When Samsung first announced their Omnia line-up, I initially thought that the Samsung Omnia Pro B7320 was the follow-up to one of my favorite Samsung Winmo devices: the Samsung i780. I was disappointed when I found out that the Samsung B7320 doesn't sport a touchscreen. My anticipation for the device fizzled.
Design
Compared with the Samsung i780, the Samsung Omnia Pro B7320 seems to be a bit thicker and "pudgy". I do like the brown color but again, I don't like the keypad design. It's also too bad that Samsung scrapped the optical D-pad with a regular one. It would have went well with their Samsung homescreen. Aside from the directional keypad, there are two softkeys that flank the D-Pad, a homescreen button, a back button, and the call and end buttons.
Features and Performance
Like what everybody in the US is thinking, the Samsung Omnia Pro B7320 already looks like the twin of an already existing Samsung WinMo device that is available on AT&T: The Samsung i637 Jack. What is different about the Samsung B7320 over the i637 Jack is the homescreen. When I first saw the picture of the Samsung B7320, I thought it was a touchscreen device since it has a Samsung TouchWiz-like homescreen. For those already used with the Samsung TouchWiz Interface, you might find yourself at times fondling the screen, forgetting that the B7320 is NOT a touchscreen phone. The TouchWiz-like interface on the Omnia Pro B7320 works using the directional pad. The home key would take you to the widgets side and pressing the right button or the center directional key will bring up the menus under that widget. It's a bit confusing at first and I was like: What was Samsung thinking? The only other thing different about the B7320 from the i637 is that the former has a secondary camera for video calling, an autofocus for the camera as well as smile shutter and face detection.
Anyways, after a while, you will get used to browsing the homescreen. It's a pretty interface but it does nothing at hiding the classic WinMo interface. What was improved though is the photo browser on the homescreen widget. As you can see from the picture, you will get a coverflow like interface when browsing your pictures using the homescreen widget. I also like the way Samsung skinned the Windows Media Player. It's still the Windows Media Player but you can hardly tell. I wish Samsung would have added their own music player on it.
The camera is also an improvement from the i780. There's a bigger resolution plus, as I've mentioned, the addition of smile shutter, face detection, autofocus, etc. I took a sample shot but I think I may have deleted it. Anyways, since the place I was testing the unit was a bit dark, the B7320 didn't do so well compared with the Samsung Jet S8000, I can't exactly comment on the picture quality but I've never had problems with Samsung's picture quality before.
Halfway through browsing the device, I fell asleep...Well--almost. It was just, this device seemed so boring and plain with nothing new to offer--in short, it's like a Motorola Q!! Don't get me wrong, it's solid and fast but I don't know, it's all pretty standard to me. It may be because every manufacturer out there has been dressing up their windows mobile devices that reverting back to the old windows mobile interface just bored me to tears. Yes there are new apps such as facebook and twitter but I don't really use those social networking sites. Oh yeah, there's an additional FM radio with RDS, HSDPA, WiFi, and Bluetooth.
Anyways, audio quality is passable although at high volumes audio comes out tinny. I was so bored to tears that I didn't even bother checking out the browser which was an Opera browser.
Conclusion
For those WinMo fans who're looking for the old and classic Windows Mobile Interface, the Samsung Omnia Pro B7320 might appeal to you (yes, I know of some who missed the old WinMo interface terribly). But for those who are hooked to touchscreens and the next generation of Windows Mobile devices, the Samsung Omnia Pro B7320 is just so old school that it might not catch your attention. Better wait for the Samsung Omnia Pro B7610.
If you think HTC's Sense on the HTC Hero is just spiffing hot, WinMo lovers may want to wait it out a while before converting to Android since it seems that HTC is working on an update to their TouchFlo 3D interface with a version 2.5.
Based on the videos, you won't see WinMo's classic interface since HTC buried it deep on their TouchFlo 3D v2.5. Even the settings menu which is usually where you will first see the WinMo classic interface is covered up with HTC's new interface.
Sweet. If this new interface could be available to the HTC Touch Diamond 2, then the latter is luring me in more and more. Somebody keep my credit card away. Check out the video demo below.
Update: As someone commented, it seems the newer version of the Samsung Jet now has the middle button as a menu button. As I've already mentioned, the one I've reviewed is an early retail unit so it's possible that Samsung updated the firmware on the newer units. Firmwares are being updated by phone manufacturers regularly to address some issues and improve the phone's performance. If this is so, the middle button change is very welcome and will improve the Samsung Jet's user interface.
I finally got my hands on the new Samsung Jet, the phone that was launched on Samsung's unpacked event. I'm pretty excited about this phone since this seems to be the same phone as the Samsung i8000 Omnia II but only different operating system.
Design
The Samsung Jet is a very sleek phone that is a magnet for fingerprint smudge. It has a 3.2 inch resistive, AMOLED touchscreen with 480 x 800 pixel resolution. The screen is definitely super clear and the colors just pop out at you. There are three buttons on the front, the middle button is not a directional pad but a back button which is really very annoying. Every phone in the market has the middle button as a menu button but Samsung decided to make theirs a back button. On the left side is the volume controls and on the right is the lock key and two volume-like buttons on the bottom right side. I kept pressing these buttons thinking it was the volume control but it turns out the top one is to bring up the Cube Interface while the bottom is the camera button. On the back is the 5 megapixel camera and again, the back side is much more of a fingerprint magnet than the front side. There's really nothing mind blowing about the design except of course, the Samsung Jet leaves its competitors behind with its super clear and vivid screen resolution.
Features and Performance
When I first handled the Samsung Jet, I thought I was handling a capacitive touchscreen phone. No really, everything was very smooth and fluid, totally comparable with the iPhone. You can customize everything, from your menu screen to the transition effects when you swipe your finger left and right. Everything is really fast and almost better than the capacitive touchscreen on the Samsung Tocco Ultra Touch. The improved and fast UI may be attributed to the Qualcomm 800MHz processor on the device. There was a time when I experienced a hiccup though when there were too many widgets in the homescreen but it may be a glitch on the unit which is VERY early retail unit.
