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Samsung was among the first handset vendors to understand that mobile media services like TV, video and music require a lot of storage. It introduced the first 3 GB smartphone, the SGH-i300, at CeBit in Germany during the Spring of last year, for exapmle. The Windows Mobile i300's Microdrive doubled the capacity of one of the world's first hard disk phones, the company's earlier SPH-V540.

Today, the Korean electronics vendor unveiled the follow up to the SGH-i300, the SGH-i300x Music Phone. With this new smartphone, Samsung increased storage capacity a more modest 1 GB, to 4 GB. There's also 64 of RAM available to the user.

While Samsung doesn't indicate what operating system the 4.5 ix 1.9 x 0.8 inch, 4.3 ounce i300x runs, it is probably an update to Windows Mobile 5.0 from the Windows Mobile Second Edition for Smartphone platform used in the previous model.

Of course, media playback is the name of the game with the i300x, with support for the MP3, AAC, AAC+, WMA, ASF, WAV, and WMV formats. The phone also plays 64 polyphonic and MP3 ringtones, and there’s 3D surround sound, a digital power amplifier, graphic equalizer, stereo Bluetooth headset, and wheel dial navigation as well.

A 1.3-megapixel camera takes pictures up to 1280 x 1024 pixels in resolution and MPEG4, H.263, H.264, WMV video. It has digital zoom and an LED Flash

i300x's standard 1,000 mAh Lithium Ion Battery delivers up to 4 hours talk and 130 hours standby time on a single charge, while an optional higher-capacity 1,700 type does even better at up to 7 hours talk and 200 hours standby.

Samsung did not reveal when or where the SGH-i300 would ship. We'll keep you posted.