Samsung's new TouchWiz UI gets previewed on video

If you've seen our shots of Samsung's Armani redo, the F480, you might have noticed it's running a new OS. The UI -- called TouchWiz -- is based off of the company's Croix interface (which apparently was rushed out to compete with the iPhone), and will be used on all of the upcoming finger-touch phones from the manufacturer. The cats over at Phone Scoop had a chance to go one-on-one with TouchWiz at Mobile World Congress, and they've put together a pretty informative video that shows off the UI doing its thing. The inclusion of a new widget system, expanded menu options, and overall speed bump make this OS a notable step up from Samsung's previous offering. Take a look at the video after the break to see the system getting all funky-fresh.

[Thanks, Martijn]

[Miles @ Feb 15th 2008 12:39PM]

*Yawn*
Another rip off.
Next article please.

[Andrew @ Feb 15th 2008 12:46PM]

How in the hell is it a rip off? And what's it a rip off from? Let me guess, the iPhone? It doesn't look at all like the iPhone UI. Just because it's a touch screen doesn't mean "omg they stole it from apple boo hoo".

[Miles @ Feb 15th 2008 12:48PM]

It looks very much like the iphone, and so does they UI

[Tony @ Feb 15th 2008 12:51PM]

What like you think Apple invented the touch screen phone..

you must be an apple fan boy :)

[sushi? @ Feb 15th 2008 12:53PM]

Disagree.

[Andrew @ Feb 15th 2008 12:56PM]

The only thing that remotely resembles the iPhone UI is the page of buttons when you open the menu, and I'm afraid that if you think that's an iPhone thing, you haven't looked at any other phone for the last 10 years. That's pretty much how menus work in every phone. Now you just touch the items rather than scrolling through with a button.

[Argot @ Feb 15th 2008 1:01PM]

No, this is nothing like the iPhone. This actully seems to be useful.

[swpoison @ Feb 15th 2008 1:08PM]

Yes I own an Iphone.
Seems like a lot of haters. Iphone was the first of its kind so it's pretty hard to sit back and say anything that comes after the first isn't attempting to profit off the success of the first.

Anyway is any of it relevant to the product in question. Apple came first and that means competition and competition means innovation and I think this phone and its ui look pretty good. I can't wait until some real iphone competition comes out maybe apple will start making better attempts to give iphone owners what they are asking for.

[BrianB @ Feb 15th 2008 1:08PM]

If this were the new iPhone UI we'd all be going crazy in love with it. In other words, way to go Samsung!

[phanbouy @ Feb 15th 2008 1:12PM]

Miles, I like the iphone, but your silly posts do all of us apple appreciators a disservice.

[palehorse @ Feb 15th 2008 1:23PM]

@swpoison:
what exactly did the iPhone do first?

The only things I can think of are their use of an OSX derivative as the operating system, and a proprietary METHOD of implementing the touchscreen.

Every other feature had been done before -- including other touchscreens.

So, again, what exactly did they do first?

[Nick @ Feb 15th 2008 1:33PM]

Well, it's pretty funny actually.. Steve said Apple changed alot of thing, for example, the way we listen to music with the iPod. And so they said the iPhone would change the way we use mobile phones. Now the iPhone has come out, all manufacturers are deciding to use touchscreens as well. Apple didn't invent the touchscreen phone, they introduced it in the phone world. I know there were more touchscreen phones before the iPhone, but those were fat and ugly and way to user unfriendlyl. The iPhone brought the more user friendly touchscreen phone to the market.

[geekboy314 @ Feb 15th 2008 2:00PM]

WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU PEOPLE SMOKING.
Touch screens are going to become just another universal technology. When the first flip phones come out, everybody was amazed, but now they're old hat. So just because Apple has made a user-friendly touch interface, don't put down everything else as imitation. If we encourage competition, we might see something better and easier to use than the iPhone. I would love a phone made by Samsung or somebody like that, with a full-face touchscreen, running on an open 700mhz Google network. It might not happen with those companies, but it'll happen.

[Boss @ Feb 16th 2008 6:34AM]

Looks better than the Iphone. The iphone needs to get rid of the ugly silver lining and have the whole phone black. Iphone isn't impressive, only the interface is. Also compared to Europe the phones offered by US carriers are simply ugly garbage and behind the curve. When the general population of idiots here realize that they can buy better unlocked cell phones than what their carrier offers and still hook it up to the service. But this is America.

