AT&T Shows Samsung BlackJack II

At the CTIA show in San Francisco this morning, the wraps came off the rumored follow-up to Samsung's popular smartphone. The Samsung BlackJack II was shown at a keynote by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. The phone is slightly slimmer than before, and includes features like a 2.4-inch 320 by 240 pixel screen, a 2-megapixel camera, tri-band 3G UMTS/HSDPA and quad-band EDGE/GPRS wireless connectivity, and built-in GPS.

The phone runs Windows Mobile 6 (the previous version had Windows Mobile 5); AT&T says the device will be among the first to support Microsoft's System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008, introduced today by Ballmer. The Device Manager provides companies with a means for managing and securing Windows Mobile devices, and for using devices over a Mobile Virtual Private Network.

The BlackJack II will ship by end of year and will cost $150 with a two-year contract (and a mail-in rebate). The phone comes in two colores: "red wine" and piano black.