Metal phones are all the rage - at least in South Korea, where local handset maker Samsung this week introduced a freash pair of alloy-clad phones into its Magic family. Joining the Magic Silver: Magic Gold and Magic... er... Brown.

Samsung's Magic models - and... er... some handsets...

Any metallurgists out there able to identify the mysterious metal known only as Brown? Or maybe Samsung's referring to Gordon Brown, the UK's very own 'iron chancellor'?

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Whatever, the 1.4cm-thick slider-phone trio all sport two-megapixel cameras, digital satellite TV receivers, Bluetooth and all the other features you'd expect from a modern mid-range handset.

That said, the Magic models are priced at a premium: KRW600,000 ($637/£325/€479), local news sites say.

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