Samsung G800 launch event: A night at the museum

New Samsung launches were in the spotlight on Monday, at a grand presentation in London, UK. The British Museum hosted Samsung's rendezvous with history, with the company's top brass celebrating key achievements and marking the brand's mobile strategy. Paul Wilkens, Sales and Marketing Director for Telecommunications, pointed out that the sales for the 3rd quarter of 2007 are at an all-time high with 42.6M units sold. The South Korean company seems to be getting a firm hold of the 2nd spot in market share and revenue among mobile phone manufacturers, a few months after it took it away from Motorola. It is also clear that in some parts of Europe Samsung is already leading. In France, Samsung mobiles have reached a 31.8% market share shooting them at the very top. The French head of Telecom Division Philippe Barthelet however refused to take credit and instead attributed it to the taste of the French for stylish handsets.

Samsung made it clear that the brand will continue to focus on four strategic multimedia categories: Photography, Music, Internet and Business. Each category is represented in the new releases, which have been stealing the spotlight for quite a while now.

GSMArena traveled to the British capital to bring you first hand information, so stay with us for an exclusive update on what seem to be a bunch of exciting launches.

Following a welcome address by Samsung Electronics Europe President and CEO IS Kim, the handsets came on stage for a detailed presentation. The star was undoubtedly the 5-megapixel Samsung G800. More after the jump.

For the fashion-savvy

The last two devices showcased in London were the fashion proposals by Samsung. The Giorgio Armani and Serenata phones are both produced in joint venture, Giorgio Armani and Bang and Olufsen contributing to the two, arguably best looking handsets in Samsung's portfolio.

Our guess is that Samsung Serenata will hardly live up to the expectations. The incredibly thick phone is quite uncomfortable to hold and almost impossible to squeeze in any pocket. Besides, the design somehow failed to impress us in the beginning and our first-hand encounter confirmed that. Still, fashion is solely a matter of taste, so everyone that is about to buy this phone should judge for themselves. And finally, it's a lifestyle gadget, with a price tag meaningful enough.

The other fashion-labeled Giorgio Armani phone however did manage to grab our attention. It feels great when held in hand and the large touch-operated display makes it look even smaller than it actually is. There is no second battery in the leather case regardless of the tradition of the Samsung P-series. We remind you that when the phone was initially announced, it was named P520. Anyway, the phone features the same flash interface as F700 and is, as we see it, destined to enjoy a great demand. Mostly with the fashion-phone lovers, that is. It's also said that the handset will be a free gift to everyone who buys one of the selected Armani suits in their fashion stores.

The other internet-centered device, Samsung i780 sports a large square display with great picture quality and Optical Joystick that controls a fully functional mouse pointer on the screen. There are three different scrolling speeds, to suit every taste. Unfortunately, due to the fact that the event was indoors, we were unable to test the GPS and the built-in Navigation client.

Internet power

We have to admit, the Internet-labeled devices were by far among the most interesting. Samsung F700 and Samsung i780 are the new star signings in the company's mobile portfolio and were both keen to impress us in one way or another.

Samsung F700 is a flash-based device with full QWERTY sliding keyboard. Only a quick glance revealed it is far thicker than it looked on the official photos. However the rotating flash interface deserves praise. It is very intuitive and easy to work with and therefore is sure to earn itself quite a number of fans. On the other hand, it bears significant resemblance to the LG flash interface used in the Prada and KU990 Viewty phones. The keys on the QWERTY keyboard are smaller than we imagined but still very comfortable for typing. Based on our short experience, we can give an excellent mark on the messaging and all other typing-related activities.

HTC TyTN II review: Kaiser of PocketPCs

One of the hottest PDAs around lately, the HTC TyTN II is one feature-loaded son-of-a-gun. It's got what it takes to quench your daily communication needs, and more: HSDPA/HSUPA, Wi-Fi, 2.8" touchscreen TFT display, hardware QWERTY keyboard, 3 megapixel camera with auto focus and a built-in GPS receiver. A 400 MHz processor is in charge of all that on a Windows Mobile 6.0 Pro platform. If that's more than enough to tickle our curiosity - and yours - we seem to have the right scratch: the HTC TyTN II review.

Key features

• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE
• Tri-band HSDPA/HSUPA 3.6 Mbps with video calls
• 400MHz Qualcomm processor
• 2.8" 65K color touchscreen TFT display with QVGA resolution
• Integrated Qualcomm GPS receiver with pre-bundled TomTom navigation software
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
• 3 megapixel autofocus camera
• microSDHC memory card slot
• HTC TouchFLO technology allows smooth finger scrolling and panning
• Hardware QWERTY keyboard
• Slide and tilt construction
• Sturdy build and quality casing

Main disadvantages

• Hefty weight of 190 g
• Processor is not powerful enough
• No graphics acceleration hardware
• No FM radio
• Out-of-the-way On/Off key
• TouchFLO cube is not available
• TomTom allows download of only one city map

The HTC Kaiser platform, which the HTC TyTN II is based on, is supposed to have several different flavors - one with no cameras whatsoever, another with only a primary camera and no video calling, and finally, the third one (which we are reviewing) has both a primary and a video-call camera. Currently, the HTC Kaiser is incarnated in a few units under different brands: HTC TyTN II P4550 (our test unit), T-Mobile MDA Vario III, AT&T Tilt 8925, Vodafone v1615, and Vodafone VPA Compact V. It will be no surprise if more are to join the crew in the future.

