DUAL-SIM ANDROID GOODNESS FROM SAMSUNG

Samsung today introduced the Galaxy Y Duos and Galaxy Y Pro Duos, a pair of Android smart-phones in the Galaxy product family that have space for two SIM cards, letting you lead a double life on your phone.

The two SIM cards mean you've got two phone numbers at your disposal, one for work, for instance, and one for your personal life. You can use data according to your plan, regardless of the SIM. Both phones run on the GSM technology (850/900/1800/1900 MHz bands) and have Samsung's TouchWiz software overlay.

The Galaxy Y Duos is an all-touch Android 2.3 Gingerbread setup with a 3.1-inch QVGA screen, a 3MP fixed-focus camera, and the Android works. It also has a 1300mAh battery.

On the slightly higher end of the scale there's the Galaxy Y Pro Duos , which runs the same Android version and has a full QWERTY keyboard on its candy-bar frame (that keyboard is how you know it's "pro"). As a result, the screen is a smaller 2.6 inches. There's a 3MP camera on the back, but Samsung has also added a front-facing VGA camera and a slightly larger 1350mAh battery.

While there's no pricing for this yet, Samsung has shared a January release date, and a first market: Russia. The Galaxy Y Duos will then "gradually" roll out to Europe, Africa, Latin America, Southeast and Southwest Asia, the Middle East, and China. The keyboarded Pro version is headed to Europe, Africa, Latin America, Southwest Asia, and the Middle East.

North Americans looking for this type of solution are sadly going to have to keep looking for now (or start lobbying Samsung).

(Credit: Samsung)