[Hands0n]

Oooooh, now I like the sound of this new toy :)

My only thoughts about rival touch-screen devices relate to the screen itself. Apple set a marque by making it out of toughened glass that does not scratch easily, if at all. Other manufacturers use nice soft scratchy plastic. If Samsung have gone for the toughened glass approach in their new handset it would definitely be of interest to me as a viable 3G iPhone rival.

What do you think? Is spec everything or is the simple stuff like non-scratch screen where its all all?


In a bid to steal some of the anticipated 3G iPhone's glory - Apple's expected to announce it today - Samsung has launched Ominia, its Windows Mobile 6.1-based touchscreen handset.


Samsung's Omnia: 3G iPhone rival
Based around a 3.2in, 240 x 400 display, the Omnia also packs in GPS, and FM radio, A2DP wireless stereo, Bluetooth 2.0, Wi-Fi and a choice of either 8GB or 16GB on-board storage. Users can up that capacity with Micro SDHC cards.

The handset uses increasingly popular haptic feedback technology to help users interract with the flat touchscreen more efficiently, Samsung said.


Full-feature 5Mp camera on the back
On the back is a five-megapixel camera with image stabilisation, autofocus, and photography flavours of the month face and smile detection.

Omnia - aka the SGH-i900 - has quad-band GSM/GPRS/Edge connectivity plus 3G HSDPA for data downloads of up to 7.2Mb/s.

Samsung first demo'd the Omnia at a European trade fair back in April.

The handset was launched this morning in Korea. As yet, there's no word on exactly when Samsung will bring its little beauty to the West.

The company did say that Omnia will ship initially in South-East Asia during Q3, with a global roll-out to follow.


Source: The Register (http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/06/09/samsung_launches_omnia/)

[Ben]

Windows Mobile 6.1-based
Our survey said: X

:p

[miffed]

It's funny , I only credited Apple with being the first - I honestly though that now the 'slickness' mobile OS X was out for all to see , it would simply be a game of 'catch up' , as competition all up thei games to compete - OK so no device UP TILL the iPhone had this slickness , and for the large part no one had even considered that it may be even required - slow clunky menus appeared to be the way it 'had to be' and everyone was happy with that

....So Apple 'Broke the Ice" - but I thought that was ALL they had done , an the iPhone would be followed up with similar devices by all the other manufacturers

But , a year later , I am starting to think Nokia et al are simply NOT CAPABLE of a device like the iPhone , Oh sure , they can probably cram more bleeding edge technology into a box the size of the iPhone than Apple can - but in terms of User experience ? Nowhere near !!
As Ben Rightly points out , the fact that this Samsung is based on WM6.1 means that it is no different from any other WM devices - (Keep in mind I am probably the biggest WM fan on here !) Yes, WM is good !! but the user experience is light years away from OS X !! ]

All the iPhone "killers" to date remind me a bit of those Ferrari bodykits for MR2's and the like - " Looks just like a ferrari doesn't it ? " - Erm , nope ! :D

[Hands0n]

I think that Steve Jobs summed up the opposition very succinctly when he referred to how difficult it was for people to even attempt to use 10 features of their so-called Smartphone. He said this in reference to the information that the average iPhone owner makes use of soem 10 features of the iPhone! That is a staggering uptake of features. And I have to say that the iPhone is the only device I have ever had that did not have, nor need, a manual.

[Ben]

It's the stats of iPhone users that browse that gets me every time. I doubt mobile IE will ever compare to mobile Safari.

Damn, I don't think I can wait a month :D

[miffed]

erm , Houston we have a problem :(

I go on Holiday on 12th July , I am working late Friday evening , so if o2 do any of this 6pm rubbish again , I'll have problems
I *could* order from the site - but if the handset didn't arrive on Friday 11th , my iPhone would be kicking around a depot for a week and a half :(

Hopefully the 6pm thing was just for the initial launch and the 3G ones will be on sale all day

My other concern ,... there is a lot of detail about how much it will cost me (on the £35 tarriff) to upgrade early ( £99 - new 18 month contract ) - But no mention of the 16GB model , I am now a little worried that the uprgrade option may only be for the 8GB version

Hey Ben , does this mean we can have a dedicated iPhone forum now ? :)

[Hands0n]

Like Ben I am having trouble containing myself. This is bloody silly! Its only a phone. I keep telling myself that, for all the good its doing. :D

[miffed]

The only thing that I am not sure about it is the casing - I like my aluminium back , and am not keen to be swapping it for a plastic one :(

(whether it be Black or white )

[getti]

I can say i am NOT getting a iPhone 3G and will wait for a Nokia N96 with twice the storage, twice the camera and much more

[Ben]

I can say i am NOT getting a iPhone 3G and will wait for a Nokia N96 with twice the storage, twice the camera and much more
Yeah yeah ;)

And yes, we probably can have an iPhone forum now :D

[miffed]

I can say i am NOT getting a iPhone 3G and will wait for a Nokia N96 with twice the storage, twice the camera and much more buggy firmware

Congrats !

Best put NSU on your favourites list - four or five updates down the road you could be looking at a pretty nice device ;)

[getti]

No different to Apple having to put out new software months down the line for new features. Tell you what when i get a N96 i will send you a MMS.... oh wait... you cant get them on the iPhone :eek:

[miffed]

Course I can - thats what swirly is for ! :D

[getti]

ah course a 3rd party app so you can receive a service thats been around for a few years. Groundbreaking apple as always

[Ben]

I think we can save the anti-Apple pro-Nokia banter until after both devices are released.

