Ho-lee cow, that’s a sweet rebate. Amazon’s got the “lighter than air” Samsung X360 notebook for under a grand if you’re the type of person who owns stamps and can handle mailing things before certain deadlines.

The X360 weighs 2.8 pounds, features a 128GB solid state drive, and a six-cell battery for up to eight hours of juice. You get 3GB of RAM and a 1.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU as well. The LED-backlit screen measures 13.3 inches, with a resolution of 1280×800. A fingerprint module and a full-size chiclet-style keyboard round everything else out.

Regular price is $1499 but a $500 mail-in rebate knocks it down to $999. You have to purchase the machine by Saturday, though, as the deal ends on 2/28/09.

Samsung X360 [Amazon.com via dealnews]

I can’t even begin to tell you how long I’ve been waiting for this particular phone to reach the US. I was completely enamored with it, the F700, when I first saw the press release more than a year ago. This was back in February and then I finally got a chance to play with it in October when I was in Korea. I knew right then and there that I had to have it, but I wasn’t really willing to pay the exorbitant amount for an unlocked version from Europe. Then I caught wind of a CDMA variant that would be coming to the US. I was told it would probably be announced sometime before the end of 2007, but we all know that didn’t happen.

So I have before me the u940, which has been redubbed the Glyde. Do I love it? Yes. Do I hate it? Yes.

If you’ve seen the F700 in person, then you would have immediately noticed that the Glyde is much smaller than its GSM counterpart. It also lacks the front camera and the 5-megapixel camera has been downgraded to 2-megapixel, but it’s still retains the AF function, so I can overlook that. I’m not in love with the keyboard, but that’s only because I’ve grown accustomed to the keyboard on my Curve and I still need some more time with this one. My first impression was that it was too flush and that the keys weren’t distinctive enough, but, again, it’s something you get used to. It’s an otherwise solid keyboard that’s easy to peck away at and the spring assisted slide mechanism is very nice.

The UI is relatively easy to navigate through and it’s supposed to be a variation of the Croix UI found on most of the European models, but it’s really not. The blue columns and rows appear when you tap on each icon, but that’s pretty much the only similarity. Once you dive down into the menus you’ll encounter Verizon’s proprietary menus. On the main splash page you’ll find an active task manager-like menu at the bottom that keeps track of your alarm clock, calendar, missed calls, voicemails, new messages, and volume. This remains regardless of whether or not you’re in landscape or portrait mode. However, there is one difference between the two modes. When in landscape, you have a messaging icon while this disappears when in portrait mode. The dial pad, menu and contacts icons remain either way. Hitting the blue square leads to user defined shortcuts. The one external hard button is the home key and does exactly that.

The haptic touchscreen is quite nice, but it’s a tiny bit finicky at times. Once in a while the back button won’t actually do anything at all and you’ll be tapping it two or three times before it responds. I fiddled with the sensitivity settings, but found that it didn’t do anything to alleviate the problem. But it doesn’t happen all that often so it’s something I can overlook. But be warned that when the sensitivity level is set to high, it can get a little schizophrenic if you’re attempting to fly through the menus. Like the Instinct, the Glyde does the flicking scrolling deal that I’m not fond of on any phone, but it works and I didn’t encounter many problems with it.

The 2-megapixel camera with AF is decent. Resolution goes as high as 1600×1200, but when it’s that high the zoom function is nixed. Cameras on phones generally suck and the Glyde fairs just above average. The flash does a decent job in low light, but you won’t be submitting anything for an award. The camcorder doesn’t fair much better, in fact, it’s pretty useless with a 176×144 resolution. There’s an option for 320×240, but I couldn’t get it to work as it remains grayed out.

The HTML Web browser is rather useless since the screen isn’t that big. Everything is truncated and you’re basically forced to use the optimized browser to see anything otherwise you’ll be scrolling horizontally and vertically to figure out what you’re looking at. Load times vary depending on your signal strength. But I blame most of this on Verizon’s browser portal. If you could load Opera onto the Glyde, you’d be cruising in style.

I don’t talk that often on my phone, but just for you guys I made a few calls from the Glyde. It’s relatively clear when there isn’t a whole lot of noise around you and it’s certainly loud enough until you step outside. It’s not the best, but it certainly isn’t the worst. When you slide open the keyboard the phone switches to speakerphone.

I’ve been using the Glyde for over 24 hours after a full charge and it’s down to three bars from the original four. I’m sure with a bit more Web browsing, navigating and calling it’d be down another bar, but I’d say the battery life is top notch. Then again, it is a CDMA phone so it’s not constantly connected like a GSM phone would be.

Overall, I’m happy with the Glyde and I’m glad Samsung decided to bring it here to the States. It’s definitely going to be one of Verizon’s more popular devices. It’s small and light weight at 4.1 ounces and measures in at 4.1 x 2.0 x 0.7-inches. Other than the minor touchscreen glitches here and there, I didn’t run into anything else that was remotely irritating and most of you know I’ll rip anything apart given the chance.

It’s official. Review coming shortly. I hate when embargoes get broken. Quick spec list after the jump.

§ Advanced responsive touch-screen (haptic feedback)

§ Full slide-out QWERTY keyboard

§ Messaging – EMS/SMS/MMS/IM

§ MobileWeb

§ 2 megapixel camera

§ Enhanced camera features

§ Video camera

§ E911

§ Location Based Services

§ Stereo Bluetooth headset support

· Bluetooth profiles: HF, SPP, DUN

§ OPP for vCard, BIP, BPP, PBAP

§ MOD/VOD

§ Music player

§ EVDO

§ Get it Now

§ Data: USB 2.0 Full Speed 12 Mbps

Thanks for the tip, James.

That Samsung U940 that Hickey mentioned the other day has changed its name. Once known as the Q-Ball, it’s now called the Glyde. The weird thing about that name is that “glide” is usually spelled with an “i” rather than a y, so someone at Samsung must have been doing DMT.

The Glyde is still on track for a late March release—Spring Break, you can find me in the Lower East Side complaining about things with Ha—and is still the same phone as we first described. That is, separate QWERTY keyboard (like nearly every phone these days) and 7 Train-friendly slide action.

Verizon to start selling Samsung U940 as Glyde in late March [IntoMobile]

Verizon Wireless users, meet the U940. The sliding-QWERTY, EV-DO phone showed up recently on the FCC’s certification site and all signs point to it passing muster, paving the way for a possible late summer release. Coupled with VZN’s new all-you-can-eat voice plan, this text-friendly phone could be a new flagship for the youth marketplace.

Samsung U940 User Manual and Pictures on FCC site [Phone Arena]

Verizon’s rumored 2008 phone introductions [Gadgetell]

Look who showed up on the FCC. If it isn’t the CDMA version of the F700, the u940. You remember this little guy, right? We were the first to tell you it was coming and now it’s one step closer to being realized. Could there be an official announcement at CES? Maybe.

FCC

Told you so, again. The SCH-U940 is the F700’s CDMA clone, but downgrades the 3-megapixel camera to two.

Samsung U940 is the Verizon’s variant of the F700 [Phone Arena]