Samsung's SGH-F700 gets (really) official on Vodafone

Those paying attention should know full well by now that Samsung's SGH-F700 (you know, the Croix) is set to make everyone not a Vodafone customer uber-envious here soon, but just in case you missed it, Sammy is making sure you're up to speed. The handset will boast a three-megapixel camera, a 3.2-inch 432 x 240 resolution touchscreen, QWERTY keypad, Bluetooth 2.0, USB, a microSD expansion slot, HSDPA, and an integrated media player that handles H.263 / H.264, MP3, and AAC formats. We know what you're really after, so check out a bit more eye candy after the jump.

[picaso @ Sep 14th 2007 1:53PM]

That looks nice

[Alan Partridge @ Sep 14th 2007 2:51PM]

The screen also has 'vibetonz' which means it vibrates a little when you touch it, it's a touchscreen with tactile feedback!

[Alan Partridge @ Sep 14th 2007 2:59PM]

Also are you sure it's got a 3MP camera? A lot of sites are saying 5MP

[John M @ Sep 14th 2007 5:13PM]

It looks like the Nokia E90 communicator!!! Looks better than my iphone :(

[randy @ Sep 14th 2007 11:53PM]

16mm THICK? Ouch, no wonder it's not selling.

[daaniel @ Sep 15th 2007 5:16AM]

You do realise that 16mm is 1.6 cm? lol
I have no idea what that is in the UK/Imperial system but that's pretttttty slim for a phone that has a full QWERTY keyboard in addition to a touch screen.

[Jimbo @ Sep 14th 2007 1:53PM]

Thats real tight! ID BUY IT...but the price..??

[Bruce @ Sep 14th 2007 1:54PM]

how much? and does it work on verizon wireless?

[Blu-Sam @ Sep 14th 2007 2:45PM]

No, it said for European, obviously, it's not CDMA.

[Saint Dumb Ox @ Sep 14th 2007 1:54PM]

it's pretty...

[shlj @ Sep 14th 2007 1:57PM]

*drools*

[FrankTheCrank @ Sep 14th 2007 1:58PM]

Is that the new iPhone?

[riggs @ Sep 14th 2007 2:04PM]

why? just why?

[Argot @ Sep 14th 2007 2:08PM]

No, that is what the iPhone could have been.

[Dax @ Sep 14th 2007 2:20PM]

Yeah, thats the iPhone minus the best software in the world.

[Dax @ Sep 14th 2007 2:48PM]

Yeah, thats the iPhone minus the best software in the world.

[ZSX @ Sep 14th 2007 2:29PM]

Do we know what operating system it is using? Will it support 3rd party apps?

[FrankTheCrank @ Sep 14th 2007 2:49PM]

Your friends: "Wow, you got the iPhone!?"

You reply: "No, it's a Shamshung!"

Your friends inner monologue: *what a loser!

[Argot @ Sep 14th 2007 2:51PM]

Yes. If your friends are metrosexual losers without a life.

[Adam @ Sep 14th 2007 3:05PM]

Those people are not your friends

[Xzavier @ Sep 14th 2007 3:19PM]

Is that the new iPhone? NO!

I am beyond very impressed! That thing is sooo sweet! Sexy and Sleek! And that keyboard reminds me of the Sony's Vaio TZ90.

[thudson @ Sep 14th 2007 5:12PM]

People need to realize that not every touchscreen device is a rip off of the iPhone. The iPhone wasn't even the first touchscreen device. It is obvious that touchscreen are the next trend in high-end smartphone design that ALL manufacturers are following this trend.

--Travis Hudson, MWW Group on behalf of Samsung

[Homeboy @ Sep 14th 2007 2:00PM]

Hot!!! Especially the Sony-ish menu. Me like very much, I badly want it, and the tactile keyboard makes it perfect for typing SMS.

[AC @ Sep 14th 2007 2:02PM]

How much, how much? That's a very nice looking piece of kit, and that keyboard looks really good, what with me being one of those that's still not convinced by the 'touch-screen revolution'

[andy @ Sep 14th 2007 2:03PM]

It's revolutionary. This will change the way we communicate.



/iPhone hype off/

[rex @ Sep 14th 2007 2:04PM]

Nice, Samsung managed to fuse the best of both worlds together.. Touchscreen and QWERTY keys! And please don't compare this with the iPhone 'cause I think Samsung just brought the game up a notch.

[yoshi @ Sep 14th 2007 2:22PM]

That's why this SHOULD be compared to the iPhone. Now Apple has to respond or quit.

[SteveJ @ Sep 14th 2007 2:25PM]

I'm tired of these endless iPhone-boy vs not-an-iPhone-boy wars. Get over it folks.

[Brian K @ Sep 14th 2007 2:04PM]

Nice!

Guess I'll have to make do with the HTC Mogul (xv6800) when it arrives at Verizon since this baby isn't coming to the carrier any time soon...

