Samsung’s new SGH-E840 is what the company calls the slimmest slider phone in the world. At 10.6mm (.42″), that may just be the case. In any event, this quad-band GSM/EDGE handset sports features like a 2.2″ QVGA (240×320 pixel) display, a 2 megapixel digital camera, and a MP3/WMA/AAC+/AAC music player.

The slimline E840 also comes equipped with 70MB of internal storage as well as a microSD memory expansion slot that can be used to add as much as 2GB of additional storage. Bluetooth 2.0 and USB 2.0 connectivity are also available for moving contacts, images, and other files around. The E840 also ships with the Access NetFront web browser, a document viewer for email attachments, and Java support.

With specs like that, as well as a mirrored, tempered glass front face, the 99g (3.5oz) E840 is certain to gain the attention of trend setters in the Southeast Asian markets where it will be available this month. No word yet on what the retail price of the E840 will be.

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A tenacious Zune user has recently stumbled across some potentially eyebrow-raising information while dipping into the device’s desktop software files. It seems that embedded in an innocent looking ZuneMarketPlace.dll file is some internal code that suggests a new content partnership with MTV, VH1, and CMT the Zune Marketplace. We know that Zune software has its roots in Windows Media Player, and Microsoft and MTV are pretty tight with their Urge integration in WMP11 — but that doesn’t necessarily mean this is holdover code. The found strings are very specific about mentioning “VH1 on Zune” and the like, so that’s clearly cause for speculation. Too bad they didn’t find anything about Lionsgate or some other movie studios though, this thing is way overdue for some video content.

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Did Steve Jobs suck you into his Reality Distortion Field (RDF) this morning with his iPhone press release? Don’t all these new numbers sound tasty? And how about that competitive data chart released by Apple? The iPhone sure beats all those other ’smartphones’ out there doesn’t it?

Sure it does. When you leave it to Apple which tech-specs to compare the iPhone with. But what happens if you take a look at a whole different set of tech-specs and compare those to the iPhone? Want to find out?

Here you go:

Now, would you look at that: All the other phones besides the iPhone feature MMS, a replaceable battery, and a modem that lets you access the internet from your computer. Speaking of which: Three of the listed smartphones even support 3G, a much faster data network standard. The iPhone doesn’t.

And even though, the iPhone is very slim, it is one of the heavier devices out there. Suddenly, the iPhone Competitive-Data-Chart doesn’t look that shiny anymore. Does it?

I am not even saying that the iPhone isn’t a great phone, because it seems to be truly innovative in many other areas (Visual Voicemail anyone?). However, it does have a few shortcomings and we believe that customers should be able to make an educated decision before spending a few hundred dollars on a cell phone. So, simply listening to Apple’s press releases probably isn’t a good idea. Chart’s simply don’t work in this case if they are selective. They can favor either set of categories.

So, remember: It’s your money. You make the decision. We’re just here to help.

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