Samsung Shark S5350, S5550, S3550: Don't cost an arm and a leg

Samsung's looking to bite another fleshy, screaming chunk out of the entry-level phone market with three mobiles that lay on the social-networking features like Barbara Cartland laid on the slap: the Shark S5350, the Shark 2 S5550 and the Shark 3 S3550.

All the handsets have one-click links to sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Bebo on their home screen, as well as offering quick access to Flickr, Picasa and YouTube, so you can speedily upload photos and videos for your chums' edification. They also have an IM app that merges all of your Google Talk, AIM and Palringo contacts. In the event you're involved in an actual shark attack, an SOS Message feature lets you quickly send out a distress text to pre-defined numbers -- assuming you've still got your arms on.

The Shark S5350 (that's it on the left) is a candybar handset with a 56mm (2.2-inch) display, 3.2-megapixel camera, 3G connectivity and... well, that's about it. At least it's got a good name. And, although Samsung hasn't revealed the price of these handsets, it has said they're going to offer "fantastic value for money", so the S5350 should be inexpensive as deep-fried slices of potato.

The sliding S5550 (middle) is the flashiest phone in this fishy bunch. It has 3G, a 56mm AMOLED screen and a 5-megapixel camera. The S3550 (right) is the runt of the litter, with a 51mm (2-inch) display, 2-megapixel camera, slide-out keypad and GSM-only connectivity.

We'll have to wait until we get our hands on these phones to pass final judgement, but, what with the availability of cheap smart phones such as the BlackBerry Curve 8520, the Sharks may have their work cut out to impress. They'll be on the rampage by the end of this month.