Samsung's Croix: yet another 'iPhone rival'

Honestly, we're getting a bit tired of all these so-called iPhone rival handsets, but Samsung's elusive Croix doesn't do a whole lot to shake the stereotype. The mobile, which happens to boast a very similar layout to Apple's darling (and Samsung's own F700), just won an iF Communication Design Award 2007, and while details are scant about the actual hardware, it sounds like Sammy is hoping to grab your attention with a sensationally sleek interface (seen in detail after the break). The name, which translates to "Cross" in French, supposedly symbolizes the phone's "progressive continuum, as opposed to discrete transmission from one item to another," and touts an "intuitive interface through on-screen touch input mapping which supports five different ways of interaction." Of course, only time will tell if this thing actually goes commercial (or proves real, to be honest), but it certainly has the look.

[Via I4U News]

Update: Indeed, "Croix" may actually be the branding Samsung has assigned to its SGH-700; they certainly look close enough, right down to the F700's trademark vertical stripes across its face. Then again, Croix may represent a different model or a touch-based platform for an entire range of models. We'll keep y'all updated when we know more.

[Ricardo @ Sep 3rd 2007 3:08PM]

what is an iphone ?

[Przd @ Sep 3rd 2007 5:37PM]

I'm imagining an updated version of Shelley's Ozymandias, 1000 years in the future wasteland of Earth, but instead of "Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair" the pedestal says "What's an iPhone?"

[BlissX @ Sep 4th 2007 3:09AM]

Off-Topic from Ricardo's OP, but its the only way it'll be read.

From iF's explanation for rewarding the Samsung Croix.

Category: digital media: interface
Client: Samsung Electronics, Seoul, South Korea
Project: Croix | Mobile phone interface
Design: Samsung Electronics, Seoul, South Korea

“This represents the perfect way to use mobile phone functions on a touch screen. A masterpiece of interface design. All of the functions are very minimalist and follow the principle of ‘croix’ (cross) navigation. The navigation is perfect, both horizontally and vertically.”

The reward is not for the phone, it's the Mobile OS they're praising. The early pictures of the F700 in February displayed a variety of the Croix in place.

I've been following the phone since it's inception. According to various pre-selling websites, they expect to have the device sometime in late September (European Spec). Seeing this article made me hopeful that it is indeed coming out in Sept.

BTW people, it's like the N95 Euro 3G situation, it is not compatible with the US Spec. So best be careful if you wanted to use this phone for 3G purposes.

[BlissX @ Sep 4th 2007 3:25AM]

Also, the Croix interface is utilized in two phones so far. F700 being the first, the F520 would be the second.

http://www.engadget.com/2007/02/12/samsungs-ultra-smart-f520-hsdpa-touchscreen-with-dual-sliding/

http://www.engadget.com/2007/02/08/samsung-outdoes-itself-with-ultra-smart-f700/

[SteveMB @ Sep 3rd 2007 3:18PM]

Honestly, I'm getting tired of Engadget calling rectangle phones iPhone knock-offs.

[deucen @ Sep 3rd 2007 3:20PM]

That thing almost looks identical. What would you call it?

[sselemit @ Sep 3rd 2007 3:23PM]

especially the button, the speaker and the round-ish metal looking frame.

[theappletruth @ Sep 3rd 2007 3:27PM]

it's a screen on a rectangle body, and they are actually 16:9 widescreens unlike the iphone's less than wide screens .
Apple didn't even get that form factor out the door first in the cell phone market, LG did.
There isn't a whole lot of other designs when it comes to a near full face touch screen device.

[TJ @ Sep 3rd 2007 3:34PM]

I thought they called it iPhone rival NOT knock-offs.

[o rly @ Sep 3rd 2007 3:46PM]

@ deucen : "That thing almost looks identical. What would you call it?"

The same thing they called it in January/February, the F700.

[AlexP @ Sep 3rd 2007 5:03PM]

It's only a knock-off if it's made by a Chinese company.

[David @ Sep 3rd 2007 8:56PM]

Samsung is a Korean Company
and that Samsung is not just a Iphone rival there alot of other touchscreen phones out there

[LordFarkward @ Sep 3rd 2007 11:34PM]

honestly, i'm getting tired of engadget/apple haters jumping on engadget/apple accusing them to be 'naming every phone an iphone rippoff' or 'naming every mp3 player an ipod rippoff' when the article didn't even come close to suggesting that. do u guys even READ nowadays?!

and shut up, apple fanbois, i'm tired of u guys too. just stop whining for once, all of u... ffs

[Ellianth @ Sep 3rd 2007 3:20PM]

Which part of that interface is sleek?

[L @ Sep 3rd 2007 3:40PM]

How do you want to judge that without any live video or anything? Sleekness comes from animations I'd say, and you know, they're quite hard to put into a still shot...