The other additional user interface feature of the Samsung S8000 Jet is the 3D cube interface reminiscent of the 3D interface on the LG Arena. The Samsung Jet on the other hand, makes use of all six side of the cubes so you can access your photo browser, music, videos, radio, games, and the internet. The Cube is really a fun interface and it's nice that there's a dedicated shortcut button for it. Of course, Samsung may have overkilled their user interface a bit, what with their widgets already offering shortcuts to everything else and now a cube interface, it would be hard for users to choose which interface they want but it's good that all of them are useable.
The Music application did not change much. It's still the same music application found on the Samsung Tocco Ultra Touch. When you tilt your phone to landscape mode when playing music, you will get a CoverFlow like interface. Music quality through the speakers is okay though very soft. It may be because of Samsung's DNSE technology. There's a 3.5mm headset jack onboard which is a really nice addition. Thank God that Samsung didn't feel the need to put the headset jack on their proprietary connection again. Music quality when using your headset is really great, I haven't tried using the Bluetooth Stereo headset though.
One thing I hate about the Samsung Jet S8000 is the onscreen keyboard. When you're in portrait mode, you don't get to choose between alpha-numeric keypad or QWERTY keypad, you can only choose alpha-numeric or handwriting recognition, however, when you tilt it to landscape mode, that's the time you'll find the QWERTY keyboard. This would be a pain for those who're used to typing messages in portrait mode.
The Samsung S8000 Jet has a 5 megapixel camera with LED Flash. It has everything like face detection, smile detection, autofocus, image stabilizer, geo-tagging etc. Image quality is okay in low light conditions (sample below) though images come out a bit washed but that's because I didn't tweak any settings, I just pressed the camera button and this was what came out. I wasn't able to take a sample picture outdoors but no doubt that if it can produce an okay looking picture indoors it would definitely do well outdoors when there's ample lighting.
Samsung Jet S8000 Sample pictures
I don't have a sample DivX file with me to play but the Samsung Jet can play DivX videos outright without the need to convert it. I have no doubt that the Samsung Jet would be able to handle DivX videos without any problem since the Samsung Ultra Touch was able to handle an 358MB DivX file without so much as a hiccup then with an 800MHz processor, 358MB DivX files would be a breeze. I'm looking forward to watching high quality DivX videos on the screen of this device.
I also like the WiFi application on the Samsung Jet. Like the Bluetooth Application found on the Samsung Tocco Ultra, all you have to do is turn on the WiFi by pressing the screen and the phone will find available hotspots.
Conclusion
Wow, if Samsung can make the Omnia II this fast and responsive as the Samsung Jet then I'll definitely like the Omnia II. The Samsung Jet is a very media-centric device. The user interface is something else, I really like the 3D cube and the new TouchWiz 2.0 interface especially the transition effects. I just do hope that the slight hang that I encountered while putting too many widgets on the homescreen is just a one-time glitch or it would otherwise hamper a perfectly great interface by Samsung. A good buy and a good alternative if you're tired of hearing all about the iPhone and you just want a simple phone that has good UI, camera, and media player.
Looks like my prediction that the PSP Go! is actually a PSP Phone is waaayy off because the PSP Go! has actually been confirmed a few months ago. But even though there's still no PSP Phone in the horizon, according to Nikkei, Sony is trying to come up with a cellphone/game gear hybrid (now why don't they just call it a PSP Phone?).
According to Yahoo News, Sony is planning to set up a project team as early as July to develop a new product. This is because Sony seems to be seeing the iPhone as a threat to their PSP since a number of game makers are offering software for the iPod and iPhone.
If I'm on the product team, I'll just make the PSP GO much more pleasing to look at, make the front screen a full touchscreen and then retain the game controllers, there you have it, a hybrid cellphone/game gear.
Wow, Vodafone is churning out more and more exclusive mobile phone handsets. This time, it's the Samsung Blade which is actually the Samsung S5600 but only with the Vodafone branding. The Samsung Blade/S5600 is actually the Samsung S5230 mobile phone's big brother with a bit more advance features.
The Samsung Blade, like the Samsung S5230 is aimed primarily at the mid-range mobile phone users. The Samsung Blade sports a 2.8 inch capacitive touchscreen with Samsung's AMOLED display and therein lies the big difference between the S5230 and the Samsung Blade, the former has a resistive TFT LCD.
Another major difference between the Samsung S5600 and the Samsung S5230 is that the former is a 3G phone while the S5230 is only GSM capable. Other than that, both phones have Samsung's TouchWiz UI, 3 megapixel camera with smile detection (Vodafone's Samsung Blade has a LED flash), microSD slot, and Bluetooth with A2DP.
Vodafone's Samsung Blade's user interface is very similar to the Samsung Tocco Ultra Touch Although since the Samsung Blade phone has the luxury of being newer, it has more widgets than the Tocco Ultra Touch unless you have the latest firmware on the latter.
If you're already decided on buying Vodafone's Samsung Blade as your next mobile phone, then skip below and head on over to Vodafone Samsung Blade order page.
Okay, so this is a very quick review of the Samsung Galaxy i7500 mobile phone considering my few short minutes with it. The Samsung i7500 Galaxy is the first Android phone that I have handled (prior to the HTC Hero).
Design
I really don't like the design of the Samsung i7500, everywhere you look is plastic so the phone doesn't really scream STYLE. The whole device is also a fingerprint magnet. However, the 3.2 inch capacitive screen is very pleasing to look at considering that it's an AMOLED screen. I just wish that Samsung skinned the Android interface a bit and added a more colorful wallpaper in order to make full use of the vibrant LCD.
User Interface, Features
Since the Samsung i7500 Galaxy is my first Android phone to hold, it took a while before I got used to it. Of course, I've seen some videos of the HTC Magic in action but handling the real thing is different. Swiping through the 3 menu screen is really fast, definitely as fast as the iPhone (3G). It's the menu buttons that took me a while to figure out. I had a hard time finding where was the WiFi, GPS, etc.
