Korean electronics major Samsung in association with Qualcomm has announced the launch of the world’s first OMH (Open Market Handset) phone, Mpower 699, in India.

OMH technology allows mobile users the flexibility to purchase SIM cards for CDMA handsets from operators of their choice.

The OMH technology is compatible only with the CDMA platform as the network settings for the CDMA handsets have shifted from the phone to the OMH SIM card. This shift has created a demand for phones that support OMH technology.

The new OMH enabled handsets also offer support to the older R-UIM or SIM for voice and SMS as well as data services. Apart from this, the OMH SIM also features backward compatibility and supports all earlier CDMA handsets with R-UIM/SIM support.

The process to switch from the old R-UIM/SIM connections to the new OMH SIM cards is very easy. This has further increased the popularity of the OMH technology.

The Samsung Mpower 699 comes with a 1.3MP Camera with video recording and advanced multimedia features such as audio player, video player and stereo FM radio. The new OMH handset also comes with an advanced Mobile Tracker, dedicated camera key, and a 2GB MicroSD card.

According to the company, the new mobile phone is the world’s first CDMA phone to offer the option of network settings for CDMA connections.

After India, Samsung will focus launching the OMH phone in Southeast Asia, Middle Eastern countries and Sub-Saharan Africa. Samsung also has plans to launch three more OMH compliant phones in India.