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.