However, even though there's a small learning curve for first time Android users, the Android OS is something else. Thanks to the iPhone, Google made sure that the Android OS is first and foremost for touchscreen phones (esp. the 1.5 version).
The Samsung Galaxy has a 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and geotagging. There's also an onboard 3.5mm headset jack although Samsung didn't scrap out their proprietary connector since you still need that for charging.
What I hate about Samsung is why don't they have just one proprietary connection for ALL their mobile phones so that it would be easy to borrow a charger if your other friends have Samsung phones. My Samsung Omnia has a different connector than the newer Samsung phones which is a REAL pain. That's the reason why I only have had a short time with the i7500, the unit ran out of battery and I couldn't charge it with my Omnia's charger because Samsung decided to make their proprietary connector smaller.
Anyways, going back to the Samsung i7500, there's also an accelerometer which by the way, has a very smooth transition, Bluetooth with A2DP, 3G/HSDPA, 8GB internal storage expandable with a microSD card up to 16GB.
The downside/disadvantage of the Samsung Galaxy i7500? No FM radio, and no DivX compatibility which is a bummer really considering that the AMOLED screen is best used when viewing high quality DivX movies. Some of my other Samsung mobile phones have issues with the volume of the speakers, the Samsung Galaxy phone has good speaker audio quality but again, it's not loud enough for me.
Conclusion
If you already have the Vodafone Magic, I really don't see any compelling reason for you to switch except for the 5 megapixel camera and onboard 3.5mm headset jack. Other than that, both sport the same Cupcake OS. Since the Samsung i7500 Galaxy has the luxury of being released first than the HTC Hero, those who can't wait for the latter might want to grab the Samsung i7500 now, unless of course, you feel that HTC's Sense UI is worth the wait for the HTC Hero.
HTC has again unveiled another Android powered device: the HTC Hero. The HTC Hero joins HTC's other Android powered phones like the HTC Dream and HTC Magic.
Design
The HTC Hero takes it design cue from the HTC Dream sans the keyboard and a little more protruded bottom. It still has the trackball and slightly more hardware keys added compared with the HTC Dream/Google G1. The HTC Hero has a very nice brushed aluminum finish which is a serious step up considering that most of their handsets just uses a plain plastic finish. Like its predecessors, the HTC Hero sports a 3.2 inch touchscreen but while its brothers sport a resistive screen, the Hero has a capacitive touchscreen that supports multi-touch. HTC also added something to the screen (I forgot what it was) that makes it fingerprint resistant. Another new thing about the HTC Hero in terms of hardware design is the addition of a 3.5mm headset jack.
Features and Performance
What separates the HTC Hero from the previous Android devices is the HTC Sense which is like the TouchFlo 3D for Android. I only had a short time playing with an Android device before and I have to say, the Android OS is not the most visually appealing OS in the market so HTC did a good job by adding the HTC Sense. It gives the HTC Hero a more customized User Interface and VERY visually appealing.
Internal hardware didn't change much when compared with the Dream and Magic. The HTC Hero still runs on a Qualcomm 528MHz processor but has an improved RAM of 288MB. Maybe it's because of the RAM or HTC's new UI but swiping transitions on the HTC Sense is really fast and can give the iPhone 3G a run for its money. Sadly, when you get down to some of the most basic apps, the load time when you press the messaging app still seems slow compared with the iPhone.
Because of the added multi-touch capability, the browser on the HTC Hero compared with the HTC Magic changed. You will no longer need the on-screen scroll wheel when zooming in and out of pages, you can just do the pinch and zoom thingy ala iPhone. The multi-touch interface is a welcome change although HTC may need to tweak it a bit since again, compared with the iPhone, the zooming in and out of pages/pictures is a bit slow. It's not LG Prada II slow but there's still a noticeable slowness especially if you're already an iPhone user.
The music player has undergone a revamp and is VERY much appealing compared with the previous devices. The camera has also undergone a major improvement. The HTC Hero now has a 5 megapixel camera compared with the 3.1 megapixel of its brothers. The camera has autofocus though I don't think it has smile shutter, face detection, etc. There might be some truth to the rumors that the HTC Touch Diamond2 and the HTC Hero shares the same hardware on the inside since the photos on the HTC Hero is comparable with the Touch Diamond2.
Conclusion
Looks like we have another winner from HTC. If HTC keeps on improving on their products I might be tempted to buy their devices again. The HTC Hero is definitely a good upgrade to the HTC Dream or Magic if you're an Android fan. The HTC Sense is a very good improvement which makes the user interface on Android a lot more simpler and more "pretty" to look at. Of course, if HTC decides to release the HTC Sense on their previous Android devices, then Dream and Magic users may not be tempted to switch but there's the added multi-touch and a 5 megapixel camera so there's probably no holding back Android users who want to upgrade.
Okay, I never really bothered replying to iPhone, Nokia or Android fanboys attacking windows mobile. Hey, each one is entitled to their own opinions and yes, some of their opinions of WinMo is true but to say that WinMo will be dead soon, then I just have to put my foot down.
Steve Green, over at Smartphonemag.com has just published a post citing ten reasons why Microsoft should drop Windows Mobile. I won't bother with listing my arguments per number as it would just take too much time and space--time which I haven't got since I'm about to log off in a few minutes.
Anyways, bottom line is, if Microsoft decides to bury windows mobile, they would be burying the only "smart" phones in the smartphone market. True, in terms of user experience, Windows Mobile isn't for newbies or those who can't bother reading a manual or googling to find solutions to their problems, I mean, why bother, Nokia already made their phones OVERLY simplistic to the point of just being plain boring and dumb.
When someone asks me what a good smartphone is nowadays, I answer based on the person's tech know-how. If I feel that all they ever did with their PCs is watch YouTube and surf the net then I say the iPhone or Nokia N Series, if I feel like I'm talking to someone who has two OS installed on his netbook then I readily say: any windows mobile phone.
