You'd expect Samsung's response to the iPhone to be one of bravado, huffily claiming that their phones are much better than Apple's. But you wouldn't expect them to roll out a camera that beats the iPhone for features!

Enter the new Samsung VLUU i70 - a 7.2 megapixel camera phone with 15x optical zoom that comes complete with HSDPA connectivity and a raft of other features...but, er, no ability to make phone calls!

To be fair, the Samsung VLUU i70 is actually a camera, and not meant to be a mobile phone at all. But it's not like any camera you've seen before. For a start, it has an MP3 player...and an MPEG4 video recorder...and full PMP features, and yes, HSDPA (well, if you're going to add mobile phone connectivity to a camera, you might as well go for the fastest technology the world can currently offer - this is Samsung, after all!)

OK, so the i70 can't actually make or receive calls (though it does do SMS) - HSDPA is only used to wirelessly transfer pics from your camera to wherever you need your pic to be. But given the huge range of features crammed into this device, combined with the fact that it is actually a camera, with picture-quality and camera-specific features light years ahead of most camera-phones, the Samsung i70 is actually much better equipped than most phones!

The full specification includes:

• 7.2 megapixels
• 15x optical zoom
• Auto focus
• Macro
• Anti-Shake technology
• MPEG 4 video recording at 30fps
• PictBridge
• MP3 player
• Full PMP features
• ISO1600
• 3" LCD
• USB 2.0

If you can find a camera-phone that comes anywhere near that range of features, buy it now!

The i70 even comes in a slider form factor, making it look even more like a mobile phone. I know phone manufacturers love convergence, but it's always been the phone combining with (and effectively absorbing) every other gadget currently on the market. Seems Samsung thinks the camera can also be the single uber-converged gadget.

This does make sense, though. Mobile phones have had so many features added to them over the years, that the simple act of making a phone call has long been forgotten. Sure, we expect our phones to make and receive calls, but when was the last time you read a mobile phone review and the reviewer actually mentioned the ability to make calls?

Samsung have simply taken this to the next level. If making phone calls is not the key feature of a mobile phone any more, why bother making a phone that makes a call at all?

Certainly if you don't make many calls, or just have a simple mobile phone, the i70 makes for a compelling gadget to own, and would certainly out-compete many mobile phones currently on the market. Just don't mention the fact it doesn't actually make phone calls!

[Source: iNews, SamsungCamera]