Samsung Ultra range launches in the UK, including the world's skinniest phone

Samsung announced their Ultra Edition super-skinny phones in Asia a month or so ago, but have now announced an official release in Europe. Thy've gone for product names that actually mean something - the Ultra Edition 6.9 means that it's 6.9 mm thick, where as the Ultra Edition 11.8 is, yep, 11.8 mm thick (although it's baby steps, since they all come with the traditional D900/Z720 etc tags as well). They've also embraced colour, as all the phones come in a range of hues including (rose) pink, (wine) red, (place descriptive noun here) blue, and bizzarely in the case of the 9.9/D830, two shades of black.

First up is the 12.9/D900 - a slider phone with a decent sized 3 megapixel camera, 2.1" screen, Bluetooth and a MicroSD slot. It's got soft touch buttons, rather than the horribly sensitive pressure responsive buttons on the E900. It's also got Samsung's uPlus, which aims to make it dead easy for you to navigate the labyrinth of your phone. This basically gives you uMenu for customising your shortcuts, uTrack which allows you to track a lost or stolen phone (very handy) and uGo, which works out where you are and will customise your phone accordingly. For instance, in the UK your wallpaper will be Big Ben, where as in Paris it's d'Arc de Triomphe. I feel slightly sorry for th Dutch who apparently have no recognisable landmarks, and instead have some generic windmills. It will also automatically change the time zone for you. If only all watches did this - I'd miss a lot less flights.

The 9.9/D830 is their clamshell phone, which although thin, is pretty long. This is actually to fit in the 2.3" display, but does make it look weirdly elongated. It's got a 2 megapixel camera, 80MB of internal memory and a MicroSD slot.

Finally, they've broken the record for the phone most likely to turn sideways and disappear, with the 6.9/X890. It's got a touch of the Nicole Ritchie about it, being unequivocally skinny, but not necessarily that attractive. This one's got a 2 megapixel camera, Bluetooth and 80MB of internal memory.

As well as this, they announced a 3G model for all (candybar, slider and clamshell) and in the case of the 9.9/D830/clamshell, which becomes the 11.8/Z620 and the 12.9/D900/slider which becomes the 13.8/Z720 (bloody hell, this is into a Mensa challenge) this gets a boost up to HSDPA.  This gives them a few more world records, with the world's slimmest HSDPA phone and the only HSDPA phone with a 3 megapixel camera. Unfortunately, there isn't a release date for these models in the UK yet, but we'll keep you posted. The others are all in stores now.

Product page: Samsung