Samsung has introduced a new member of their Ultra Edition family, the Soul. The phone will have a 7.2Mpbs HSDPA connection, a 5 megapixel camera, and a 2.2″ full-color display.

The most innovative feature of this phone, though, is a touchpad display that sits just under the main screen. This display will morph the user interface by showing appropriate icons depending on which application is being used. As an example, music controls will appear while listening to music and editing functions will show up while writing a text message.

The Soul will also feature a microSD card for music with support for just about any format imaginable. Samsung claims 15 hours of music listening time, which is a pretty hefty figure.

Although not as stylish as an iPhone, it looks like this handset will get the job done with its beefed up specs and the innovative touchpad display. Looks to us like this might be a keeper. Another picture after the jump. Read more »

That’s right - PCs will soon have the same capabilities as the new MacBook Air when it comes to the trackpad, thanks to Synaptic. They recently announced a new touchpad with support for various gestures including scrolling, zooming, and trackball-like movement. Mark Vena, vice president of Synaptics’ PC business unit, said that we can expect these to hit computers in late March or early April.

My take? Although the technology definitely has the “cool” factor and I would order one on a new laptop, I don’t think this will increase productivity all that much. Scrolling is one of the most common tasks, and we have been able to do that with our touchpads for a long time now. How often do you find yourself zooming in on photos or rotating them? Synaptics is poised to allow you to do that faster, but I don’t mind clicking a button or two to do that now. I am hoping the company dreams up some new uses for this technology that will truly make it indispensable.
Photo: http://www.apple.com/macbookair/features.html