Samsung rumors aplenty surface in advance of MWC
By Donald Melanson 
posted Feb 2nd 2009 12:31PM
posted Feb 2nd 2009 12:31PM
We've already seen some Samsung rumors start to crop up in advance of Mobile World Congress, and it looks like the flood gates have now fully opened up, with a slew of new leaks and rumors of varying veracity now making their way across the internet. Leading the way is word from Dutch site GSM Helpdesk, which has apparently confirmed that Samsung will indeed be introducing both a 12 megapixel phone (in Photoshop form above) and an 8 megapixel handset at MWC, the latter of which will supposedly be a successor to the Innov8 and run the Symbian S60 OS, while the 12 megapixel phone will apparently be an all new handset of some sort and run Samsung's own OS. In other news, GSM Helpdesk is also reporting that Samsung will be announcing its very first Android phone within the next two weeks, which just so happens to line up nicely with MWC, although it unsurprisingly doesn't have any more details than that.
Update: Sorry for the confusion about the 16GB Omnia. Turns out it's not new at all.
Update: Sorry for the confusion about the 16GB Omnia. Turns out it's not new at all.
Red button, your mouse arrow.
Let's make them connect, people.
Sorry to interrupt you, but in Europe the Samsung INNOV8 is #1 handset. The iPhone is a big failure.
My phone only has 2 Megapixels too! However it is a dumbphone that cost me £30 - so by your logic must be just as good as the iPhone!
Samsung is gonna release a BALLBUSTER of a phone.
Just wait.
Not a surprise that in Europe the iPhone is a "failure" a little to perfect for them to accept, seeing as its not a European product...
hhhmmmmpppphhhhhh..
@Davelogan77
Currently there are about 6-7billion people on Earth, the US represents ~200 million of those now I'd say it'd hurt pretty bad for Apple to design a product with ONLY the US in mind.
Not sure how the 16GB Omnia is supposed to be new, I have one and it has been out in Singapore since its launch there and available in Europe as well.
I second that. Had one for ages now.
Same here. Been using it for about 6 months... its running great. It still has the expansion slot, so get a 16GB micro SD and rock it :)
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/80027/Apple-CEO-Jobs-found-Dead
I know, Android news will get most excitement here, but I will say a couple of warm words about Omnia (the 8GB model).
I got it on Black Friday 2008 with 1 year of Verizon contract ($270) and I must say - it is a decent phone. 5MP camera makes your photos NOT suck (though still far from point-and-shoot quality). It comes with WinMO 6.1 and a decent set of on-screen widgets and applications (including photo phrame, remote desktop, Samsung keyboards, other samsung-centric apps, Opera, 3G modem, etc.).
The phone has one of the most impressive hardware feature sets: WiFi, bluetooth, 3G, 5MP camera, tilt sensor (and full desktop rotation in any mode), voice recognition, 8GB storage and SDHC card slot. And whatever you say, the screen resolution is perfect for it's size.
Another strong side of the phone is transcriber: it recognizes handwritten text very well, I say that as a previous owner of Apple Newton PDA and Palm devices that traditionaly had a very good handwriting recognition.
The sortcomings include: on-screen keyboards still not as user-frienly as Apple's (I have iPod Touch), somewhat slow interface, Opera is still buggy and far from Safari in smoothness of operation. That all I can think of.
And also: I dropped the phone a few times, once on a stone pub floor, and it is perfectly OK, no scratch. It's funny, but the phone somehow always falls on bezel and the screen is not hit, I donno why.
I say all that for those who might consider buying this phone, and because I feel Omnia went mostly unnoticed by media in all that Android/Palm hype. Till, it is a decent phone and deserves more attention among smartphone enthusiasts.
Agreed.
This phone deserves more attention.
I forgot to add that Omnia also has GPS.
Up until a week ago I would have agreed with you as I too have an Omnia. Now don't get me wrong; it's a great phone and it was sadly overlooked. I really, really liked it apart from two features - or rather a lack thereof:
* No 3.5mm socket
* No separate power socket
At first they were just a minor annoyance but after six months it got really old constantly breaking adapters and having to decide between using the phone as an mp3 player in the car or charging it so this Sunday I took the plunge and bought a Nokia 5800 which is awesome especially if you've been raised on Nokia devices like I have.
@Mark Anderson
Mark, my Omnia came with an adapter/splitter that allows connecting power, mini-audio jack and TV-out at the same time. Didn't it work for you?
Sadly no such item in my box.
That said, since the headphone adapter kept breaking I don't think it would have resolved the issue. Shame, I liked the phone but, to be honest, I think I prefer the Nokia anyway.
