Sadly Samsung’s new flagship Soul cellphone - which it will officially launch at the Mobile World Congress next week - doesn’t have some sort of magical liquid metal display; no, it’s interface cleverness is just underneath that, in the shape of an OLED touchscreen which displays context-specific controls. Samsung are calling it MagicTouch, and while it’s not exactly the first time we’ve ever seen something like it (LG’s Venus already rocks the look), it does add allure to this HSDPA 7.2Mbps, 5-megapixel-blessed handset.

The camera borrows functionality from mainstream digital cameras, including an LED flash, face detection and image stabilisation, plus they’ve been raiding Bang & Olufsen’s illustrious parts cupboard for components for the Soul’s digital power amplifier.

Soul has a 2.2-inch QVGA main display, Bluetooth, a microSD card slot, FM radio and is just 12.9mm thick. It should be available in Europe come April.

Update: Samsung have sent over their full press release for the Soul:

Samsung Gives You Soul : The Ultimate Essence of Mobile

Samsung to Showcase Stylish 5-Megapixel Slider Handset

At Mobile World Congress

Seoul, Korea, Feb 8, 2008 - Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., a leading mobile phone and telecommunication equipment provider, today announced the launch of ‘Soul’, Samsung’s new flagship product for 2008. Soul will officially make its debut during next week’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.

Samsung named ‘Soul’’ to honor the completion of its exclusive ‘Ultra Edition’ series of handsets which offer this perfect balance of design and features.

Soul, an abbreviation of “The Spirit Of Ultra”, will appeal to style-conscious users who are not willing to compromise between design and technology and search out the best of the best for inspiration and stimulation to enrich their lives.

Soul will be supported by a major global advertising campaign and will be available in European countries from April.

“We believe that Soul is the answer for today’s style-conscious consumers, excited by outstanding quality design and performance,” said Geesung Choi, President of Samsung’s Telecommunication Business.

“Soul is set to continue the success of past Ultra Edition handsets, such as D900 and U600, and will further enhance Samsung’s leadership in the premium phone category.”

Soul is the ultimate essence of mobile; a slim, lightweight and stylish product yet still boasting all the essential functions in one single device. This product, a sleek combination of highly styled design and functionality, is a triumph of extreme opposite values, ‘Portability’ and ‘Multi-function.’

Adapts to You

Soul enhances the usability for the user with features that adapt to the user depending on the application. With Magical Touch by DaCP™, navigation indicators on the keypad of the phone change according to the user’s needs, making navigation of the menus simple, intuitive and direct. The navigation panel’s icons change according to function.

For example, when in music mode, music related icons will light up on the navigation indicators. When in camera mode, camera related icons such as zoom and brightness icons will appear.

Soul also offers a new series of graphic user interfaces (GUI) providing three different options for users. With this Thematic UI, users can change the UI according to their personal tastes. Additionally, users can create their own skins with the on-handset User Created Skin (UCS) setup. Display skins are customizable with various options such as background images, fonts and colors.

Art of Less

Continuing the look of Samsung’s popular ‘Ultra Edition’ series with extreme minimalism in a slim design, Soul has a full metal body with a premium look and feel with a natural color and hairline texture.

“The fundamental direction of the design concept development of Soul was to keep ‘the epitome of self-discipline’ by minimizing all the factors to a simple while beautiful device,” Minhyouk Lee, a senior mobile device designer said.

Hidden Depths

At only 12.9mm thin, it is equipped with professional photographic functions including a 5 megapixel camera. Soul answers today’s customer needs as the perfect digital camera and multimedia mobile combined into one single device. Features such as face detection, image stabilizer and Wide Dynamic Range (WDR), which are very up-to-date features even in today’s digital cameras, are also equipped in Soul.

Users can enjoy super-fast Internet access through the 7.2 Mbps High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) browser and share images or video taken with the phone. With 7.2 Mpbs HSDPA, users can also download songs at a faster speed compared to average 3G networks. Soul is also perfect for music listeners with features such as Music library navigation, digital power amplifier by ICEpower® technology by Bang & Olufsen ICEpower.

Learn more about Samsung’s mobile technology and handsets at www.samsungmwc.comand visit us at Hall 8, Stand 8A139 during Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

About Samsung Electronics

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2007 consolidated sales of US$103.4 billion. Employing approximately 150,000 people in 134 offices in 62 countries, the company consists of five main business units: Digital Media Business, LCD Business, Semiconductor Business, Telecommunication Business and Digital Appliance Business. Recognized as one of the fastest growing global brands, Samsung Electronics is a leading producer of digital TVs, memory chips, mobile phones and TFT-LCDs. For more information, please visitwww.samsung.com.

Samsung Soul Specifications