Samsung I7500

Android gets a push from one of the biggest names in cell phones with Samsung?s upcoming I7500.

Android has been slow to get rolling. After launching on a phone that looked like a prototype, appearing then disappearing as Aussie vaporware, then getting yet another HTC incarnation, it’s been hard to justify the hype.

But now some of the majors are finally getting onboard. Samsung announced its own Android-based handset with the I7500, which will bring some more complementary hardware to the snappy OS.

That begins with a 3.2-inch OLED touch screen – the same tech Samsung just used for the attractive Impression smartphone it unwrapped at CTIA. It offers better brightness, contrast, and efficiency than the LCD equivalent. And in part because OLED screens are so thin, the I7500 will measure just 11.8mm thick.

The phone will include all the smartphone essentials found on the G1, including Wi-Fi, GPS, HSDPA Internet and 8GB of internal storage – but like the HTC Magic, this model won’t have a QWERTY keyboard. It does get a healthy 3.2-megapixel camera with autofocus, though, and room for up to another 32GB with a microSD card.

At the moment, the I7500 appears to be a limited Euro-only release, where it will appear in Germany first, but the GSM frequencies it supports mean it could transition to a carrier like T-Mobile in the U.S., too. More information can be found at Samsung Mobile.