Samsung Memoir (cell phone side) (click for larger image)

T-Mobile wants to make carrying a digital camera unnecessary with the announcement of the 8-megapixel Samsung Memoir.

The most attractive feature of the handset is its camera capabilities, which is the highest pixel count of any U.S. phone. The Memoir comes with a Xenon flash, CMOS auto-focus, and face- and smile-detection technology, and it can be used to record videos.

Users can take advantage of the built-in GPS to geo-tag photos, and there are widgets that enable customers to upload pictures from the handset directly to Flickr, Kodak Gallery, Photobucket, and Snapfish. The GPS also can be used with mapping services like Google Maps for directions and location-based services.

"This is the camera phone that will make people want to leave their digital camera at home," said Bill Ogle, chief marketing officer for Samsung Mobile, in a statement. "When you combine the Memoir's imaging capabilities, customizable menus, and music player, not only is it a great phone, but the entertainment possibilities are unlimited."

	Samsung Memoir (camera side) (click for larger image)

The handset has a large touch-screen display, and text is inputted through a virtual QWERTY keyboard. While not a smartphone, the Memoir does utilize Samsung's TouchWiz user interface to bring one-click access to the weather, stocks, and other Web-based information.

The Memoir also takes advantage of T-Mobile's growing 3G network to browse the Web and share photos. There's a full HTML browser, and it can send and receive e-mails from POP3 e-mail accounts. The handset also sports Bluetooth, expandable memory via a microSD slot, and a music and video player.

The companies did not announce a price, but the Memoir should be available before the end of the first quarter.