Windows Mobile is far from being dead. With Mobile Phone manufacturers such as Sony and Samsung churning out more devices that runs on Windows Mobile, and Windows Mobile 6.5 and 7 out very soon, I would hardly call it a dead Operating System. The hundreds of developers and thousands of applications (including old applications that are still compatible with newer windows mobile phones), I have to say that Windows Mobile is here to stay.
For WinMo fanboys and fangirls alike, feel free to visit Steve's blog and give him your two cents.
For those with jailbroken or unlocked iPhones who aren't willing to upgrade to the latest 3.0 OS because they're afraid that their iPhones would be locked again, well fret not because the iPhone Dev Team has just released the ultraSnow for iPhone 3G.
The ultraSnow allows iPhone 3G owners to unlock their iPhones with the latest OS 3.0. So there you have it, no need to be left behind, iPhone 3G owners, upgrade your OS now to 3.0! Oh yeah, in order to do this, you need to jailbreak your iPhone using redsn0w or PwnageTool. You can find the instructions or you can look for help over at the iPhone Dev Team's blog. iPhone 3G S owners would have to wait a bit longer for a software to unlock their devices.
According to Apple, they have sold 1 million iPhone 3G S since Sunday, June 21st. Although that's faster than the first iPhone which took 74 days before Apple could claim that it sold over 1 million iPhones, it's slower than the iPhone 3G which only took 3 days before it sold 1 million units.
Of course, the first iPhone doesn't have the luxury of being sold in over 21 countries and I don't know whether that's the same with the iPhone 3G S although I know that we're only a day late before it was launched in the US, but still, I don't know whether this is an indication that Apple is losing its steam or not too many people were gullible enough to spend another hundred or so quid just to get the same looking phone. Still, it's pretty impressive. Congratulations.
It's been a while since I've seen LG phones powered by Windows Mobile. The last one, I think, was the LG KS20. Well, that was around two years ago and thankfully, LG will soon release another smartphone powered by Windows Mobile: the LG GM730.
The LG GM730 sports the same look as the LG Arena, and if I'm not mistaken, the same S-Class User interface which means you probably will get that cube interface that the LG Arena has been using.
Aside from the S-Class user interface, there's nothing that really differentiates the LG GM730 from my Samsung Omnia. Screen area-wise, the Samsung Omnia sports a bit bigger screen of 3.2 inches compared with the LG G730's 3 inch screen. Both devices have accelerometers, microSD slots, 3G/HSDPA, FM Radio, GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth, and 5 megapixel cameras. Although the LG GM730 may have the upperhand on the camera department since it sports a Schneider-Kreuznach optics but again, we'll have to see some comparison shots before we conclude anything.
On the other hand, the processor on teh LG GM730 is a Qualcomm MSM7201A 528 MHz processor versus Samsung Omnia's processing power of 624 MHz. I have no idea as to the RAM capacity but it seems that the LG GM730's internal memory isn't as large as the Samsung Omnia.
When it comes down to it, like the HTC Touch Diamond2, it all boils down to which user interface you prefer, Samsung Touchwiz, LG's S-Class or HTC's TouchFlo 3D.
I've heard that they're lacking stock of the iPhone 3G S in the US, hopefully that won't be the case here in the UK. If you haven't pre-ordered the iPhone 3G S before and you're thinking of going out to the Apple Store to buy one, save yourself the time and the line and just order one online.
The iPhone 3G S is available at mobiles.co.uk and they say they have a lot of stock that are ready for dispatch. If you're still undecided, better check out some iPhone 3G S reviews to see if it's worth getting or worth the upgrade.
Engadget has just released a review of the iPhone 3G S. I really don't know whether it's biased or not. The reviewer was honest enough to say that if you own an iPhone 3G, it's really not worth that much to upgrade to the new iPhone 3G S. However, reading the rest of their reviews on different mobile phones, I feel like they're a bit easy when reviewing Apple's products.
I for one think that putting in a faster processor and a few minor adjustments that should have been there in the first place in the same hardware is hardly what you call a "new phone", yeah I know, Nokia and the rest of the gang does it all the time but they're at least industrious enough to design a new hardware in order for the public to bite their products. I don't know, I guess I expected more from Apple. After all, it is thanks to them that I am no longer stuck with Windows Mobile devices that I have to soft reset three times a day nor would I have to endure a stylus-full existence.
Anyways, if you care enough about the iPhone 3G S, head on over to their review, oh and if you want to kill some time, you might want to read the comments section wherein fanboys of different manufacturers lash out at each other.
Oh, and if you ask me, I'm a windows mobile fangirl who thinks the iPhone's user interface is still the one to beat. Take note of "user interface", because when it comes to features, the iPhone is severely lacking.
True to their word, the LG GD900 Crystal is now available at Mobiles.co.uk and you can get this mobile phone for free on selected tariffs at O2, Vodafone and Orange.
In case you've missed out on hearing about the LG GD900 Crystal, it's that slider phone that LG is boasting about with the see through keypad. It has a 3.0 inch touchscreen display with multi-touch, 8.0 megapixel camera with face detection, smile detection, and autofocus, WiFi, GPS, HSDPA/3G, 1.5GB internal memory with expandable microSD slot, and support for DivX videos.
Wow, Vodafone is fast. Barely a day passed since Samsung announced their Samsung Jet S8000 and already they're sending out press releases that the Samsung Jet is already available and will be exlusive to them for two weeks.
Two weeks seems such a short time for mobile phone exclusivity, but hey, whatever makes Vodafone happy. Anyways, their deals are pretty good. You can get the Samsung Jet for free for as low as £25 and you don't even have to be locked to a 24 month agreement, only 18 months. For a full list of the tariffs, see Vodafone's Samsung Jet page.
