Samsung SCH-V960: first phone with an optical joystick

Samsung is back to their “world’s first” ways again, this time revealing the SCH-V960 slider phone, said to be the first mobile handset with an optical joystick. What this means is that you move around the menu not in a clunky 90-degree-turn kind of way. Instead, it’s akin to using a mouse on your computer, navigating in full 360 degree space.

You simply place your finger over the optical joystick, rolling it around to move the cursor, accessing whatever you’d like in the menu. It’s like having a touchscreen without actually having a touchscreen… sort of.

Other nifty features include “Smart Lighting” which adjusts the backlight based on ambient conditions, a 2 megapixel camera, Bluetooth connectivity, GPS, and Samsung’s signature sliding style. The SCH-V960 is expected to hit shelves in Korea by the end of the month.