Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. will announce later this year a dual-mode cell phone that can be used with China's homegrown 3G (third-generation) standard, TD-SCDMA (Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access), and existing GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) networks, according to a Chinese semiconductor company.

Samsung engineers Monday showed off the circuit board to be used in the TD-SCDMA/GSM handset at an event in Beijing hosted by T3G Technology Co. Ltd., a joint-venture chip design company owned by Datang Mobile Communications Equipment Co. Ltd., Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV, and Samsung Electronics.

The T3G event in Beijing was held to mark the successful production and testing of the company's modem chip for TD-SCDMA/GSM phones.

T3G was set up by the three partners in January 2003 to design dual-mode TD-SCDMA/GSM chipsets that will be used by Samsung and other handset makers, according to the company. The dual-mode capability is intended to speed up adoption of future 3G services based on TD-SCDMA by offering users the ability to make calls or send data over existing cellular networks, it said.

The Samsung dual-mode handset will be launched later this year and will support TD-SCDMA, GSM and GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) networks, T3G said in a statement. The company did not provide further details of the handset