AT&T has their iPhone, Verizon has their Voyager, T-Mobile has their Sidekick, and recently Spring has their Palm Pre, so how do rural wireless providers in the US compete with that? By lobbying with US Senators for the FCC to review mobile phone exlusivity deals. US Senators John Kerry, Byron Dorgan, Amy Klobuchar, and Roger Wicker, signed a letter to the FCC and part of the letter reads:
We ask that you examine this issue carefully and act expeditiously should you find that exclusivity agreements unfairly restrict consumer choice or adversely impact competition in the commercial wireless marketplace
The Senators also asked the FCC if mobile phone exlusive deals are prevalent, if it manipulates competitive marketplace between wireless carriers, and if it plays a role in discouraging innovation. Hmm, definitely not the latter since the release of the iPhone paved the way for more advanced handsets but maybe yes on the second issue.
The Senators would hold a hearing Wednesday and determine if legislation is necessary. Oh, the EU should definitely get in on the action and do something similar. I know I want to see an unbranded HTC Magic on the market.
Damn, Samsung is on fire. Before announcing their Omnia line-up, they were already trying to generate buzz with a new handset via their Samsung unpacked event. Although I was tempted to join their contest but since I didn't win the Samsung Ambassador contest, why waste my luck, right?
Anyways, the Samsung Jet is something. Although it's not an HD Device like the Samsung i8910 HD, it has a powerful 3.1 inch 16M WVGA AMOLED display. Now I'm already taken by Samsung's AMOLED screens but if this is WVGA, then the Samsung Jet would punch a more amazing screen resolution. Another thing that the Samsung Jet has going for it is its 800MHz processor. Since this is not a Windows Mobile device, it doesn't have all the Winmo app that would slow other devices so I'm hoping Samsung puts the 800MHz processor to good use.
The Samsung Jet S8000 also sports Samsung's Dolfin browser. I've got a peek at the browser thanks to the Samsung Jet demo video (see below) and it's pretty amazing. You can browse up to 5 web pages which is more browsing capability than the Safari or Opera Web Browser (which only allows 3), a one touch zoom, and a multi-browser bar which allows you to search within the page, search using google, or type in directly the web address.
I'm disappointed with the camera since it's only 5 megapixel but its still better than the iPhone's 3.1 megapixel camera. The Samsung S8000 also has GPS, DNSe, SRS sound effect, and DivX support.
Wow, Samsung has been busy these past couple of days. It seems that with the success of their first Samsung Omnia, they decided to make a line-up of Omnia products, all touting Windows Mobile.
Samsung Omnia Lite Samsung Omnia II
Samsung Omnia Pro B7610
Samsung Omnia Pro B7320
First, there's the follow up follow up to the Omnia, the Samsung Omnia II or Samsung i8000 with a 3.7 inch AMOLED screen with 8 megapixel camera, second there the Samsung Louvre aka Samsung Omnia Pro B7610 which has a physical QWERTY Keyboard, 3.5 inch screen and 5.1 megapixel camera, then there's the Samsung Omnia Pro B7320, which is the follow up to the Samsung i780, sporting a 3 megapixel camera, Blackberry-like QWERTY keypad, FM radio, and WiFi. Last is the Samsung Omnia Lite which pretty much has the same feature as the orignal Omnia except maybe for the 3 megapixel camera.
My thoughts? Well, the Samsung Omnia II seems like the leader of the bunch with much improved features, the Samsung Omnia Pro B7610 is really what I've been waiting for since I'm in the market for phones with a physical QWERTY keyboard, its biggest competitior is the HTC Touch Pro2 but considering that the former has far better specifications (faster processor and higher camera resolution), I'm still inclined to the Omnia although the HTC Touch Pro2's design is waaayyy better. I wish Samsung stuck with the design of the i780 on the Samsung Omnia Pro B7320 and as for the Tocco Lite, if Samsung keeps its price down, the Nokia 5530 has a REAL competitor.
On a final note, since Samsung already knows how successful their Omnia is, I wish they would release an SDK already for their widgets. No, I'm not talking about online widgets, I'm talking about straight to program widgets like on Sony Ericsson's Xperia X1 panels. For the love of God, Samsung, do it already! I'm sure you would be releasing a third Omnia in the future and would still run windows mobile. There are a lot of application developers for windows mobile and I'm sure they're more than ready to make widgets for their applications.
If the Cookie is to LG, the Star is to Samsung, now, the 5530 is to Nokia. The common factor amongst the three? All of them are touchscreen phones, and all of them is targeted at the mass market.
The Nokia 5530 is not a follow up to the Nokia 5800 but rather, the former is more of the latter's little brother. Sporting a 2.9 inch touchscreen which runs Symbian S60 5th edition, there's not much on the device. There's no 3G/HSDPA but what separates the Nokia 5530 over the Star and Cookie is that it has WiFi.
Although the Nokia 5530 is not the cheapest amongst the bunch, word has it that the retail price for the 5530 when it launches is around £170 - £190, I guess the added WiFi is reason enough for the higher price. Also no GPS, what the 5530 does have is a 3.5mm headset jack, FM Radio, Bluetooth with A2DP, and a 3.2 megapixel camera.
I know, I know, £170 - £190 is hardly mass market price but if you're a Nokia fanatic, this will be the cheapest touchscreen phone you'll ever get on Nokia's touchscreen line-up.
If you're trying to buy your Nokia N97 off eBay, watch out for Chinese made clones. Some sellers are honest enough to say that what they're selling are actually clones, but what of those who aren't honest?
All I know is that most retailers have the Nokia N97 for sale around June 15th and unless you're buying from a reputable online seller, I'd say better hold off parting with your hard-earned money if you don't want to be holding an N97 clone. I don't know if what is pictured is a clone or not (it's the one used on the eBay seller's item for Nokia N97 clone) but the QWERTY keys doesn't seem right.
To officially buy or pre-order your Nokia N97 under contract, check here.
I've previously blogged about how I thought the Samsung Louvre was leaked by Expansys guys, well now, it turns out that the leak could actually be true as there are now pictures to prove it. Some french website has pictures to prove their claim.