[andy @ Sep 14th 2007 2:04PM]

It's the hardware that the iPhone SHOULD have been.


Put Apple's software on there, and you'd almost have me (but I need outlook/word/excel for work).

[Miguel @ Sep 14th 2007 2:06PM]

"a micro-SD expansion slot..."

So what's the on-board storage capacity before expansion?

[Sandra @ Sep 14th 2007 2:08PM]

I really like that, kind of like an iphone but with the two main things the iphone is missing, 3G and a tactile keyboard instead of a touchscreen one.

[ibsnowedin @ Sep 14th 2007 2:25PM]

no wifi?

[TRLK @ Sep 14th 2007 3:04PM]

exactly, where's the wifi?

[Xavier Gill @ Sep 14th 2007 3:26PM]

7.2Mbps HSDPA

[Ignacio @ Sep 14th 2007 11:33PM]

7.2 at what cost per MB? Or at what price per month fot unlimited data?

[Merk Man @ Sep 14th 2007 2:34PM]

What scares me is I don't know what kinda OS or Rom Samsung uses. So what does it use for a web browser? How does the contact info sync with a PC? And I still don't know how to convert my HD-DVD episodes of Heroes to an iPod/Cell compatible format so I can watch them on this and other PMPs.

[andy @ Sep 14th 2007 2:42PM]

DVD-Fab decryptor. It's 25 bucks for the version that does a 1 step conversion to those resolutions and formats.

[Reginald @ Sep 14th 2007 6:34PM]

DVD-Fab Decryptor is great. I use it for my Nano videos.

Also, MediaCoder a free tool with a similar one click conversion:

http://mediacoder.sourceforge.net/

[Bobo @ Sep 14th 2007 2:45PM]

I'll probably get ranked low on this one, but every time I see a physical keyboard now, it just looks like old technology. Maybe it was the round the clock iPhone news on various blogs or whatever, but wouldn't it make more sense to have a touch screen keyboard even if there is relearning involved. Ya can't improve a the response of a physical keyboard with a firmware update. To me, it just seems like everyone has leftover parts and they're making new models out of them when in reality, the future is touchscreen.
Anyway.. off to the depths I go.

[Alan Strangis @ Sep 14th 2007 3:06PM]

I'll disagree with you, but not down-rank, because it's actually a well thought out post. ;)

As for disagreeing, I prefer a tactile keyboard of the QWERTY slider variety found on many HTC phones. I had 3 days to put an iPhone though it's paces before handing it over to the girlfriend, and although the iPhone's on-screen keyboard is probably the best on-screen out there, it's still not the same as the real deal (IMHO).

[Tom @ Sep 14th 2007 3:27PM]

Definitely, i switched over from a Treo 650 to o2 atom life.. can't believe how much i shun using any type of soft keyboard. It's a really big hassle that i really hoped i didn't have to deal with...

[Matt @ Sep 14th 2007 3:53PM]

And a firmware update can't improve the response of an on-screen keyboard to match that of a physical keyboard. As long as we type with physical fingers, we'll need physical keyboards.

[Russ @ Oct 9th 2007 10:16AM]

I agree, I love the iPhone key board, but miss the tactical feedback from an actual button.

[thudson @ Sep 14th 2007 5:12PM]

The one thing that a virtual keyboard can not replace (at least not yet) is the actual tactile feeling of keys. Most can use a tactile keyboard without looking at it, which is something that is a lot harder to achieve with virtual keyboards.

[Bobo @ Sep 14th 2007 9:42PM]

Interesting responses, but you're stuck with the physical keyboard. For example, what if you wanted a different language or heck, a non qwerty layout? I mean, isn't that where the re-learning comes in? It seems to me that no matter how much it's being fought or debated, the future is the soft key.. even if getting there is inch by inch.

[Jesse S @ Sep 14th 2007 2:48PM]

Needs more WM6, processor info, and CDMA.

[GazzyC @ Sep 14th 2007 2:50PM]

If we don't know what OS is on it, how are we supposed to know if it can play doom?

[Othello @ Sep 14th 2007 2:50PM]

Yeah, this better hit stateside because this is possibly my dream phone.

[maciej @ Sep 14th 2007 2:55PM]

If there are any readers of GSM Arena then you will know this was originally fitted with a 5 megapixel camera as per the pre-production specs. There's a slim, and I mean hair thin, chance that perhaps this is a variant, but more likely the camera was dumbed down for...some reason. All in all it's a shame if they would have/will fit it with a 5 megapixel...I may just dump my e61i for it. Enough of the iPhone comparisons...with time the iPhone will become obsolete and apple will back out of the mobile industry. They have no variants and are pretty tunnel visioned in their design, not that it's bad but when nokia sony and all the others pump out different models on almost a bi-weekly basis, the only thing to hold apple afloat will be firmware upgrades and such, and that can only go so far.