[getti]

you know me guys im a big apple fan and have been for many years. Just many people including myself feel the specs could have been much better

[Ben]

It's a bugger for technology enthusiasts not to see more beefy specs, I agree. Especially with such a fantastic OS. But Apple continue to do with the iPhone what they do with their computers - they focus on the things that they believe the majority of their customers will use (and Stateside that's Email, not MMS, for example), and then make those things super-accessible and easy to use.

At the end of the day, I can't see me *just* having an iPhone because I'm an enthusiast and I like the other toys. But then that's why I have my Vertu Ascent and Nokia N95 8GB at the moment - if I was a normal person, I'd probably just have the Vertu.

[miffed]

I still feel Apple are leading the way with replacing MMS with email - Pretty much any of my mates that I previously may have sent an MMS to , have now 'converted' to mobile email and they were all like " oo-er .. I don't know , it sounds like a pain in the ass ..."
But now they are set up with Push mail , and emails containing pics of unlimited size are sent back and forth for free ( or part of an 'unlimited' data plan ) - they are all over the moon with the idea. Also , getting home and finding a full quality copy of the picture in questiion on their computer when they get home is helpful
The sooner we get over this MMS thing and move on , the better IMO

[Hands0n]

*nods* - it is not easy to wean folk off of MMS, but then it took near on a decade to get them onto it in the first place, and then it is still not that heavily used. I have been known, previously, to use the MMS to send pictures to friends via eMail, much to their bemusement.

[getti]

THe thing with MMS is its there on every phone all you need is the same number you text and call with.

Where as email needs setting up, having an address and also a phone number to call and text

[Hands0n]

MMS is not on every phone, not the more basic, and certainly not always in other countries where MMS is a "value added" extra. Whereas eMail is all over the planet, and increasingly on mobile devices. MMS will one day be an aberration of history.

[miffed]

see , this is where the iPhone "experience' kicks in !

I simply plugged it in to charge , my mail accounts , contacts and calender and address book synced pretty much on their own

My entire email address book was all there by itself

I do agree though , waiting for the likes of Nokia etc to catch up on such functionality may take forever ! so converting 'the world' to mobile email may not be straightforward , but at some point the novelty of paying 25p (or whatever) everytime you want to send a crap quality pic WILL wear off eventually , mark my words.

[Ben]

Hehe, I've done the whole MMS-to-email thing as well.

I'm looking forward to using my .Mac/MobileMe for something useful!

[Hands0n]

Yea, how about that? .Mac never interested me. MobileMe has me thinking seriously about that membership. With the number of Macs that I've got :D

Back to the iPhone and MMS - There is a 3rd party app that supposedly delivers that functionality, if you really must. But I do think that the public, not the networks, will be the first to realise the benefits of eMail over MMS.

BTW, is it only me who uses MMS for long text messages? Much cheaper than long-SMS by a long shot.

[Ben]

Yes, just you :D I suppose it depends on your tariff, though. Depending on the number of free texts you get, it'll either be worthwhile or not.

[getti]

See i use a lot of multimedia features on phones such as video calling and MMS. MMS i use because on Flext it comes out of your allowance and you can also MMS when you go abroad for 20p compared to attaching a photo to an email and sending it that way costing you anything between £1 and £3 on data charges.

Video calling im also an advocate of in certain situations is can be a great thing but is a shame networks apart from 3 dont push it more. 1 example is when i went to Vegas with Nokia last year i met some great people from around the world, 1 of which i speak to all the time from Austria.

We re going to try a international video call to see how it works but its great the feature is there to be able to catch up with people in a different way.

You guys all know me well by now and if i say im not getting an iPhone 3G that is not a 100% decision as maybe once it comes out or i get to have a go on 1 i might like it. I did like the original iPhone but missed features and lack of 3G.

Problem for me is 1 year on from the original iPhone and with an industry that moves so fast they have not done much with a new iPhone spec wise, just add HSDPA and a plastic back cover. Everything else is software based

I use my phone for everything from modem, camera, phone, email which is why i look for 5 megapixel camera phones or higher when they eventually come out. Having a brand new phone just launched only offering a 2mp camera with no video recording support out of the box is not really an option.

I have to say i think many questions about 3G on an iPhone were not answered at the Keynote with the big ones being can you bluetooth files over from 1 phone to another and can you also use this HSDPA iPhone as a modem?

Time will tell i guess

[miffed]

http://www.grapheine.com/bombaytv/index.php?module=see&lang=uk&code=216e4b9d4261e9be0d4cfc81f9f7a828


:D

[getti]

http://www.grapheine.com/bombaytv/index.php?module=see&lang=uk&code=f0271fdcbc7b4f2c88969d0deaeef62b

[Ben]

Take this with a pinch of salt, but there are reports that modem use will be available on O2 UK with the new iPhone... http://9to5mac.com/o2-iphone

Useful if you need it, I guess.

[Hands0n]

That is certainly an exciting prospect :) I like the idea of Bluetooth tethering for 3G - in one fell swoop they almost negate the market for Mobile Broadband USB dongles and sticks. If its true!