News - Samsung Omnia Millionaire pack

Samsung Omnia Millionaire pack

Samsung i900 Omnia Millionaire pack : The Summer Fair is the place where Samsung introduced the exclusive Samsung Omnia mobile phone fully packed with multimedia. This 'touch display phone' is part of the Samsung Omnia Millionaire Pack with luxurious accessories. If you're successful in life, you want to be noticed with this refined mobile device. Luxury and grandeur are combined in the Samsung Omnia which offers you more than just a mobile phone. The Samsung Omnia absolutely is a first class mobile phone with its ultra slim 12.5mm profile, available in a black and white model. The Samsung Omnia Millionaire pack is available at a retail price of 699 Euros (VAT included).

Samsung Omnia Millionaire pack
The Grand Hotel 'Huis ter Duin' in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, was turned into The Summer Fair, from 29 to 31 of August; an exclusive luxury event of Millionaire. At The Summer Fair, Samsung introduced the Omnia Millionaire pack, with inside a limited edition leather travel case, a matching Bluetooth headset and a special edition of a magazine called Millionaire. When purchasing the Omnia Millionaire pack, one can win a 'Millionaire Feeling' among which a luxurious 3-day trip to Moscow which includes a visit to the Millionaire Fair.

Windows Mobile phone
Besides being a stylish business card, the Samsung Omnia mobile phone is a full Personal Computer in pocket size. Thanks to the Windows Mobile 6.1 operating system, the handset has the operating ease of a PC. The Omnia offers access to MS Office programs. Email can be sent and received through Outlook with the optical mouse or via the touch screen. The patented TouchWiz user interface on the display is easy to work with thanks to 'Drag 'n Drop', and in 'one touch' the monitor offers a QWERTY keyboard. The touch screen, the optical mouse and a thumb allow for continuous communication.

Samsung Omnia Headset
The Samsung WEP350 Bluetooth Headset features a stylish, sleek and ULTRA thin design, whilst still offering all the functions and specifications of a solid model. And thanks to the ergonomically shaped ear set, ( in three different sizes), the Samsung WEP350 headset offers maximum comfort fitting every ear.

Samsung Omnia GPS navigation
The Samsung Omnia mobile phone supports GPS navigation and geotagging, and features a full-fledged 5 megapixel CMOS camera with auto focus, Face and Smile Detection and panorama shot function. Pictures and videos are easily stored on the internal memory of 8 GB which can even be enhanced with a 16GB Micro SD card. The Omnia also supports video capture in the popular DivX format.

News - Samsung SGH-P960

Samsung SGH-P960 (Singapore Trial)

The Samsung SGH-P960 was announced at this year's Mobile World Congress alongside the Soul. Although the two handsets have some similarities in the design and use of materials, the P960's ultimate selling point is its onboard DVB-H radio which allows people to watch TV-on-the-go in places where the service is available.

Beginning in August, a mobile TV trial spearheaded by Singapore's national broadcaster MediaCorp and three telco operators is being carried out over three months. We recently got hold of the Samsung SGH-P960 test unit from M1 and came away with some impressions of the new service.

For a start, only six broadcast channels (we noticed an additional 7th channel recently: 98.7FM radio station) are available during the trial, which honestly isn't a huge palette. The service is still only in its trial stages, so things are likely to change down the road--that much we can say. Unlike regular videos, in order to watch TV on the move, you'll need to have DVB-H reception. We tested the broadcast service at several locations and found that the service works best if you are in an outdoor environment, or near to the window with a line of sight to the sky when indoors. It didn't work when we were in an underground train station. So much for TV on your mobile while commuting.

A SIM card based on the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA)'s new BCAST Smartcard Profile was provided for testing the service. According to Alcatel-Lucent, this is a SIM-based service protection system that enables content providers to offer flexible subscription models. Regular SIM cards wouldn't work for the mobile TV trial.

After the initial startup screen, you'll see a list of channels available and you can add those which you watch frequently under Favorites. For each channel, there's also a TV guide within the menu that shows the program lineup. This is useful if you don't want to waste time loading the program to view what is on. The user interface is utilitarian and nothing to shout about. It works but the software could be improved.

In use, the mobile TV experience on the P960 was a mixed bag. We turned up the brightness level to its maximum (which could potentially drain the battery more rapidly) and the 2.6-inch QVGA screen held up well under sunlight, though we found the reflective surface distracting. We also liked the separate antenna for improved reception, but it felt flimsy and we were constantly worried about breaking it. This makes other DVB-H-enabled devices like the Nokia N96 with embedded antennas comparatively less worrisome.

Design-wise, the P960 isn't the smallest handset, but has its own appeal with a combination of metallic and plastic finish. The build quality, apart from the antenna, is also top-notch. You get the feeling of a very reliable device once you pick it up. The keypad is generously sized and, although it uses a single-slab design, the buttons are clearly defined and provide reasonable travel for comfortable typing.

Other features onboard include HSDPA, hot-swappable microSD expansion card slot; Bluetooth, FM radio, 3-megapixel camera with LED flash, and TV-out connection via the bundled cable.

Depending on how much time you spend commuting daily, mobile TV may or may not appeal to you. For example, due to the short travel times in Singapore, watching a full episode of a drama serial may not be feasible. What might work are news, sports and variety programs which are best watched as they are aired. Subscription rates and the pricing structure will also swing early adopters either way. On the hardware side of things, our concern lies with the battery life.

News - Rethinking the Samsung Omnia

Rethinking the Samsung Omnia

With much of the general tech community praising the iPhone, it is refreshing to see Windows Mobile getting some objective loving based on good design, great hardware, and functionality that beats the iPhone. The Windows Mobile phone in question is none other than the Samsung Omnia with its customized Widgets and user interface and compelling hardware, which includes an FM radio, GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth, 3G, TV out support, and haptic feedback for the touchscreen, which is unsual for Windows Mobile at WQVGA.

According to MobilitySite, Matthew Miller from ZDNet finds that "the Omnia is better than the iPhone in so many ways." Among the things that stood out, Matthew found that the Omnia could do the following that the iPhone cannot:

-Rotate all applications in any three directions; the iPhone's screen rotation is limited to select applications.
-Ability to stream music wirelessly to Bluetooth headphones for music.
-Tethering natively and straight out of the box.
-Download and store podcasts over the air.
-Access the file system.
-FM radio.
-Edit and create Office documents.
-Cut, copy, and paste.
-Handwriting recognition.
-3rd party navigation software for voice guided navigation.
-Advanced Exchange functionality.
-Removable battery.
-Removable storage card.

And I'll add another one to the list: third party applications that don't crash the phone and render the user begging for mercy to avoid an eight-hour sync.