Samsung brings 8MP camera to touch phones

In addition to the just-introduced Haptic 2, Samsung has introduced a second touchscreen phone already examined by Russian site Mail.ru. The M8800 Pixon is the first known touchscreen cellphone to carry an eight-megapixel camera and carries extra photography features normally reserved for dedicated cameras, including blink and face detection, a wide dynamic color range and image stabilization. Video capture is also sharper than most at a roughly DVD-level 720x480 at full speed.

Beyond its signature feature, the Pixon has the same interface as the Omnia and other recent Samsung touchscreen devices, and also carries many of the same hardware features: an accelerometer for tilt-sensitive functions, an FM radio and GPS navigation are all built-in. The company opts for microSD storage instead of built-in flash but also makes the phone upload-friendly with a direct hook into ShoZu's self-titled photo and video upload service.

Pricing hasn't been set for the Pixon, which is so far only known to be arriving in Russia. The existence of quad-band GSM and tri-band 3G over HSDPA, however, points to the phone supporting North American carriers and a possible release in much of the West in the future. [via GSM Arena]