And I for one really like the minimalistic icons and look - I like that better than for example the iPhone notes app...

[Homeboy @ Sep 3rd 2007 3:21PM]

Honestly we readers are getting tired of Engadget calling every new phone with a touch screen an iPhone rival or rip-off.

[Samurai Jack @ Sep 3rd 2007 3:27PM]

No we're not. Some readers appreciate Engadget calling 'em like they see 'em. This thing (and the somewhat similar Nokia) should have an "Inspired by iPhone" tag. And you know what--there's nothing wrong with that.

[mattydread @ Sep 3rd 2007 3:30PM]

This is only the 2nd one I've seen. I can deal maybe... 5 more times.

[CupOfJoe @ Sep 3rd 2007 3:59PM]

No, you're wrong, YET AGAIN, the LG Prada started this entire thing, was out for a good while. The fanboys need to relax. The form factor was started by the Prada.

[jay-t @ Sep 3rd 2007 7:32PM]

the first official pictures and specifications of the iphone were released on january, 10

the first official pictures and specifications of the lg prada were released on january, 19

so, who was first?

yes, lg and prada anounced in december 2006 their coorperation but the again, the iphone rumer was circulating for quite a while and they were working on this device for two years!

[Iain @ Sep 3rd 2007 7:14PM]

Actually Samurai Jack, yes, a lot of us are.
And the fact of the matter is that while Engadget are calling things as they see them, they seem to see every touchscreen phone as an iPhone, when it just isn't the case (though admittedly they haven't been as bad as Gizmodo at times...). As has been pointed out ad infinitum by the few people round here with any common sense, a touchscreen phone without a keypad is destined to resemble the iPhone as there's only really one way it can be done, that doesn't mean that any subsequent devices in that form factor are rip-offs/copies/clones - it's like saying that all LCD TVs look alike because they're kinda thin...

Anyway, if this is, as it would appear, the oft-delayed F700, it actually has a slide-out Qwerty keyboard (see here: http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_f700-pictures-1849.php ). It is actually very, very similar in form to the HTC TyTN II/'Kaiser' - which means it's nothing like an iPhone copy at all.

Also, with regards to the Nokia, that isn't even a real phone.
And the 'inspired by the iPhone' element was the interface, not the body which a) didn't look that much like an iPhone and b) was just a mock-up anyway so they had something to stick the demo interface onto.

[H @ Sep 3rd 2007 3:28PM]

You know why these types of phones are being called an iPhone ripoff? Because they are. Will you just look at the thing and honestly admit it looks just like the iPhone

[Surur @ Sep 3rd 2007 3:47PM]

And the iPhone looks like the LG PRADA. Now what?

[LEXX911 @ Sep 3rd 2007 6:19PM]

Funny you call this is an iphone ripoff. If the iphone didn't rip off other phones idea, it would've been one ugly POS.

Let me explain why.
1.The iphone rip off the idea to have mp3 and video on their iphone. Been done.
2.The iphone rip off other phone by having a camera on their iphone. Been done.
3.The iphone rip off other phone by having EDGE, WIFI, BlueTooth, Internet ect on their iphone. Been done.
ECT...
ECT...

I really like some Apple products and any other cool products out there. It just the annoying douchebag that keeps bitching about everyone is copying Apple product.

[LordFarkward @ Sep 3rd 2007 11:30PM]

ETC

[L @ Sep 3rd 2007 3:29PM]

Erm - this phone is known ever since February as the F700. So...

[just a resident cynic @ Sep 3rd 2007 3:44PM]

Agreed, I saw this and was under the impression that it was the previously announced F700 - can anyone confirm if it is in-fact a different model?

http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_f700-1849.php
http://www.mobile-review.com/phonemodels/samsung/samsung-f700-en.shtml

[ark_v2 @ Sep 3rd 2007 3:34PM]

I really don't know why's the prada on the first link, it was announced waaaay before the iPhone.

[rockinrodrigo @ Sep 3rd 2007 3:38PM]

engadget cant even remember what they post about haha

http://www.engadget.com/2007/02/08/samsung-outdoes-itself-with-ultra-smart-f700/

[Spoon!! @ Sep 3rd 2007 6:16PM]

Wow... looks like Apple stole the design from Samsung F700 and the LG Prada.

[hartmania @ Sep 3rd 2007 3:39PM]

Black rectangle with rounded corners and a touchscreen = iphone. get used to it engadget readers.

[ark_v2 @ Sep 3rd 2007 7:18PM]

Sad but true...

[Ryhan @ Sep 3rd 2007 11:01PM]

Um, the Meizu M8 & Cowon D2 are hardly knock-offs. D2 came out a long time back...

[ark_v2 @ Sep 3rd 2007 11:52PM]

He knows that. He's referring to engadget's iMania and that they compare everything with those characteristics with an iPhone, even with the facts you just mentioned.

