Want to know how does the new super snapper phone perform? Well, the lucky folks at GSMArena have been playing with a prototype of the AMOLED 12M phone and to be precise, they loved the most important part of the phone. The camera is one of the best they’ve seen in a phone, offers manual control and records 720p video recording better than Omnia HD! Oh and yes, they think it will become a “dream device for every self-respecting geek.”

Head over here to read the full preview.

UPDATE: Specs added below and sadly, there’s no word on Wi-Fi or GPS.
UPDATE 2: GSMArena has got some live pictures of the phone and reckons Samsung will swap T-DMB with Wi-Fi and GPS in M8920 (international version).

After being revealed couple of times in the past few days, Samsung has rightly made the world’s first phone with 12MP camera and optical zoom official. AMOLED 12M or SCH-W880 can take pictures at 12 megapixel resolution and offers 3x optical zoom, 2x digital zoom, 720p video recording (1280×720) at 30fps and Xenon flash. It also supports touch auto focus, image stabilization, Smart Auto (that automatically selects the scene according to environment) and face detection.

Rest of the feature set is yet to be confirmed but the phone has a 3.3-inch AMOLED WVGA (800×480) touchscreen display, TouchWiz UI and 4GB internal memory.

It will hit the Korean retail shelves early next month.

Specifications:

Network: WCDMA (2100 MHz); GSM(900), DCS(1800 ), PCS(1900) Roaming
Display: 3.3” WVGA AMOLED
Camera: 12MP with 3X Optical Zoom, 2X Digital Zoom, Xenon + Power Led Flash, Touch AF Tracking, Smart Auto, Beauty Shot, Macro Shot
Video: HD Level (1280 x 720) 30fps
Format support: Video – MPEG4, H.263, H.264, DivX, XviD; Audio – MP3, AAC, AAC+, AAC+e, WMA
Terrestrial DMB (Mobile TV)
Connectivity: Bluetooth® 2.0, USB 2.0 HS (micro USB)
Internal memory: 4GB
External memory: Micro SD (up to 32GB)
Battery: 1,100 mAh
Size: 115.8 x 56.9 x 16.3 mm

Before we begin, let me tell you this rumor is still unconfirmed so don’t get your hopes high. Apparently, someone with the knowledge of the release dates claim Samsung’s M8920 Monaco will start shipping in late Q3 2009. M8920 was caught in the wild recently showing off its 12MP sensor along with a 3X optical zoom.

The source also spewed Omnia 2’s release timeframe which he said will be in October. However, this contradicts with the retailer’s expected release that claimed a Q3 release.

Source|Via