Samsung Jet joins Icon family

(Credit: Samsung/CNET Australia)

Samsung Australia was expected to launch four handsets in its Icon range yesterday, but instead launched five, adding the Samsung Jet to the group of touchscreen devices on show.

Following CommunicAsia in Singapore, Samsung's local office had made clear that only four of the phones displayed at the trade show would be released in Australia. These four phones, the HD Icon, Omnia Icon, Galaxy Icon and Preston Icon will be released in September, followed by the Jet in October.

The Jet was received favourably when it was released earlier in the year in Asia. Samsung reported that over 2 million units were pre-ordered worldwide and it received an Editors' Choice award after being reviewed by our colleagues at CNET Asia.

The Icon range encompasses a variety of segments in the smartphone market, offering Symbian, Android and Windows Mobile platform experiences in similar touchscreen form factors. The Jet runs on Samsung's proprietary platform utilising the TouchWiz widgets interface, and though it isn't technically a smartphone, the Jet includes Microsoft ActiveSync support for users looking to connect to business email accounts using the handset.

Samsung is yet to reveal which carriers will be selling the Jet, though release details about the rest of the Icon range are as follows;

• HD Icon: Crazy John's, Optus and Virgin
• Omnia Icon: Crazy John's, Optus, Telstra and Vodafone
• Galaxy Icon: Crazy John's, Optus and Virgin
• Preston Icon: Crazy John's, Telstra and Virgin