Hows the reception? I've heard bad things, which is really the only reason I haven't gotten one yet.
@sip
Reception really depends on where you live. I live in DC and Verizon's reception is great plus, so far, Verizon is the only provider available in metro.
I was with AT&T for 5 years, but AT&T's signal was really weak in my new house, still Verizon's was good. The reception in metro was an additional bonus.
As for the phone's antenna - I noticed an improvement over my old BlackJack II reception, but I guess this again is because of Verizon's better signal.
Does iPhone have an SDHC card slot, iDiot?
Omnia does.
That was meant for shugg's post above.
Shugg, I rarely say that to people, but you are an idiot.
And there was no need to copy Iwright84's post as if you wrote it.
I own the 8GB Omnia i910 for Verizon and it's really an awesome phone.
divix playback right out of the box is very very cool.
Really nice camera too! It really came in handy when we were appliance shopping recently.
More internal storage would be cool I guess, but I already have an 8GB Micro SDHC to expand it, and 16GB card are settling in price as I'm typing this. (Or they should be anyway!)
Either way the Omnia is a winner.
I was really hoping for news of the T*Omnia making it's way to the states. all that and WVGA.
same here. there's still hope!
weird, would think that the usa would have access to such products sooner than the rest of the world
in europe the 16gb omnia has been around for at least 5 months
Actually, there's a 16GB version of the Omnia in Europe since its announcement. This is only "new" for the US market.
I'm still amazed at how the iPhone is #1 even in the US. (Sure, I've never been there, so I don't know how it works there with phones)
There are way better phones spec wise than the iPhone for equal or better prices (at least here in Europe).
And this is coming from a person who has been through an LG Prada, iPhone, HTC Touch HD, Nokia N85 and some others.
Right now I use the iPhone because my iPod broke, but once it gets back I'll be looking into something else.
I wonder when they will release the T*Omnia (with the 800 x 480 screen) in North America.
Wow! This one certainly took its time to get to the USA.... I've bought one, used it, sold after 2 months.... And regretted doing that....
It is a very nice phone if you are into touchscreen. However, my guess is the European, but more importantly the Americans' fingers might just be too wide for the touchscreen buttons. Otherwise this phone slams the iphone 3G all the way down to the bottom of the trash heap. Of course, again, the smoothness of the touch interface is not as reactive as iPhone's but it is enough for a business user. And oh! It does not crash as much as others claim.
shuttit muppet. Still as boring and predictable as ever
Heh.. I currently use an 8GB Omnia on Verizon and a 16GB iPhone on AT&T (both company phones). As for the iPhone.. It's UI, sleekness, intuitivness, coolness, and time-wastingfullness can't be matched. The ease of use, lack of 'clunkiness', and overall feature set are simple winners.. not to mention the inline headphone jack and lack of buttons that can randomly unlock the phone and edit your contact details, as well as NO EAR DIALING! The Omnia has no multi touch and the display is not nearly as responsive. Browsing in Opera mobile is great compared to IE, but it still sucks compared to safari. The samsung widgets are obnoxious and were disabled pretty quickly. The samsung menu is ok and helpful. VZNavigator is nowhere near as quick and easy to use and Maps on the iPhone (but it does have more features). The VZAppStore is a joke compared to the awesome Apple app store.. which really, if Apple didnt have the app store, their phone would easily be on par or beaten by phones like the Omnia. The onscreen keyboard is absolutely no comparison.. Omnia's sucks.
On the other hand, the iPhone has no copy and paste, yet, which is increasingly annoying. The lack of video recording sucks hard too (and even though the Omnia has it, its video recording is awful). The WinMo interface is familiar and easy to navigate. The Omnia is super fast and has lots of extra features (GPS, optical mouse, task manager, etc). The screen is bright and the res is perfect. You can do virtually any app in landscape mode (including messaging!). The Omnia has a vibrated feedback response feature for onscreen typing.
There are pros and cons to each, and while the Omnia is easily the best WinMo smartphone I've ever seen or used, I would take the iPhone anyday.
Of course you agree with him, you're the same person...
Since VZ doesn't carry the iPhone, the Omnia is the best choice for us. It beats the BB Storm and about every other phone VZ has to offer.
The Omnia is one sweet looking phone, but coupled with a crappy touch screen and WinMo make it...well crappy.
Very nice looking phone; at least Samsung is consistent in their beautiful designs.
iEye's sucked so many cocks the jizz in his belly has turned him
into a freakin idiot.
