US Cellular launches Samsung Gloss for QWERTY-loving flip-phone fans [update]

Samsung and US Cellular have just launched their latest QWERTY flip-phone for the mass market. The new Samsung Gloss, as it’s called, combines a QWERTY keyboard with a fashionable flip form-factor that absolutely oozes estrogen. As such, the squat Samsung Gloss’s flowery designs and Pink color probably won’t find too many homes in male pockets. Instead, we’ll likely see the Samsung Gloss bringing its 1.3-megapixel camera, stereo Bluetooth and QWERTY keyboard to purses across the country.

The Samsung Gloss features a 2.2-inch QCIF display and uses US Cellular’s “easyedge” service to connect customers to “Your Navigator with voice turn by turn directions, news and weather applications, games and hundreds of other useful applications.”

It’s obvious that the Samsung Gloss isn’t going to be doing any of the heavy-lifting that its smartphone cousins are capable of, but with a decidedly feminine appeal and full QWERTY keyboard packed into a convenient flip-phone package, the Gloss will probably carve out a nice little niche for itself.

[Update]
We knew the Samsung Gloss struck an uneasy nerve with us for a reason. It’s a seeming copy of LG’s own fashionable QWERTY flip, the LG Lotus! LG launched the LG Lotus last year in partnership with fashion designer Christian Siriano.

It’s hard to keep track of all the cellphones that pass through our inbox on a daily basis, so sometimes things slip through the cracks. Both the Lotus and Gloss sport a stout form-factor and compact QWERTY keyboard that lies underneath a fashionably decorated exterior. Did Samsung use LG’s own playbook on this run? It wouldn’t be unheard of.