Samsung touts QWERTY-enabled Galaxy Pro

Samsung has debuted an Android-powered (Froyo) smartphone that boasts a full QWERTY keyboard, along with an 800MHz CPU.

The Samsung Galaxy Pro – which bears a distinct resemblance to RIM’s popular BlackBerry smartphone lineup – also features a 2.8-inch touchscreen display, 3MP camera and WiFi.

Yes, the specs are kind of average for a new phone, or maybe even a tad below, with next-gen dual-core devices in the market – and quad-core devices expected relatively soon.

Still, if nothing else, the QWERTY Galaxy Pro illustrates that RIM manufacturers nice phones, but has fallen way, way behind Apple (iOS) and Google (Android) in terms of coding an appealing mobile operating system.

The Galaxy Pro is slated to ship in the UK later in March, with other EU countries, the Middle East and Southeast Asia to follow sometime in the near future.

Unfortunately, it remains unclear if the quad-band GSM/HSDPA device will ever make it to the US, at least, in its current iteration. Then again, I wouldn’t mind checking out a next-gen version of the device, say with a powerful dual-core processor.

(Via Samsung Hub)