Samsung has been pretty successful with it’s first big-gun promotion branded handset, the Soul U900, launched last February. And the success was deserved: it had some slick good looks and usability, and really impressive specs for the time.

But time passes quickly in the mobile world, and the novelty and sheen of the Soul wore a little thin, and those once shiny specs are looking pretty dated now.

It’s a good thing Samsung feels this way too, and has something new up it’s sleeve for the next year’s fancy big feature phone,  and it’s called the Samsung S8300. Here’s the rundown on it.

Featuring an anti-scratch and anti-fingerprint coated duraluminium chasis (like the Soul), the Samsung S8300 does away with the interactive touchpad (and all its assorted issues and niggles), and opts for a simple to use optical joystick plus a big and bright 2.8? 16 million color touchscreen that’s reported to be sharp as a tack.

Full rumored Samsung S8300 specs include GSM/UMTS/HSDPA connectivity, 8MP camera with autofocus, GPS and 60MB of memory built-in, and DivX playback too. Very solid specs.

It may show up at the CES, or else the Samsung S8300 will probably get it’s official brand name and will be launched at MWC Barcelona in February, and will start shipping everywhere (UK included) in March 2009. No prices have been reported yet, but probably in the range of the Soul price wise (or maybe a little more) would be a safe bet.