In some sections of the Eastern-European and Asian technology markets, the idea of a Dual-SIM mobile phone has been seen as very useful but the lack of any major manufacturer willing to develop a device capable of this (not that we"re suggesting the networks had any influence upon this...) has led to it not quite taking off in the way it almost certainly will at some point.
This trend has now been bucked, by the launch of the D880 DuoS from Samsung, which has been designed for the European market and is also the first Dual-SIM phone to be released by a major manufacturer.
As Samsung"s main expertise, when it comes to phone-design, is clearly in the slider format, they obviously felt that there was no need to rock the boat here. From a reasonable distance (and possibly even close-up) the D880 DuoS resembles an older Samsung slider such as the D500 or D600 and considering that the thickness is 18.9mm it feels very similar too. The only real giveaway is the DuoS logo emblazoned above the screen.
The control-set doesn"t really warrant much attention except to say you have a standard Samsung design with a confirm key in the centre, two soft keys and a 4-way D-pad all situated around the usual 2 call buttons.
The main attraction of the DuoS is obviously the Dual-SIM feature. Unlike traditional Dual-SIM solutions, which only ran one SIM at a time, in the DuoS both SIM"s are active whilst in standby mode, meaning you can receive calls or messages from either SIM at any point without having to switch off and restart the handset. As long as it works as well in practice as is it does in theory, the DuoS is sure to appeal to business users & travellers looking for this kind of flexibility.
Even with the advancement of the Dual-SIM capabilities, the rest of the features packed into the D880 make for compelling reading. In the package you get a 3.15MP camera which rather impressively has both autofocus and flash, ensuring that images will be on a par with the majority of medium-quality camera modules of a similar spec.
As well as this, you get Bluetooth 2.0, a micro SD slot and USB 2.0 compatibility. Couple these with the decent camera and you end up with a handset that is of a similar spec to Samsung"s award-winning D900 (aside from the Dual-SIM capability and slight "tubbyness".)
Though it won"t win any awards for innovative design or looks, the D880 DuoS is sure to be an excellent choice for many when you consider that it"s the first handset by a major manufacturer capable of using 2 SIM cards at the same time. This feature alone will ensure that it wins plenty of admirers and if all goes well it could open the way to an all new sub-sector of the mobile phone market.
The Samsung D880 DuoS is coming soon on SIM FREE. There are no plans currently for release on any designated networks.