Shouldn't 13 year old twats like yourself be
making your bed or taking out the trash ?
ESAD you low-life douche-bag
Dunno how this is news. The Omnia and innov8 have been available in 8 and 16GB variants for many months.
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WTF ...
16GB Omnia's aren't new. They sell them all over the world, in fact I've got one right next to me ...
Workmate has this and another the BB storm and i just replaced my N82 with an iphone, we compared them all together and there really is no comparison, the iphone while maybe not having some of the features of the others, completely shits all over them in looks, ease of use and just general coolness, im glad i got an iphone and my workmates are pissed they didnt.
Cant see where all the hate for this fantastic little gadget comes from, i mean apart from a shitty camera, no cut and paste its practically perfect.
I'm sick of my iPhone. I can't stand not having a keyboard. My last phone was a Treo.
The only thing keeping me on the iPhone is iTunes -- does anyone else offer something similar that will sync and track what I listen to?
Yes. Get an iPod.
Samsung is very pathetic company when it comes to cell phones, i've owned the instinct since the day it came out, and besides the fact that i wish i bought an iphone, i'd also rather take zack morris' phone, and we all remember the great analog signal he had on that WORKING phone, not one thing i do on the phone works how it should, and i blame samsung directly... saying it's an iphone killer...
i am not joking, if anyone knows how to file a complaint that will actually make its way to where someone, that isn't in india, could actually help me get my money back, or even a phone that lets me answer my phone when it rings, or put a number in my phonebook without halting for more than 5 seconds in between first and last name (and by halting, i mean phone is UNUSABLE, nothing works). let's not even get into web browsing, it's non-existent... if you own an instinct, and think it's good, it's obvious you've never even seen an iphone, and i recommend you don't touch one, because you'll hate yourself.
After using a phone this bad, samsung should leave the business
I am sorry, but your opinion on Samsung's phones in general is opposite from what most other people think. Samsung BlackJack and BlackJack II were among the most popular smartphones on AT&T.
i figured i would receive a comment as such...
maybe i'm incorrect with samsung being the problem here, if it's samsung software that runs the phone then i'm sure i would hate each touch screen rendition they have. i haven't used any other samsung touch screen phones, however, previous regular flip phones i've had from samsung also had endless amounts of problems with service and other standard features.
are you aware if it is samsung who made the interface and designed the entire thing, or did they bring in some secondary company
i just want to blame whoever is responsible
and can we both agree that most people and a professional computer tech are two completely different things, i mean most people like the wii, but it is garbage
My phone only has a 2MP camera and is WAYYYYY better than the iPhone!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E51
Wow, ChillyCatz, you condemn iEye for acting like a 13-year-old twat while doing so yourself.
I vote for the ban hammer on both you tools.
Just put a microSD slot and be done with this internal storage BS!
It has that in addition to the internal memory!
That earnmydegree.com girl is making me want an online degree really bad.
i love windows mobile and i need a better device... get this thing on Sprint
TMN (Portugal) have Samsung Omnia (i900) 16GB for sale already(2 months ago) -.-
This Omnia, equipped with a 5 MP camera, is almost the equivalent of an iPhone. But not quite there yet. Why? Because this fine piece of hardware is stuck running WinMo 6 which drags the quality, way, way down. What a damn shame. Samsung almost had a chance of catching up to the iPhone, but it's too late now. iPhone 3.0 is just around the corner and that will leave the rest of the handset business gasping for air.
It seems like a decent phone. I played around with one at a Verizon kiosk at my local Costco; it lagged a bit and the user interface was a bit bland but I'm sure it has its pluses. I don't know, I just didn't feel like signing over my firstborn to Verizon Wireless (all their fees and the data plan will bleed you dry).
I ended up getting a nifty, basic flip phone; the Nokia 6650 on At&t. *Shrugs* It's not flashy but I just needed it to make, reliable, basic calls and have a GPS maps function.
Besides, the way the economy is tanking, and my company/job seems shaky, I don't want to get locked in to a list of monthly fees. I'm sure many consumers are already beginning to think along the same lines.
I was looking at picking one of these up because as much as I want an iPhone, I really really really really really really really don't EVER want to go back to AT&T. Ever.
Also: Exactly how many user names does this Shugg person use?
Well... Technially 32Gig, if you count the 16GB MicroSD slot
My friend have a 16gig Omnia. Is it out or is he special?
screw omnia. im intersted in when this new samsung android phone is coming out!! finally APPS will be comming to our samsung handsets!!
The Samsung Omnia is the best choice for us Verizon customers. The iPhone is nice, but it's connected to a crappy network.