The HTC TyTN II is not groundbreaking in the Windows Mobile realm - it's hardly compact measuring 112 x 59 x 19 mm and weighing 190 g (much like the Qtek 9100 but heavier, or like the original HTC TyTN but slimmer). OK, the fellow has a belly, but it also has the guts. Besides HSUPA and the integrated GPS receiver, the sliding QWERTY keyboard is a definite highlight. Once you slide it down, you can tilt the display to as much as 120 degrees up, so that you can lay the device comfortably on your desk and get perfect visibility of the screen. Check out our 360-degree spin of the HTC TyTN II after the jump.

Final words

The HTC TyTN II is a wonderful device and it packs in some nice features. Its design is high-tech, yet solid and functional. The communication capabilities allow using it in almost every out-of-the-office scenario. We liked the QWERTY keyboard and the notebook-like usability of the device. The integrated GPS receiver is another really cool feature. The battery too is on par with the rich feature set of the device.

The downsides we found with the TyTN II are that it doesn't have a VGA resolution display and it's not really pocketable. It doesn't have a 3D accelerator or USB host function either . The 400MHz Qualcomm processor is somewhat sluggish and is incapable of playing video at a resolution higher than QVGA.

So although the HTC TyTN II will be a highly sought after gadget, we don't find it to be the ultimate communication device. The particular mix of features will probably account for its high popularity but it fails to justify an upgrade from the original TyTN though, as the innovations it offers just don't seem to balance with the swollen price. However the HTC TyTN II is a great option if you are upgrading from an older device, or if it's your first step in the PocketPC world.

Apple iPhone in and out

Apple iPhone isn't exactly the best kept secret in the world. The odds are it's either on your Christmas wish list or you may as well already have it. Love it or hate it, the iPhone has set the bar pretty high in terms of interface and user-friendliness and, almost six months after its launch now, the competition has not yet managed to fight back with a product likely to generate the same buzz.

Apple iPhone official pictures

Now, don't get us wrong, the iPhone is not the perfect gadget. It has its flaws and most of them stem from the tendency of the people at Apple to oversimplify things. Plus, they have taken good care that the only way to upload or download content to and from your iPhone is via iTunes. It's an expression of their closed-ecosystem product portfolio - if you want their hardware, you must use their software. Our hopes for a 3G-enabled Euro-iPhone went down the drain; the 2-megapixel camera has not changed either; official third-party application support will not be available before February 2008 and, finally, on the Old Continent the device will cost 1.4 times more (with the current exchange rate) than back in US. Why all the fuss then, you might ask. Actually, to get a feel of that, you must have held the handset in your hand and tried it for real. It's nothing like anything you've seen. Touch sensitive screens are nothing new, but Apple have created a unique user interface that reacts to your touch in an almost physical way.

Now that the air is thick with jailbreaking and unlocking, seems like the right time to step back from what iPhone is and look at what it could be. We know there's enough of you who don't like spending hours reading stuff on the Internet just to enhance their phones. So we are looking at some applications that take the capabilities of the device to another level. And just as a refresher in case you were not caught in the "Jesus phone" stir, you are welcome to read our Apple iPhone overview.

We do not endorse jailbreaking or unlocking your iPhone and we are certainly not encouraging you to take any of these actions. But if you're interested in what your gadget is capable of, we take a look at the fun world of modding the iPhone. So it's up to you whether you take the blue pill or the red pill. Stay tuned, we're back after the jump.

Getting in

Looks like the red pill went down well, now back to our game. It seems jailbreaking the original firmware version of the iPhone (1.0.0, later updated to 1.0.2) was not that much of a problem. Jailbreaking is the action that gives you access to the iPhone file system. As you will see, having your iPhone jailbroken swings the door wide open to a world of options, even if you don't intend to unlock and prefer to stick with what AT&T has to offer (O2 and T-Mobile too, starting today). Getting in or jailbreaking serves the double purpose of allowing you to install third-party applications and getting your iPhone unlocked should you choose to do so. Once the original firmware was jailbroken native third-party applications started sprouting like mushrooms in rain.

However, with the major 1.1.1 firmware update all that went to the dogs. And, like in a game of cat and mouse, crackers and coders started searching again for the Holy Grail of Jailbreaking the "Jesus phone" (sorry for the Biblical approach). Apple added fuel to the fire by announcing that jailbroken iPhones are no longer subject to their limited warranty service.

However, it was only a matter of time for a new jailbreak to surface and allow firmware 1.1.1 iPhone owners to take a bite at the third-party application scene. Virginizing software was also made available, so firmware 1.0.2 users who have been tinkering with their iPhones could restore them to their original state and get the 1.1.1 update or keep their warranty if they please.