I'm so excited, I'm actually jumping up and down my seat. Of course, the the Samsung Omnia2 still has pretty great specs but the Samsung B7610 Louvre has a physical QWERTY keyboard! Something that I've been wanting on my Omnia since like--forever!!
The specifications on the Samsung Louvre isn't bad too. It has a 3.5 inch AMOLED screen, 5 megapixel camera (no flash), 1GB internal memory with expandable MicroSD slot, 3G/HSDPA, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, FM Radio, and an acceleromter. The Samsung B7610 runs on Windows Mobile 6.1 only but--this is the part I like best: it's upgradeable to Windows Mobile 6.5 when it comes out!! Oh joy! Oh joy! Oh joy!
The Samsung B7610 Louvre will still sport Samsung's TouchWiz interface and that cool looking CoverFlow like thingy pictured seems really cool. The Louvre will be available in France in July (lucky them) on Orange (Poor them), for around 350 Euros. Hopefully, it would reach our shores somewhere around the same month but if not, we'll have to wait until September.
I've previously blogged about how how the LG GD900 Crystal would be available last May. Well, since not all expected release dates can be trusted, those who have waited for the LG GD900 probably waited in vain. But don't fret, cause mobiles.co.uk has the official shipping date of the LG GD900 Crystal on June 17th.
You can pre-order the LG GD900 Crystal now at mobiles.co.uk. The LG GD900 is the latest touchscreen phone from LG which features a 3 inch screen with multi-touch technology and an 8 megapixel camera. Looks like a competitor for the Samsung Tocco Ultra Touch.
UK Apple fanboys won't have to wait long to get their new iPhone 3GS. The iPhone 3GS is now available for pre-order at mobiles.co.uk and of course it's still exclusive to O2. You can get the 16GB iPhone 3GS for free at £44.05 a month tariff for 24 months. If you only want to be tied down to O2 for 18 months, prepare to pay £73.41 a month to get the iPhone 3GS for free.
Lowest monthly tariff for the iPhone 3GS is £29.38 a month for 18 months but you have to pay £184.98 for the 16GB or £274.23 for the 32GB model.
The iPhone 3GS will be on stock on June 18th and will be available for next day delivery. To pre-order, click the link above.
Battery cover needs to be removed to access MicroSD
No onboard 3.5mm headset jack
No DivX support
Samsung is really making headway with their AMOLED technology. In the first half of 2009 alone, they’ve released about three phones that makes use of their AMOLED screens: the Tocco Ultra Touch, i8910 HD, and the Samsung S7220 Lucido.
The first two devices makes use of touch screen technology and only the latter has a candy bar design. Let’s see how the Samsung Lucido fares.
Design
If I have to categorize this phone, since it’s has Samsung’s “S” branding, I have to say that it’s a fashion phone. The Samsung Lucido has a sleek candy bar design with brushed metal effect. The screen kinda brings to mind the Samsung Tocco Ultra Touch’s face. Also, both devices are available in the same red color. The phone is slim and has a solid feel to it although the keypad feels too cramped.
Screen and Video playback
Since the Samsung S7220 touts Samsungs excellent AMOLED screen, I quickly downloaded some videos to play on this device. Disappointingly, unlike the Tocco Ultra Touch which can play DivX videos right out of the box, the Samsung Lucido does not support DivX files, only MPEG. I don’t have any MPEG videos lying around so I didn’t have time to test it out. This is really a bummer, the main purpose of an AMOLED screen for me is for video playback so if the phone can’t support DivX playback, the most common video format nowadays, what’s the point?
Camera
Thankfully, the Samsung S7220 seems to be an excellent camera phone. There are a lot of camera goodies on the Samsung Lucido: autofocus, anti-shake, face detection, smile detection, geo-tagging, LED flash, ISO, etc. These functions are not just empty goodies because they’re all functional. When lighting is adequate (e.g., daylight or industrial fluorescent lights) picture quality is amazing, exposure and saturation are excellent and there’s no noise whatsoever. When in poor lighting conditions, I think the LED flash is pretty useable compared with my Samsung Omnia which pretty much turns the whole picture white with its LED Flash. The flash provides adequate lighting and the night scene mode produces brightly lit photos at the cost of some noise.
Music playback
Music playback using Bluetooth Stereo Headset is excellent although speaker playback leaves something to be desired. It’s okay but when you compare it with other phones such as my Omnia, the Samsung S7220 Lucido’s audio playback through the speakers comes out tinny.
Productivity and Connectivity
Another thing I like about the Samsung S7220 Lucido is the built in document viewer. It’s integrated with Netfront browser. As a web browser, Netfront browser renders pages a bit slowly compared with Opera Mini but for a document viewer it does a good job especially with PDF files. Rendering Word documents is a bit slow though.
Like I’ve mentioned, the keypad is a bit cramped especially the two softkeys flanking the directional buttons. With other devices, I was used with the softkeys being located just below the screen but on the Samsung Lucido, it’s located so near the directional buttons that I pressing them can be a pain sometimes. As for the keypad, it can feel a bit awkward the first time you’re using it, like your thumb isn’t in the right place. Over time though, I feel like I might get used to it.
The accelerometer only works with the web browser, camera and video player. I don’t really know why they bothered with an accelerometer. It would have been nice if Samsung included some full games and applications that makes use of the accelerometer like what Sony Ericsson did with the G705 but no, all of the games included in the Samsung S7220 Lucido that I got are only trial versions.
Like with the Tocco Ultra Touch, there’s no included GPS software although the Samsung Lucido has an edge since even without a GPS software, it can pinpoint your location via longitude and latitude. The Tocco Ultra Touch’s GPS is pretty much useless without a software.
Conclusion
If you’re looking for a mobile phone with style, a good camera, GPS and acceptable music playback, the Samsung S7220 Lucido may be just right up your alley. However there might be other older devices that might compete with your attention. The Sony Ericsson G705 for one, is cheaper (unlocked) and already has WiFi but the latter struggles since it isn’t such a competent music player and only has a 3.2 megapixel camera. But if you’re always in the market for something new, the Samsung Lucido definitely delivers.