[OneLove @ Feb 15th 2008 4:11PM]

its more like a vista UI

[Wwhat @ Feb 15th 2008 9:13PM]

It's merely the availability of cheap touchscreens that makes everything and their mom move to touch interfaces.
It is as inevitable as a GUI for computers was once graphics were fast/good enough.

And as inevitable as the US starting a war at least once every 15 years when the next batch of triggerhappy kids have grown to a certain age.

[JerryA @ Feb 15th 2008 12:43PM]

Looks spiffy. I'm loving all of the new UI's coming out lately. I think hardware is finally getting cheap and small enough that these more desktop-like UI's will become more and more commonplace. I just hope that this sort of thing is easy to develop for. All the smooth eye candy in the world won't mean anything if it's only got the apps that come with it.

[Andrew @ Feb 15th 2008 12:47PM]

I really do like this. This is one of the best looking finger friendly UIs I've seen so far. I wish we could get more decent phones on Sprint. The SERO plan makes it too good to leave.

[Scott @ Feb 15th 2008 1:23PM]

There's one major UI failure: The input method is a touchscreen NUMBER PAD. Not a touchscreen KEYBOARD.

This is like offering the worst of both worlds! You have no tactile feedback AND you're forced to use a "dumb phone" number pad to type with. I can't think of any way they could make this worse.

[Jeff @ Feb 15th 2008 1:24PM]

No kidding. (no SERO here, but a fantastic retention plan.)

Sure this might be a bit of an iPhone ripoff, but until i can get the real deal iPhone on Sprint, i'd be HAPPY with something that is a decent ripoff.

I have the Samsung m610, which many would say is a RAZR ripoff, but it's actually way better than the RAZR in almost every way. ...though the RAZR wasn't made by Apple, so the chances of Samsung 1-upping the iPhone are a little more slim.

[Andrew @ Feb 15th 2008 1:26PM]

I dunno, I agree that I'd like to see QWERTY as well, but is T9 really all that bad? This doesn't look like it's aiming to be for the kind of person that would use a lot of smartphone type features (appointments, email, internet, etc), it looks more like your basic phone grown up into a touch screen. For someone who only sends the occasional text messages, it's fine. For the rest of us there is something else for us out there. Who knows, maybe a higher end version will have more of the smartphone type features.

[Meridimus @ Feb 15th 2008 2:41PM]

I thought it was a nice UI, the qwerty keyboard is something that is lacking from newer touchscreen phones but I'd rather they released something that works well but's not to everyones taste rather than something fiddly and annoying that's to nobodies taste.

This is a jab at the iphone, I like the iphone alot. I just think it's expensive and the security guards in Apple stores make me feel like a criminal when I'm trying out new things.

[Brendon @ Feb 15th 2008 2:50PM]

Scott

Although I agree that a full qwerty keyboard is much nicer, I just noticed that Engadget's earlier story on this phone stated that it has "input feedback via vibration".

[matthew @ Feb 15th 2008 4:40PM]

any phone with a web browser could use a qwerty keyboard.

[Juke Box Hero @ Feb 15th 2008 5:48PM]

@Andrew

If you like this one, you may be in luck, check out the Samsung SPH-M800...hopefully it'll have the same UI and it is coming to Sprint sometime soon.

I just got the Touch (great device incidently, especially coming from a Palm), but I think I would have waited for the M800 had I seen this UI and known earlier when it was supposed to come out...

And yes, SERO friggin' rocks big time. I have no problems dropping a few hundred for a phone, but I absolutely refuse to pay excessively monthly for it...

[Andrew @ Feb 15th 2008 6:42PM]

I do think it looks good, but it's not for me. I use my phone for work stuff and use a lot of the Exchange stuff (I have a Titan). Plus, now that they have a ROM to unlock GPS and EVDO Rev. A, add custom software from the web and it's one of the best phones on the market (though it could use a better screen, faster CPU, and more RAM.

I'm actually really most interested in seeing if they get Android going on these older HTC phones.

[Scottie @ Feb 15th 2008 12:47PM]

If this year were 2006, I would say, "this is a revolutionary UI!!!! This is going to change the way PDAs are made in the future!"

