Preview of Android 2.1 on the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Portal

We noted a while back that the Samsung Galaxy Spica i5700 will be getting Android 2.1 in the near future.  The leaked ROM has been floating around on the net for some time, but 3 in the UK is the first to officially show of some of the new features that Samsung has included into the new firmware on the phone.  3 UK will actually be launching the handset as the Samsung Galaxy Portal in the coming weeks.  The Éclair update for the Samsung Galaxy Portal will include Facebook integration with your contacts and quite a few other UI updates as well.  Samsung has chosen to add some additional customization features to the Galaxy Portal by allowing you to add up to ten different home screen panels to display your apps and widgets. 3 has put together a quick video to show off some of the new features that the Samsung Galaxy Portal will offer when it launches. 

3 has been a bit vague on pricing and release details of the Samsung Galaxy Portal. Fortunately, the handset is already available for sale in the UK.  Keep in mind, the current version of the Galaxy Portal features Android 1.5.  Samsung is working on a ROM update to release to the older handsets, but if you want a guarantee that your phone will have Android Éclair 2.1, we would suggest waiting until the Samsung Galaxy Portal is released on 3. 

Source: 3 Blog