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Twisted; a new camera phone from Samsung

The reason camcorders have screens that twist, is because you really can't hold the thing up as if it were a light-weight camera phone. And the reason "spy cameras" have displays that twist, is so you can take a picture of one thing while looking as if you're photographing something else.

Samsung Mobile has launched "the UK's very first camera phone to feature a swivel hinge screen that can twist through 180 degrees" which, says Samsung optimistically, "provides camcorder-like convenience when taking pictures."

Students of Japanese miniature cameras will be struck by the similarity of this device to those little spy cameras which are used for "candid" glamour shots of unwary subjects.

Well, apart from that excitement, it's just another camera phone. It's MMS enabled, and in the UK, will cost around 200 pounds - with contract.

There's also "One-touch digital zooming and digital brightness" control, and up to 100 images can be stored on the handset.

This is Samsung's second camera phone. It displays up to 65,000 colours on its TFD LCD screen with 128 x 160 pixels, is a tri-band phone (works in the US) and has GPRS data. Standard features include predictive text input (T9), animated wallpapers, calendar, currency converter, alarm clock, PIM (Personal Information Management) features and vibrate alert. The standard battery allows for up to five hours talk time and 120 hours standby, with "up to" four hours talk time and 100 hours standby on the slim battery.

There are twenty five polyphonic ringtones stored within the phone and users can download five of their favourite at one time via the Samsung Fun Club.

Further info from Samsung's UK site.