So the iPhone 3GS, the new iPhone has finally been announced after much rumors and speculations.
So after a year, what does the new iPhone have to offer. Well, we have a major camera revamp--3 megapixels! I don't know whether to laugh or cry. While other manufacturers, especially in Japan would consider a 3 megapixel camera to be something they'd put on a low-end device. However, Apple says that the camera will have an improved light sensitivity and macro mode.
Also, the additiona of voice control/voice dialing which is something that can be found even on the oldest Nokia 3300 phones. Apple also added--a Compass though why would you use that when you have GPS is beyond me.
What I do like about the iPhone 3GS features is the accessibility option which would allow the phone to read text out loud, this is a definitely useful application for our visually impaired friends.
Other than that, it's the same iPhone with the same looks. But if you're an Apple fanboy and you really want to find out more, head on over to engadgetmobile to find out more.
OMG! OMG! OMG! So the REAL follow up to the Samsung Omnia has finally leaked. This time the Samsung i8000 is touting windows mobile so it has every right to carry the name "Omnia".
So what do we get with the Samsung Omnia II? First, we get a bigger screen size, 3.7 inch TFT resistive touchscreen, and oh yeah, the Samsung Omnia II has that delicious AMOLED screen. Too bad that it's still resistive but that's only because capacitive touch screens will have an issue with Windows Mobile.
Second major upgrade is the camera. With the previous Omnia we have 5 megapixel but on the Samsung Omnia II i8000, we have an 8.1 megapixel camera with dual LED flash. The downer? Unlike the Samsung i8910 which can record videos at 720p, the Samsung Omnia II is only capable of capturing VGA videos at 30fps. I'm still not losing hope since not everything is official and this is only a leak, I'm crossing my fingers that Sammy is able to put in high def video recording on the Omnia II.
No word as to the processing power of the Qualcomm processor on this device as well as how much RAM will be on the Omnia II but it has all other goodies such as WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, 3G, DivX/XViD. The Samsung i8000 Omnia II will still have Samsung's TouchWiz interface although there's an LG Arena like cube interface which seems cool.
I'm disappointed that it still has no physical QWERTY keyboard. If I got my hands first on the HTC Touch Pro2, the Samsung Omnia II may cease to appeal to me--or not. Anyways, we may get an official announcment at Samsung Unpacked event on June 15th. Till then, check out the video of the Samsung i8000 Omnia II.
If you think Opera Mobile just rocks and love the browser on your Winmo phone well, you might want to try Opera Mobile 9.7. It's still in beta version but if the video demo on Opera's website is to be believed, then this holds a lot of promise.
The Opera Mobile 9.7 makes use of Opera Turbo which offloads pages to Opera's servers which gets compressed before being sent to the phone making rendering pages faster. It's the same technology used on Opera Mini though I have some qualms about transfering files to a server as what would it do to my passwords? Would my passwords be safe on Opera's servers?
Anyways, to make rendering pages even faster, the Opera Mobile 9.7 makes use of Presto 2.2 which is the same technology used on Opera desktop browsers. I just downloaded it and will see how it works. As per Opera's website, 9.7 still doesn't have any Flash plugin.
So you probably know by now that a new iPhone is being brewed by Apple, or maybe it has already been brewed and is waiting announcement at the next WWDC so if you believe the latter, check out the pictures below which most believes to be the back of the new iPhone. It's a 16GB version with the model no. A1303 and a matte black back cover instead of the usual glossy one.
So, will this make me buy an iPhone once and for all? Well, the lack of physical keyboard will definitely deter me.
More and more Mobile phone manufacturers are following iPhone's footsteps in setting up their own App store. Now there's not only Apple, Nokia, Windows Mobile, and Blackberry which have App stores, Sony Ericsson will soon follow suit.
The Japanese-Swedish Mobile phone company announced that soon, they will be offering applications in their Play-now website which initially only offers ringtones, games, wallpapers and themes. In anticipation of this, Sony Ericsson has opened up their Mobile Java platform for developers and are encouraging them to start submittting applications on July 1.
Applications is initially open for Java and Symbian platforms (too bad for Xperia X1 users) but the company will expand later in the year to cover additional platforms (Most likely Windows Mobile and Android).
Yes, only a few more days to go and the Nokia N97 will be officially available on June 15th. If you want to get this handset subsidized but don't want to be tied to Vodafone, then good news coz O2 and Orange also has the N97 on pre-order.
You can pre-order the Nokia N97 on O2 by visiting the link or if you prefer Orange, you can click here. The price for a free Nokia N97 on O2 seems a bit steep, you have to pay £40.00 monthly tariff. No pricing is available for the one for Orange but you can visit the page every so often to get an update.
Our North American brothers won't have to wait that long even if we here in the UK will get the Sony Ericsson W995 this june since they only have to wait a few more weeks before the NAM version of the W995 hit US shores--specifically, in July 6th.
That's great since I don't think the Samsung S8300 will be seeing North American shores anytime soon and Americans need to get their hands on an 8 megapixel phone other than the C905.
Thankfully, when it comes to the Nokia N97, Americans won't have to wait too since we all get the same launch date, well if not the same date, at least the same month.
I have previously gotten myself a mid-range Sony Ericsson phone, the Sony Ericsson G705 and have really no interest in other Sony Ericsson phones until the Sony iDou shows up but I found myself playing with a friend's Sony Ericsson W995 and here's what I have to say about it.
Design
The Sony Ericsson W995 is a thick phone. It's a bit thicker than my G705 but has a larger screen at 2.6 inches. I like the brush metal effect of the design, much better than the smudge magnet that is my G705. The display is nice although pales in comparison with the Samsung Tocco Ultra. However, in direct sunlight, the Sony Ericsson W995 has a bit of an edge. What's interesting is that the W995 seems to be the first Walkman phone to have a 3.5mm headset jack onboard. Previous Walkman phones had to make use of Sony Ericsson's proprietary adapters. I was afraid of the battery cover of the W995. Thoughts of the cheap looking plastic cover of the W595 came to mind but thankfully, the back cover is metal though it's still a pain to remove compared with the easy slide and lock of the G705.