[Umar Sajid @ Sep 3rd 2007 3:43PM]

Now I think its just another iPhone, but as all phone are now like this (touch screen) we need to concentrate on the actual features of the phones...im still wating for the lastest innovation after touch screen phones...such as big innovations that I belive that have happened are such as Phones with Colour Screens, now you might not think that as something but I think that this is a big innovation and then came the Camera's and now up and comming is GPS (already in the Nokia N95).

[L @ Sep 3rd 2007 3:46PM]

IF this is the F700, it has a slide-out QUERTY keyboard, HSDPA 7.2 MBps and a 5 MPx camera with AF - beats the iPhone senseless in that aspects, not to mention that it is smaller...

[john @ Sep 3rd 2007 3:47PM]

Thank you for not calling them "iPhone killers" anymore.

[Norm @ Sep 3rd 2007 3:52PM]

"Honestly, we're getting a bit tired of all these so-called iPhone rival handsets"

REALLY? Every phone with a touchscreen is an iPhone?
How come no one remembers the PRADA phone and that it was registered before the iPhone? When motorola came out with a mobile phone and then other companies followed - were they rip off products? Stop kissing Steve Job's ass and get a grip.Is every TV company a copycat cus most flat screens look the same? If you follow that thought process then maybe every phone with a touchscreen is an iPhone ripoff but anyone who has half a mind realizes this was going to be the next step in cell phones anyways. And its not like Crapple was first! LG was!
I have a powermac but screw apple propaganda. May the best product win - and it doesn't have to be apple. Get off the payola train.

[Maestro @ Sep 3rd 2007 3:56PM]

Why is this "another iPhone rival" and not "another cell phone"? So ever rectangle phone from now on is going to be another iPhone rival? Are all assembly line cars Model T rivals?

[just a resident cynic @ Sep 3rd 2007 4:12PM]

Lol, I noticed that the post was edited to include "(and Samsung's own F700)" as it differs from the original post I got in the RSS feed.

"Honestly, we're getting a bit tired of all these so-called iPhone rival handsets, but Samsung's elusive Croix doesn't do a whole lot to shake the stereotype. The mobile, which happens to boast a very similar layout to Apple's darling, just won an iF Communication Design Award 2007, and while details are scant about the actual hardware, it sounds like Sammy is hoping to grab your attention with a sensationally sleek interface (seen in detail after the break). The name, which translates to "Cross" in French, supposedly symbolizes the phone's "progressive continuum, as opposed to discrete transmission from one item to another," and touts an "intuitive interface through on-screen touch input mapping which supports five different ways of interaction." Of course, only time will tell if this thing actually goes commercial (or proves real, to be honest), but it certainly has the look.

[Via I4U News]
Continue reading Samsung's Croix: yet another 'iPhone rival'



Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

"

[spyyder @ Sep 23rd 2007 1:38PM]

lame

[JT @ Sep 3rd 2007 4:39PM]

Looks great. Im not really interested in Apples iPhone only because Id be mad if I lost it. Something cheaper, not too worried.

[Rudi Johnson @ Sep 3rd 2007 4:41PM]

iphone

[Nick Huang @ Sep 3rd 2007 4:43PM]

I'm getting sick of you guys calling everything with a touchscreen an "iPhone rival". You guys would call any rectangular device with a screen and no buttons an "iPhone" rival...

[TrishDaddy @ Sep 4th 2007 2:24AM]

its ugly

[b @ Sep 3rd 2007 4:44PM]

LG Prada surfaced before the iphone. Enough of the bitching and shitty engadget iphone knockoff,ripoff accusations.

[Argot @ Sep 3rd 2007 5:00PM]

Seems like the guys on Engadget got their noses stuck waaaay too far up Jobs behind.

[Dilan @ Sep 3rd 2007 11:47PM]

It says it's an iphone rival and thats exactly what it is. Whether this was in development first or the iphone in development first, they are still two rival products!

[SHOTT3R @ Sep 3rd 2007 5:02PM]

When will people realize what every blog is about? The most important phrase in this post isn't anything "iphone", but this:

Comments [31]

It's all about driving traffic. 31 of you, plus me felt the need to look, read and comment. "LG Prada rival" just doesn't do that. Trust me, it will only be a matter of time before Apple is mentioned in EVERY post.

[Jonas @ Sep 3rd 2007 5:12PM]

My tv at home has big flat screen, sometimes i try calling my mom from it, cause it most be an iPhone.... It has a screen you know!!! Right now im preparing for a lawsuit against Nokia, I just noticed that my 7 year old Nokia 3210 has a screen too, and Im taking legals actions for ripping of Apple! Hov dare they put a screen in a mobile phone, when they should have known that Apple would think about the same thing 7 year later. Bad Nokia Bad.