Samsung‘s activity in the mobile market shows no signs of abating, already releasing a successor to the recent i620. The i640 (i640V if you pick it up on the Vodafone network) is a 3.5G HSDPA slide phone with a full QWERTY keypad and a 2.4″ display. The main upgrade here, in case you’re wondering, is the improved connectivity, with speeds of 3.6Mbps possible in comparison to the previous 1.8.

Despite this improvement though there’s still no wi-fi, which along with the screen size, a rather meagre 2MP digital camera and lack of built-in GPS, doesn’t set it up too nicely alongside capable rivals like the Nokia N95. It’s also rather chunky, measuring 133mm tall when opened and 61mm wide, which might make it a bit of a tight squeeze for most pockets.Despite its apparent faults, the QWERTY keypad should appeal to business types though, and it does run the latest version of Windows Mobile 6, so it doesn’t appear to be particularly oriented towards the consumer market.

The phone is now available to buy in the UK and you should be able to pick it up free on contract.