Samsung offers mobile phone with 8-gig hard disk

SEOUL, South Korea — Samsung Electronics unveiled a mobile phone equipped with a 8-gigabyte hard disk, representing what it claims is the world's largest storage capacity for a handset.

Samsung said the mobile phone, the SCH-B570, allows users to store up to 1,600 (4 Mb) MP3 music files, 16 (400 Mb) PMP files and 20,000 still photos.

The "Super Music Phone" is also being touted as the first mobile phone with high-end audio features like 5.1-channel virtual stereo and 3D sound. The satellite, Digital Multimedia Broadcast phone also includes a picture-in-picture display.

The phone will initially be available only in the Korean market at a price of $835, but will soon be available outside South Korea, Samsung said.