Just as we were wondering what on Earth (or in space, ha!) happened to the Samsung Spica, the other Android handset available from the Korean phone maker, it’s popped up on T-Mobile’s UK site as the Samsung Galaxy Portal.

Available for free from £23 per month on an 18 month contract, the Galaxy Portal offers a 3.2 megapixel autofocus camera, media player with support for DivX and Mp3 formats, 16GB of storage (via microSD), as well as access to the Android Market and over 20,000 apps.

Unfortunately the Portal is still sporting the v1.5 ‘Cupcake’ build meaning that it doesn’t pack some of the impressive features of later Android phones, but Samsung has promised to issue software upgrades to both the Galaxy and the i5700/Galaxy Portal next month, making this Google-powered blower a bit of a bargain!

So if you want to make a tentative step into another dimension – namely one filled with customisable homescreens, decent mobile internet and e-mail connectivity – then the Samsung Galaxy Portal is the phone to take you there.

———————