Here's what Samsung is calling "the world's first super camera phone," the Samsung SCH-B600. That's a 10-megapixel digital camera in there, and the lens is long enough to let it zoom 3x optically. A neat trick: the phone is 6mm thinner and 10g lighter than Samsung's 7-megapixel V770 camera phone it introduced last year. It works just like a regular digital camera, too, with autofocus, a 2.2-inch 240x320 LCD display and video at 320x240 and 30fps. The bad news is that it will initially only be available in Korea for $900.

Well, it's about time somebody rolled out a decent digital camera inside a cell phone, and even though this one will only be only available in Korea for an exorbitant price, it's just the next shot in the ongoing war to place real cameras inside cellphones, and not just a bunch of unusable blurry bullshit. But that megapixel number doesn't tell the whole story. Wonder if the lens is any good, or those sensors gathering the light...? – Charlie White

Check out the detailed photos and official Samsung press release, after the jump.

Samsung's Official Press Release:

SEOUL, KOREA, Oct 10th, 2006: Samsung reinforces its technology leadership by launching the world's first 10 megapixel mobile phone (model: SCH-B600) in Korean market.

Samsung reached another milestone in camera phones by launching 10 megapixel camera phone, which was unveiled at CeBIT in March this year. Samsung has been the first to introduce mobile phone with embedded camera in 2000. Samsung has also launched the world's first 5 megapixel camera phone in October 2004 ; the world's first 7 megapixel camera phone in July 2005.

Samsung's 10 megapixel camera phone (SCH-B600) is 6mm thinner and 10g lighter than the 7 megapixel camera phone (SCH-V770) and sets itself apart from its previous megapixel camera phones by combining mobile TV capability in Satellite standard.

The B600 offers the same level of picture-taking sophistication that a 10 megapixel digital camera offers. The camera function includes 3x optical zoom and 5x digital zoom. It also has auto focus and a flash unit that performs optimally for 10 megapixel photographs.

Also, the B600 comes fitted with a LED autofocus feature which assists users to capture clear, crisp photos even in dark settings. Located next to the lens, the LED autofocus automatically determines the distance and utilizes the appropriate focus setting for optimal photo shooting.

The B600 also supports white balance, manual focus, continuous picture-taking, and interval picture-taking functions.

It also supports Bluetooth which enables users to send pictures wirelessly to other mobile phones, printers or to Bluetooth headsets.

The high color Reproduction TFT-LCD produces the highest possible display for its size. The photo-fine chromic LCD can reproduce 16 million colors, virtually any color found in nature, earning it the "True Color" appellation. Moving pictures can be recorded in QVGA resolution at 15-30 frames per second. Users can watch live TV in crisp picture through Satellite DMB function.

It also supports external memory (MMCmicro) in addition to its internal memory. The mobile phone supports a TV-out function where users can connect their phones to view still or motion pictures.
The B600 comes with a design reminiscent of a real digital camera. The front is designed as a bar-type mobile phone, while the back side is used as the digital camera.

Other advanced functions in the B600 include an MP3 player, business card reader, and 128 polyphonic sounds.

The price of Samsung B600 is around 900,000 won (about $ 900) in Korea."

Samsung's 10-megapixel cellphone in your (Korean) face [Digital World]