SmartPhones

Monday, May 11, Samsung released the sequel to its moderately-received Alias smartphone, the Alias 2 (otherwise known as the Samsung U750).

The flagship feature of the new Samsung Alias 2 is something called E-Ink. The word (and feature) known as E-Ink may be familiar to offshore readers, but to U.S. customers, this is the first hands-on experience they'll have with it. What is E-Ink? It's a dual-hinge slide-out keyboard that changes depending on your intended use. It's a regular QWERTY keyboard when you open or hold it horizontally (landscape mode), while the keys change into an alphanumeric keypad for easy texting when you open or hold it vertically (portrait mode).

E-Ink is a superlative solution to the clunky problem of dual slider smartphones. It also works great for the Amazon Kindle 2. The last time we saw anything like it in a smartphone was in Motorola's ROKR series. But whereas the Motorola ROKR E8's keys, for example, can only show what they show, with E-Ink the keys on the Alias2 can be programmed by the user to show whatever the user wants them to show. That's impressive, and convenient.

What's more, Samsung has hinted that user can even program their own custom layout designs. (And by the way, it retains its layout, even when the battery is out.

The new dual-flip phone from Verizon, the Samsung Alias 2 also offers RemoSync, a great feature for businesses that allows users to sync up their office computers with their smartphone, including email, contacts, and corporate email.

In the way of standard features, the Alias 2 has a 2 megapixel camera with camcorder, including night shooting capabilities. It comes with an MP3 player, Bluetooth, and a microSD card slot for up to 16 GB of expanded memory. It's WiFi capable. It has a 2.6", 240 x 320 pixel resolution QVGA display screen. And, yes, it is a 3G smartphone.

What's greatest about the Alias 2, though, is that you don't have to pay a fortune for it - it's a budget smartphone for people on a budget, costing just $79.99 (after a $50 rebate). For chronic text messaging fiends, this may be your next phone.

And incidentally, if the Alias 2 doesn't do it for you, Samsung has also released another smartphone at the same time, the more Blackberry-like Samsung Magnet.