Samsung

The days of the stand-alone, point-and-shoot camera may be numbered. Last month, Sony Ericsson announced its 8.1-megapixel C905 phone and today Samsung officially announces the i8510 for Europe, an 8 megapixel handset with a strong combination of features. This Symbian-powered handset is more evolutionary than revolutionary, but we like what we see so far.

Even though there is no U.S.-release date for this phone, we had the chance to try it out at a Samsung press event this evening.  Check out the hands-on video of the i8510 in action.

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I just got word over the wire that AT&T’s BlackJack II will be available in two new colors: Romantic Pink and Ocean Blue. Back in December, we reviewed the BlackJack II and awarded it 4 stars.

We liked the fast HSDPA 3G data speeds, good call quality, and built-in GPS. On the other hand, we also didn’t think the camera was up to par, and wish the phone had Wi-Fi, but since then, the price has dropped to $99 with a 2-year contract.

The phones, which both sport white keyboards and backsides with blue or pink colors and design accents, probably shouldn’t be toted by the Cheeto, Dorito eating, dripping-ice cream cone types, but who am I to tell you what to do? See below for a full gallery.

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A few weeks ago, we took the 5,400 rpm Western Digital Scorpio hard drive out of the MSI Wind and replaced it with a SanDisk SATA 5000 SSD. We hoped the boot time would be better and that applications would load more quickly, but in a day or two of anecdotal use with the SanDisk SSD, we didn’t notice any performance improvement. At the time, we noted that the SanDisk SATA 5000 is not a very fast SSD and that we regretted we had not had time to do any firm testing before we had to return our review model Wind to MSI.

This week, when our friends at DV Nation lent us a blazing-fast 64GB Samsung SATA II SSD, we couldn’t wait to install it in our Eee PC 1000H and this time run a complete battery of real-world tests to see how much a difference a high speed SSD can make in a mini-notebook.

With the easily accessible upgrade panel on the Eee PC 1000H, we were able to swap out the system’s default 5,400 rpm hard drive, a Seagate Momentus, with the Samsung SATA II in minutes. After installing a fresh copy of Windows XP Home SP2 with all the ASUS drivers and utilities, we were ready to put the system through some tests.

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Sprint just dropped a bomb. We all thought the Samsung Instinct was going to $199, but the carrier announced this morning that it’s going to be priced at a surprisingly low $129 (after a $100 mail-in rebate). Keep in mind that–at a minimum–you’ll need to spring for the $69.99 monthly Simply Everything plan, which includes 450 voice minutes and unlimited data.

Still, this is great news for touchscreen phone fans, even if it doesn’t make prospective iPhone 3G buyers think twice. Think about it. You get a slick and customizable UI, fast over-the-air music downloads, live TV, GPS, Visual Voicemail, sophisticated voice recognition, and a 2-MP camera for $70 less than the Samsung Glyde and LG Vu. Granted, the Instinct’s Web browser is poor, and we wish the device had a built-in accelerometer, but at $129 the Instinct is pretty much a no-brainer for Sprint customers.

Does this sudden price drop make you any more likely to buy the Instinct? Sound off in our poll.

I’m here just 85 miles north of the equator in steamy Singapore, a brief 24 hour door-to-door hop skip and jump from the United States, for the CommunicAsia conference, and I just had a hands-on with the new Samsung Omnia smartphone. The Omnia has a a 3.2-inch touchscreen display and will be hitting Singapore’s Singtel and StarHub carriers (HSDPA, GPRSH) this week, and the rest of Europe later in July, and China in August.

I can easily say the Omnia is the first full-featured Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional phone that I’ve had hands-on with that actually packs enough power under the hood to keep up with the fancy custom-UI overlay called “TouchWiz UI” that Samsung added.

On the home screen, there are about 14 widgets that run along the left side, and Samsung says more will be available. To activate a widget, like the movie player for example, you just finger-slide the widget from its toolbar out onto the mainscreen, and the program launches. Where phones like the HTC Touch struggled and navigation was a bit clunky, the Omnia, at least for the time being, is fluid and quick. Click the link below for more shots, including a spy-shot of the white version.

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The Samsung Instinct just arrived in our offices about an hour ago and we now have our mini-review up. In the past, we saw the Instinct at CTIA, and recently learned more about it during a Sprint webinar, but we’re excited to finally have one of our own. The Instinct comes packaged in a small box that resembles the size of a hardcover book. Inside that box, you’ll find a ton of accessories. Along with the standard charger, the box contains a USB cable, 3.5mm headset, extra battery, a microSD card, a stylus, and a leather carrying sheath. Read the rest of this entry »

The Samsung Glyde was announced for Verizon Wireless today. The $249 phone, after a $50 rebate, has a 2.8” haptic touchscreen and a full QWERTY keypad that slides out from under it.

We liked the messaging capabilities of the Samsung Glyde, but were frustrated by its confusing and often unresponsive touchscreen and user interface. The LG Voyager costs $50 more and offers a second display, an onscreen QWERTY keypad, and support for V Cast Mobile TV. And the upcoming Samsung Instinct at least tries to be innovative with its easier-to-customize favorites menu and voice-activated local search, although that phone lacks a physical keyboard.

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Our editor in chief, Mark Spoonauer, says the original Samsung Alias “looked like a gaudy calculator” and that the new, improved version being shown at CTIA is “not quite as ugly.” As a long-time Alias user, I simply have to defend my possessions.

I like the look of the Alias, and I love the combination of a clamshell form factor with a QWERTY keyboard. The new Alias, with a different color and an improved keyboard, has plenty of potential too.

Take a look at our video of the new Alias and tell us what you think in the poll below.

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Is the iPhone in for some stiff competition from Samsung’s new touchscreen phone?

As we mentioned in our earlier post, the Instinct has a ton of potential. Fascinating features such as the speedy EV-DO Rev. A connection and the voice recognition software piqued our interest.

Now, we’ve had a chance to play with the Instinct in person at CTIA.

Is this an iPhone killer? Take a look at our video and see for yourself.

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Verizon Wireless and Sprint customers have had mobile TV access for some time now. Yesterday AT&T caught up by announcing its Mobile TV platform, which will be available in May for the LG Vu and the Samsung Access handsets. This morning, the dual-band 3G and quad-band GSM Samsung Access was officially announced.

The Access has many features we’ve grown accustomed to, like a 1.3-MP camera with 8X digital zoom, as well as Java, Video Share, and Bluetooth 2.0 support. The most notable physical feature of this candy-bar style phone is its 2.3-inch 240 x 320 landscape display which Samsung claims will offer DVD quality while playing back TV shows from networks including CBS Mobile, Comedy Central, ESPN Mobile TV, Fox Mobile, MTX, NBC 2Go, NBC News2Go and Nickelodeon.

The pictures show a microSD slot for expanding picture and music storage, and while we don’t yet know what size microSD Card it supports, I’m guessing it’s around 8GB. A corded stereo headset is provided in the box, but please, Samsung, just once, could you include a 3.5mm headphone jack instead?

The Samsung Access will be available in May at the launch of AT&T’s Mobile TV platform, and pricing has yet to be determined.