Things are now pretty much back to normal and the third-party application scene is again bristling with new ideas and solutions for making your iPhone a happier puppy. Today, November 9, the Euro iPhone will start selling and word is out that it would flaunt the spanking new 1.1.2 firmware version. It will supposedly be jailbreak resistant, so early buyers of the EuroPhone will probably have to wait a little before they unleash the true powers of their new mobiles. However word is out that some developers out there have already hacked the 1.1.2 firmware of the iPod Touch, so a jailbreaking solution for the EuroiPhones is probbaly just around the corner.

Getting back to the basics, three things need to be done before new software can be installed on the iPhone. First is the jailbreak (that's not unlocking) and installation of the AppTapp (Installer) software. It's a software manager that allows users to install or uninstall software. It contains a catalog of applications from a default source (website) and supports adding additional sources (websites) of even more available programs. So that's about it and it's really that simple. The last thing to do is install an application that patches the Home screen (better known as Springboard) of the iPhone, so it can accommodate more slots for icons - those are needed for the new applications.

A crew of developers has created the AppSnapp application (not to be confused with AppTapp Installer) that does all those three things en bloc. And right before you ask, no, it doesn't unlock your iPhone. For that purpose the AnySIM 1.1 software is used right afterwards, but that's out of the scope of this article.

You can read more information on the actual process of applying the AppSnapp magic with simple instructions over here. The process is more than simplified and it takes no more than 10 minutes before you are up and running. At the time of writing this article, news broke that more than 100 000 iPhones have been jailbroken using this routine. And it was made available only a couple of weeks ago. Bear in mind that all that applies to the 1.1.1 firmware.

Where to, now?

Probably the best place to start exploring a free iPhone is the AppTapp application with the available programs. It appears as a blue icon dubbed Installer on the Springboard. The default source of applications is limited however, so installing the Community sources available in the Installer is another option. There are several other sources available that can be added manually - just google around for ones that other people trust.

If you do have an unlimited data plan with your carrier, please skip the following paragraph. For the less lucky, probably the first application worth adding is Services. It allows you to switch off the EDGE functionality so you don't accidentally pay for some pricey megabytes - the iPhone has no habit of asking before downloading something.

Now, one thing the original iPhone won't do for you is change wallpapers under the springboard icons. Their background is always black. The Summerboard application sorts that out. Themes can even be applied to the springboard icons. How cool is that?

We should probably conclude this chapter with an enhancement relating to iTunes synchronization. You already know that you can hardly upload any usable content to the iPhone without the iTunes software. Well, for most people out there that seems ok, as almost every mobile manufacturer uses their own proprietary synchronizing software for their handsets. But the nasty part about syncing with iTunes turns out when you try syncing the iPhone with two different computers - obviously Apple never thought of the idea that you just might happen to have two PCs - not even counting the office computer. So, what happens when you sync the iPhone with a second PC is that the new iTunes overwrites all the content uploaded beforehand. The SwapTunes software is meant for those tricky situations. With it two iTunes Music and Video repositories can be set up on the handset and switched between for syncing with different computers.

We are not providing any direct links to the applications, as they can be found in the Installer app. For those that haven't been tinkering under the hood of their iPhone, we hope that this article is quite revealing. The application development scene is on the rise and new applications emerge every day. A perfect example of that is the iApp-a-Day project, also available through the Installer. The project developer has committed to developing a new application for every day in November. And while those applications are not as elaborate as others, they seem to make a point about expanding the boundaries of iPhone. That's our way of bidding the iPhone a warm welcome on the Old Continent. Cheers.

Sony Ericsson W890

General Network
HSDPA / GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900

Announced
2007, November

Status
Coming Soon

Size Dimensions
104 x 46.5 x 9.9 mm

Weight
78 g

Display Type
TFT, 256K colors

Size
240 x 320 pixels, 2 inches
- Wallpapers, screensavers

Ringtones Type
Polyphonic, MP3, AAC


Vibration
Yes

Memory
Phonebook 1000 x 20 fields, Photo call
Call records 30 received, dialed and missed calls
Card slot Memory Stick Micro (M2), 1 GB card included
- 26 MB shared memory

Data GPRS
Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps

HSCSD Yes

EDGE Class 10, 236.8 kbps

3G HSDPA

WLAN No

Bluetooth Yes, v2.0 with A2DP

Infrared port No

USB Yes, v2.0

Features Messaging SMS, EMS, MMS, Email, Instant Messaging

Browser WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML (NetFront), RSS reader

Games Yes + downloadable

Colors Espresso Black, Mocha Brown, Sparkling Silver

Camera
3.15 MP, 2048x1536 pixels, video; secondary videocall camera
- Java MIDP 2.0
- Walkman player
- TrackID music recognition
- T9
- FM radio with RDS
- Image viewer
- Picture editor
- Organiser
- Built-in handsfree
- Voice memo

Battery
Standard battery, Li-Ion

Stand-by Up to 360 h

Talk time Up to 9 h 30 min

[information credits to gsmarena.com]