, so we've gathered a little more intelligence since our last run-through on the topic, and it turns out that Samsung's Ultra Smart F700 has not been dubbed "Croix." Croix is still alive and well, but it's actually the F700's underlying user interface paradigm, a paradigm based on crosses used for navigation ("croix" is French for cross, after all). It's the first time we've really seen the F700 in action, come to think of it, since we've only managed to get our hands on nonfunctional units at events so far. If the platform turns out to work as nicely as it looks, this is all great news, because Samsung's freshly-issued iF Communication Design Award indicates that "Croix is the backbone of a series of finger touch-based mobile phones with full touch screens." Let's worry about getting some F700s out in the field first though, eh, Samsung?

[Thanks, Gary C.]

Yes, we just recently brought you a bunch of live shots of the F700 from the CeBIT show floor, but when it comes to a device of this caliber, let's be honest: one good gallery deserves another. These ones come from CTIA; after being given a few brief moments to play with it, we really can't emphasize enough just how flippin' small it is. When we initially saw Samsung's press shots of the device, we got the impression that its dimensions were generous enough to put it head to head with a Hermes or equivalent -- and to be fair, with HSUPA, 7.2Mbps HSDPA, slide-out QWERTY and a 5 megapixel sensor, that's a reasonable impression to have -- but in reality, the F700 is seriously no bigger than a large candybar dumbphone. We don't want to rag on it too much since we haven't played with a functional device yet, but one potential downside is the keyboard -- the small space bar lies squarely in the middle of the bottom row of letter keys and has its top row placed a little too close to the bottom edge of the device's top half. Unfortunately, the unit we spent time with had no operating system loaded, but the hardware was so gorgeous that we almost -- almost -- didn't care.

We caught Samsung showing off their new Ultra Editions today at 3GSM, too; as we expected, the 12.1 (U700), 10.9 (U600), and 5.9 (U100) were there and sleek as hell. Did we mention we also got a shot of the F700 in there? Because we did. Unfortunately, it was behind a glass case. Ok, well, Samsung was smart about that, we might have made off with it if it wasn't under lock and key.

Eek! Must restore... cardiac function... ahh, there we go. Samsung's Ultra Editions seem to get classier, glossier, and more far-fetched with every subsequent iteration -- and if they haven't already jumped the shark, they have now with the rather breathtaking Ultra Smart F700. The candybar with a slide-out QWERTY 'board makes do with 7.2Mbps (yes, we said "seven point two") HSDPA plus EDGE for those occasions when 3G towers are out of reach, a 2.78 inch touchscreen sporting no fewer than 440 x 240 pixels, microSD expansion, full HTML browsing, Bluetooth, and a whopping 5 megapixels of snapping power on the backside. Per protocol, America is left squarely out of the equation with GSM 850 and WCDMA 850 / 1900 all coming up missing, but at least folks in the greater Barcelona area should get a shot at it next week when it bows all official-like at 3GSM.