Samsung has been rather successful with its Samsung Galaxy S last year. The latter handset is also second place in TIME magazine’s The Top 10 of Everything of 2010. The latter is a decent indicator of Samsung’s brand recognition in the USA which is verdant market for smartphones.

My gripes with the previous model was its less than premium build quality for its somewhat premium price. The iPhone4 had better build quality and was cheaper to buy sans contract.

The latter point is a thing of the past with the new Galaxy S2 which was released at the Mobile World Congress(MWC) 2011.

Its key features include a 4.3 inch Super AMOLED Plus screen, Dual Core processor, Android 2.3(Gingerbread) and Near Field Communications (NFC). There has been some confusion with regards to the type of processor used. The device was originally slated to have been using NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 processor but there has also been info that Samsung is using its own dual core 1GHz processor. According to Engadget, sources have revealed that both platforms may be used to keep up with supply demands.

This device has a premium feel and Samsung intends to wage battle with the Apple and RIM on the gaming and enterprise arena. The former takes shape in the form of Samsung Gaming Hub. The latter comes in the form of Samsung’s work with Sybase and Cisco for enterprise security.

Samsung has reportedly improved it’s TouchWiz Android interface on the Galaxy S2. As to whether Samsung will be good enough to provide prompt updates with newer versions of Android remains to be seen. It is, at the end of the day, a mobile handset maker with minimal interest in updating its handsets with the latest versions of Android. In my opinion, that is the ultimate downside of owning an Android handset. The Nexus One and the Nexus S are two exceptions to this rule.

But make no mistake, the Galaxy S2 is going to make some serious noise in the mobile market this year.

Click on this link for a brief video preview courtesy of Engadget.