Features and Performance
The Sony Ericsson W995 is first and foremost a Walkman phone. The onboard 3.5mm audio jack is a testament to the fact that Sony Ericsson is serious about this phone being a music player. The music player is really nice and offers custom equalizers. There are dedicated hardware music keys which is great since this is a music phone. I've already tried out the shake control on the W595 and this feature is not something that appeals to me. It's a cool feature but not that useful. Audio quality is superb, something you should expect from a Walkman phone. External speakers also does a good job though it's not loud enough that the W995 can become your boombox.
The W995 has all the connectivity features you can imagine: 3G, HSDPA, Bluetooth with A2DP, WiFi, and GPS with A-GPS. I like how simple the WiFi interface is, you just turn on the WiFi and the phone automatically finds the available networks. And now, on to the icing of the cake: the 8 megapixel camera. It's too bad that I wasn't able to transfer any photos of the W995 to compare with the Samsung Tocco Ultra Touch Pics I have but then again, that's not very conclusive unless I take a picture of the same subject. I can't say much about the picture quality of the the W995 since I wasn't able to see the images on the big screen but the phone has autofocus, geotagging and a LED flash. However, there are some on-camera features that are lacking on the W995 which is present on the Tocco Ultra such as smile detection and ISO settings.
I might as well compare the Sony Ericsson W995 with the Samsung Tocco Ultra, although the Tocco Ultra has no WiFi, I think the latter is more a video-centric phone as its AMOLED screen is great for watching videos and you can watch DivX videos directly without converting it. The W995 lacks DivX support although it is a better music phone than the Tocco Ultra.
Conclusion
I don't know why Sony Ericsson tried adding an 8 megapixel camera on a Walkman phone. What would happen to the Sony Ericsson C905? Of course, there are some who says that the camera quality on the C905 is much better than the W995 but still, the W995 would definitely take some thunder away from the C905.
Maybe the concept of smartphone is changing these days but from the looks of the Nokia 6730 Classic, I don't think it can be mistaken for a smartphone.
Design
From the outside, there's nothing really amazing about the Nokia 6730 Classic. It's a classic Nokia candy bar design with a smallish 2.2 inch screen, flat keypad, and a matting of the Vodafone logo here and there.
Features and Performance
However, don't let the simple facade fool you just like what it did to me. Inside the Nokia 6730 Classic are some features that you don't usually find in a candybar phone that looks like this. First, it is 3G/HSDPA capable for faster internet browsing, it also has a microSD slot, Bluetooth A2DP, and a GPS. The GPS is something new. Usually, GPS is for Nokia's navigator series of phones or their N series. Another thing is that you probably expected the Nokia 6730 Classic to run on Nokia's midrange handset OS, the S40 but it actually runs on the S60 platform so you can install a lot of productivity software such as document viewers, expense trackers, etc.
Since it will be exclusive to Vodafone, the Nokia 6730 Classic will probably have proprietary software from Vodafone especially for the turn by turn navigation. Vodafone says that the Nokia 6730 Classic will offer both drivers and pedestrians with accurate turn by turn directions as well as provide access to a comprehensive point of interest databases.
In order to make this phone a "midrange" phone even though it has GPS, Nokia opted to install a 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus but no useable LED light. Also, there's no WiFi on the Nokia 6730 classic which makes me think that the Sony Ericsson G705 is a much better choice and is much more fitting to be called a "smartphone". However, it's too bad that no wireless carrier in the UK is offering the G705 on a contract.
Outlook
The Nokia 6730 Classic maybe the cheapest phone you can get with GPS since Vodafone will probably offer this for free with a two year contract but if you truly want to get yourself a smartphone, there are much better and older devices that are offered for free with a contract. However, the sleek design might lure in those avid Nokia users especially previous 6500 classic or 6300 users.
Ah, it's that time of the month again where we look into the new mobile phones that will be released for the month. Well, since it's June, this is the "holy" month for most mobile phone users as a lot of REALLY great mobile phones are going to be released this month. And here are just some of them:
Toshiba TG01
Yes, the Toshiba TG01, the industry's first mobile phone to support 1GHz processor. The Toshiba TG01 has windows mobile 6.1 and a massive 4 inch touch screen. However, even though its screen is massive, it has a very slim profile, slimmer than the iPhone. The Toshiba TG01 is expected to be released this summer in Germany, exclusively to O2.
HTC Touch Pro2
Although the HTC Touch Pro2 has been released, unlocked, this last week of May (although the website says it's out of stock), expect more units to come in this June as this is the month of its official availability especially in Expansys. For those looking to have this phone subsidized since the unlocked version is just WAY too overpriced, Vodafone has the HTC Touch Pro2 on their website although there's no official announcement from them of a release date.
Samsung i8910 HD
Orange jumped the gun and they already made the Samsung i8910 HD available during the last week of May. However, those looking for an unlocked version might want to head on over to Expansys as expected release date for the Samsung i8910 HD is around June 25th.
Nokia N97
Nokia lovers don't have to feel so left out. The much anticipated follow up to the Nokia 5800, the Nokia N97 is expected to hit retail stores on June 26th, according to Expansys. Vodafone has the N97 on pre-order if you want to be tied down to a contract.
Palm Pre
Although you probably won't be seeing the Palm Pre hit UK shores until later in the year, our brothers in the US will FINALLY get the Palm Pre on June 6th. Yes, after such a loong wait and too much speculations about its release date, June 6th is the official release date from Sprint--or until the change their minds again.
For any feedback or queries, you can contact me at: feedback[AT]cellphone-reviews[.]co[.]uk. You can also reach me here if you want me to review a phone or product.
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Features and Performance
