Samsung Impact
(Credit: Samsung)Having sold 161 million handsets worldwide last year, the Korean phone maker certainly has its sights set on consolidating its number two position with a strong lineup of handsets for the second half of 2008. Among the new handsets showcased at CommunicAsia this year are the recently announced Omnia (or i900) PDA-phone, a candy-bar version of the Soul slider called Soulb, as well as the new bar-type L700 handset.
Samsung has also added two new entries to its Connected phone series, the 3G-enabled J800 slider and entry-level M150 candybar, and beefed up its Essential category lineup with the Samsung Impact, Impactsf and Impactb. (Samsung currently splits its phone offerings into six different categories: Style, Multimedia, Connected, Essential, Infotainment and Business. The Omnia is under the Infotainment series, while the Soulb and L700 fall under Style.)
The new mobiles are expected to launch in selected markets across Asia over the next few months. The Korean chaebol will also be demonstrating its latest Mobile WiMAX technologies, including the new Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) over the Mobile WiMAX service.
The new Samsung Omnia
(Credit: Samsung)Editor's note: Though Samsung has not announced U.S. availability of the Omnia, rumors indicate that it may come to AT&T. For a full Samsung Omnia review please see CNET Asia.
At a regional press event held in Singapore Monday, Korean handset maker Samsung showed off its latest touchscreen mobile, the Omnia (also known as the i900).
Omnia, which means "everything" in Latin and "wish" in Arabic, will be the flagship model in Samsung's Infotainment handset lineup. (The other five key categories Samsung will be focusing on include Style, Multimedia, Connected, Essential and Business.) The iPhone-like handset runs on Microsoft's latest Windows Mobile 6.1 operating system and features Samsung's unique TouchWiz user interface, which allows for more intuitive tap, sweep, drag-and-drop operations.
Microsoft's corporate vice-president for Mobile Communications Business, Todd Peters, who was speaking at the event, believes the Omnia is the one device you'll need to manage your lifestyle. And it's hard to disagree with him on that. After all, the Omnia has almost everything you can ask for in a PDA-phone, from GPS and HSDPA to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth stereo. So it's a pity this comes with only a WQVGA-resolution display, a choice Samsung oddly attributes as due to a limitation on Windows Mobile. But the Korean mobile manufacturer makes up with a generous 3.2-inch touchscreen panel and a slim 12.5mm form factor.
If we didn't know any better, just going by the camera specs alone, the Omnia could have been mistaken for a compact point-and-shoot with its 5-megapixel sensor, autofocus, image stabilizer, face detection and even Smile Shot. Two storage capacities of 8GB and 16GB are offered in addition to an external microSD card slot.
The Omnia will be showcased at CommunicAsia 2008, which kicks off tomorrow until June 20 in Singapore. Samsung's flagship touchscreen mobile is expected to roll out in Southeast Asia this week, followed by Europe in July, and other key worldwide markets (including China) a month later. The 16GB version will retail for S$1,098 (US$722.37), while the 8GB version will be available later.
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