[mdelectronica @ Feb 17th 2008 1:37PM]

But its not 2006...

[majortom @ Feb 15th 2008 12:47PM]

what amazes me is how fast other companies came out with touch screens after the iphone craze hit. I know apple was not the first to have a touch screen, but one must admit that the iphone pushed the concept into the public eye. my point is the short turn around time. the engineers must be really bright to reverse engineer so quickly.

[Andrew @ Feb 15th 2008 12:54PM]

Apple always does a good job of stimulating the market. The iPod boosted the somewhat dull MP3 market into the biggest thing to hit the industry, the iMac with the sexy all on one machines, the iPhone of course with the touch screen phone market, and I expect the Air with the ultra portable laptop market as well.

I applaud them for doing what others are scared to try and helping technology move forward as a whole.

[MacVicta @ Feb 15th 2008 1:06PM]

I think this stuff was in the lab but they didn't expect it to be the "next big thing."

Before the iPhone hit, phone manufacturers didn't think we'd like full touchscreens. It's amazing how quickly people forget that the idea was initially a laughing stock.

You had a few willing to take a chance like LG with the Prada but that was meant to be a low volume fashion product. It barely made any noise until the iPhone was unveiled because everyone was pessimistic about the idea of controlling a handset with your fingers. LG's gimpy interface sure wouldn't have helped.

People can tout "Prada came first" and "touchscreens have been around for years" all they'd like. It was Apple who made these companies get off their asses and bring touch to the mainstream.

[Andrew @ Feb 15th 2008 1:18PM]

Well, Windows Mobile devices have been around forever, but they are in their own little section of trying to be more of a mini PC than a finger friendly touch screen phone.

[jake @ Feb 16th 2008 3:15AM]

It has more to do with Apple's great marketing than anything. I don't think any of the other phone companies have particularly good marketing and they can't match the image that Apple has. If you think about it, the iphone really brought nothing technologically new to the table except maybe multi-touch.
Apple was smart into taking the touchscreen phone and trying to push it into the consumer market. Before the iphone most touchscreen phones were for business users. Then came the iphone and everyone SEEMINGLY became crazy for touchscreens. If you look at the sales numbers it actually didn't sell that much compared to all phones. However, the numbers were impressive when you looked only at smartphone numbers. That's where their strategy is brillant. By appealing to mainstream consumers their sales numbers will seem big in comparison with the mainly business oriented smartphones.
Seeing this image of success, the rest of the mobile market would want to jump on the same bandwagon as they did when the razr became a success.
But enough with calling every touchscreen phone after the iphone a "ripoff". The UI is different and nothing in engineering was copied. That's why people are saying the Apple didn't invent the touchscreen as some of you Apple fanboys can't seem to understand. There is no need for reverse engineering. They are just taking the basic idea of creating a consumer based touchscreen phone and going with it.
And the iphone was hardly the "revolution" that the ipod was. So far there is no indication that it had made much of an impact on how cell phones are today. It is a great phone, but it's significance is just majorly over hyped.

[jake @ Feb 16th 2008 3:15AM]

It has more to do with Apple's great marketing than anything. I don't think any of the other phone companies have particularly good marketing and they can't match the image that Apple has. If you think about it, the iphone really brought nothing technologically new to the table except maybe multi-touch.
Apple was smart into taking the touchscreen phone and trying to push it into the consumer market. Before the iphone most touchscreen phones were for business users. Then came the iphone and everyone SEEMINGLY became crazy for touchscreens. If you look at the sales numbers it actually didn't sell that much compared to all phones. However, the numbers were impressive when you looked only at smartphone numbers. That's where their strategy is brillant. By appealing to mainstream consumers their sales numbers will seem big in comparison with the mainly business oriented smartphones.
Seeing this image of success, the rest of the mobile market would want to jump on the same bandwagon as they did when the razr became a success.
But enough with calling every touchscreen phone after the iphone a "ripoff". The UI is different and nothing in engineering was copied. That's why people are saying the Apple didn't invent the touchscreen as some of you Apple fanboys can't seem to understand. There is no need for reverse engineering. They are just taking the basic idea of creating a consumer based touchscreen phone and going with it.
And the iphone was hardly the "revolution" that the ipod was. So far there is no indication that it had made much of an impact on how cell phones are today. It is a great phone, but it's significance is just majorly over hyped.

