Samsung in Barcelona: Omnia HD and the gang, touch and OLED aplenty
Samsung dropped a whole bunch of devices here in Barcelona and while some of them were known for being quite unable to stay put, the high-end of the batch still managed quite a stir. Bottom line is obviously Touch and OLED but the buzz word was an acronym HD. A bunch of fresh novelties and the lower ranks were providing the background.
Samsung i8910 Omnia HD
One of the officially revealed devices today was of course the Samsung i8910 OmniaHD. As you may already know the monster sports a 3.7" OLED capacitive touchscreen of QHD resolution (640 x 360 pixels) and 16 million colors. An 8 megapixel shooter with the unprecedented 720p HD video recording at 24fps has made headlines well before the official launch, along with the latest Symbian S60 5th that lies beneath. The other imaging assets include geo-tagging, Face detection, Smile Shot and Wide Dynamic Range (WDR) setting.
On the connectivity side, Samsung i8910 Omnia HD offers Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, a standard microUSB port, 3.5mm audio jack and HDMI port for high-quality TV-out. A GPS receiver with A-GPS is aboard along with the optional Samsung Mobile Navigator by Route66.
The Omnia HD comes in two flavors: with 8 or 16GB of integrated memory, the non-hot-swappable microSD card slot handles up to 16GB in turn. The other notable features include DivX/XviD support, accelerometer for screen auto rotate, proximity sensor for auto screen turn-off, FM radio.
The i8910 OmniaHD is a quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE handset with tri-band UMTS support topped with HSDPA (up to 7.2 Mbps) and HSUPA (up to 5.76 Mbps) support.
Samsung i8910 OmniaHD is expected to hit the market in Q2 of this year. You're welcome to check out our first impressions while you wait.
Samsung Beat DJ and Samsung Beat DISC
Other than video, Samsung seem pretty keen on music too with their utterly revamped Beat family that features the M7600 Beat DJ and M6710 BeatDISC.
The Samsung M7600 Beat DJ is a distinctly shaped touchscreen using the latest TouchWiz interface. It features a 3 megapixel snapper with autofocus and VGA video recording at 15 fps, a 2.8-inch OLED (again) display, GPS receiver and 3G support.
Samsung continue a long standing partnership with Bang&Olufsen but the real boost to the music experience are BeatDJ and the new music player interface called DiskUI. Beat DJ, which turns your device into a small DJ deck, is a music mixer application with filters, scratching, sampling and effects. The Disk UI quite reminds of a jukebox.
The other features of the Samsung M7600 Beat DJ include an accelerometer for screen auto rotation, proximity sensor for auto screen turn-off, FM radio with RDS, DivX/XviD video support. The must have 3.5mm audio jack is aboard too.
The second Beat fellow is the Samsung M6710 Beat DISC slider. It's a slightly downgraded variation of the M7600 and has a 2.6 TFT screen with 16 million colors, a 3 megapixel snapper with QVGA video recording @15 fps, 3G support and a 3.5mm audio jack. Beat DISC also uses the latest TouchWiz interface with the DiskUI music player preinstalled.
Both handsets pack a microSD slot and FM radio, and feature quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support along with 7.2 Mbps HSDPA. There is no word on pricing yet but they will be available in Q2 2009. The M7600 Beat DJ is already spinning on our homepage.
Samsung S7350 Ultra s
Samsung S7350 goes by the name of Ultra s and that's a moniker that sets the style-conscious Samsung-loving gang aflame. To set it straight, the new Ultra is not ultra-thin but seems to stake much on the fascia too. The superscript S clearly marks the slider form factor.
Samsung S7350 has a 2.6" WQVGA screen and some high-end design elements borrowed from the headliner S8300 UltraTOUCH we briefly previewed in the buildup to the WMC. The ample display however ends quite a long AMOLED streak by Samsung. With much focus on looks, Samsung S7350 is among the first Samsung handsets to have a flash-based user interface. Auto Pivot (UI rotation) is enabled.
Samsung S7350 Ultra s also features a built-in GPS receiver with the full Route66-made navigation package Samsung Mobile Navigator. The 5 megapixel auto focus camera comes with PowerLED, face detection, geotagging and D1 video recording at 30 fps. An FM radio is also aboard.
The S7350 is a quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE handset with dual-band HSDPA (up to 7.2 Mbps) support. It features microSD memory expansion, USB 2.0 and stereo Bluetooth.
The Samsung S7350 Ultra s is expected to start retailing in March 2009 with an estimated price of 349 euro.
You can check our preview here.
Samsung S7220 Ultra b
The S7220 reminds even more of the 8300 UltraTOUCH and can be considered its candybar variety. We've already had the chance to appreciate the minimalist and ergonomic design of this compact bar. Notably, the S7220 Ultra b is another new release by Samsung to feature an OLED screen - a 2.2" QVGA unit of 262K colors.
A wealth of color hues and new background animations are available across the new Flash-based UI, which is a shared feature of Samsung's new Ultra lineup. Accelerometer-based action includes screen auto-rotation and turn-to-mute.
The 5 megapixel focus camera lacks some of the perks of the S7350 slider and video recording is limited to QVGA. A power LED is available here as well though, and so is FM radio. Samsung S7220 Ultra b is a quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE handset with dual-band HSDPA (up to 7.2 Mbps) support. It features microSD memory expansion, USB 2.0 and stereo Bluetooth.
The Samsung S7220 Ultra b is expected hit the shelves in March 2009 with an estimated price of 329 euro.
You can check our preview here.
Samsung I7410
Pico projectors have been out for while and it was only a matter of time before one made it into a phone - meet the Samsung I7410. It's impressive enough, a 3.2" WQVGA touchscreen and 5-megapixel camera with autofocus and flash is nothing to scoff at.
The key trick of the phone however is the projector - there's a dedicated button and interface for the projector on top of the TouchWiz. The 1440 mAh battery sounds just right for the task. Picture size can go from 5 to 50 inches and with support for up to 16 GB microSD cards it's not just for presentations - it's a drive-in theater in your pocket.
Samsung B5702 and Samsung C5212
Samsung B5702 and Samsung C5212 are two Dual SIM handsets. The B5702 reminds of the legendary Samsung D900 but the far more interesting fact about it is it's the first global Dual SIM phone. Both SIM cards have all-time Quad-band GSM and EDGE support. There is nothing too special to note about the C5212 except that it's a decent looking bar that has the low end of the Dual SIM segment duly covered for Samsung.
You can read our preview of Samsung C5212 here.
Samsung S3500 and Samsung S3110
Samsung S3500 and Samsung S3110 are stylish, slim and affordable. Both pack Bluetooth (with A2DP), MP3 player, FM radio, microSD card slots and inbuilt snappers (2 MP and 1.3 MP, respectively). The S3500 has also a very nice 2.2" QVGA TFT display with 16M colors.
Blue Earth
Samsung Blue Earth is a nature-friendly, solar powered mobile phone with a touch screen. Recycled materials and lack of toxic substances is nothing new, but this phone puts emphasis on being energy efficient with its Eco-mode, and tries to make you energy efficient too with Eco-walk.
People who like camping will appreciate the solar panel on the back of the phone that can give enough charge for a call. We already put that up before the WMC kicked off, so here's more on it if you fancy.
You can check our live Samsung preview here.