[jake @ Feb 16th 2008 3:17AM]

WTF? How did I double post (triple post now)? I guess this is my first double post. Eh engadget's been screwy these past few days anyway.

[nedy78 @ Feb 15th 2008 12:54PM]

Did I miss something or is the text entry in that format (dial pad style) only? Where the qwerty?

[tylersmyler @ Feb 15th 2008 1:14PM]

I second that. NO QWERTY? WTF

[Jeff @ Feb 15th 2008 1:26PM]

i third.

no on-screen qwerty = weaksauce

[ez @ Feb 15th 2008 1:46PM]

The kids who buy this phone are probably more used to T9 than qwerty anyway. You can't touch type on a phone, so what's the point of qwerty? QWERTY is actually less intuitive than phone pad if you're only using one hand. Unlike Apple, Samsung knows this phone will be used mainly like a phone - you're not going to type a term paper on here (or on the iPhone).

[Jeff @ Feb 15th 2008 2:14PM]

I can type much more quickly with an on-screen qwerty and i can with t9.

I might be alone, but who would it hurt if the phone had the option? it could even default to T9 for the kiddies, but let me choose QWERTY.

I wouldn't think that the phone lacks QWERTY, just that this guy didn't show it. ...then again, i assumed the HTC Touch would have a decent finger QWERTY and it doesn't (at least it won't let you use it when you're texting....)

[DP @ Feb 15th 2008 3:05PM]

Seriously, when will they learn? How are you supposed to have a cutting-edge PDA without a QWERTY keyboard?

[freediverdude @ Feb 15th 2008 12:57PM]

Hmmm.....looks like the typing is pretty much t9 on-screen numeric keypad. Not too crazy about that. It looked like there were some choices, but not sure I saw qwerty in there. The response time looked ok though. Scrolling didn't look as smooth as the iphone. I hope they have a proximity sensor in there, the way you can just move the clock and icons around like that, or it could be a disaster with accidental touches.

[joe23521 @ Feb 15th 2008 12:59PM]

This is sort of what I imagined the new Palm OS would look like.

[Kevin @ Feb 15th 2008 1:00PM]

I wish people would stop trying to copy the iPhone's multi-touch or make a better multi-touch. Do something different and then we'll all notice!

[Andrew @ Feb 15th 2008 1:18PM]

Uhh, nothing in this video demonstrated any type of multi touch, and I expect the device probably doesn't have it either.

[Jeff @ Feb 15th 2008 1:28PM]

i wish people would START trying to copy Apple's multi-touch.

as far as i know, there isn't a single mobile device, anywhere, commercially available, that uses multitouch.

and as Apple won't give me a damn CDMA iPhone for Sprint, i'm hoping the rip-off artists can eventually come up with something good.

but yeah, for the record, this thing isn't multi-touch.

[michael @ Feb 15th 2008 5:12PM]

I'm not exactly familiar with the iPhone's multi-touch capabilities. Please enlighten me:

Exactly, how does multi-touch do anything different than what touchscreens have been doing for a long time? When would you need to use more than 1 input, besides resizing photos?

Tell me that. I would love to hear how the multi-touch is actually useful.

[xbird @ Feb 16th 2008 11:33PM]

How useful is zooming? Damn, if I'm not talking, I'm on the net. Thats got me zooming like mad (waaay more than scrolling), you need zoom if you want the real internet, screw that shrunk-down mobile internet crap on other phones. If I'm using google maps, again, I'm zooming like mad.

Since 1.1.3 you can also truly type w/2 fingers contacting the screen simultaneously, that screws up single-touch touchscreens.

[hiimcliff @ Feb 15th 2008 1:01PM]

grrr... i like it, but its laggy. what happens if 3rd party apps get on there now, its gonna b super slow.

tell these manufacturers stop being cheap and put a faster arm processor in these phones. apple made a good decision with the 620mhz. little to no lag.

[w00t @ Feb 15th 2008 3:10PM]

What makes it worse is apple clocks it down to 412mhz, and still manage to get a really smooth framerate even when browsing very heavy websites.

I've not yet seen another phone that can match it, unfortunately.
I presume they use the same technology as their desktop OSX and offload to a graphics accelerator :)