Samsung Wave is world's first DivX HD phone, Galaxy S in a hurry to be world's second
By Vlad Savov 
posted March 24th 2010 12:42PM
posted March 24th 2010 12:42PM
posted March 24th 2010 12:42PM
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You mean BluRay collection.
@abedinthehouse
Google's Nexus One was not made to compete with current phone technology (looking at you iPhone and BB), but was intended as a proof of concept and a baseline for the new generation of superphones, which will largely run on 4G in the next few years. Google isn't using a phone to diversify into new markets, that's what their operating system does. The phone is only there to market Android well and set the baseline for superphone standards--Android OS is what will bring in the money.
Google's Nexus One isn't even competing with Apple and RIM, it's passing them on the highway and leaving them in the rearview mirror so it can take a leisurely drive in the countryside alone, and in peace. Any phone from now on has to AT LEAST be on par with Google's Nexus One to make it in the future 4G market of mobile internet. Just remember: the point isn't the Nexus One phone, but the raised standard that the Nexus One phone and the Android OS represent. Hopefully, Apple brings out a shiny new iPhone 4 which raises that bar even higher--after all, competition is what makes this all so worth while :)
@Kanga
hello, tangent. how is everyone doing over in left field?
@Kanga
WTF Are you going on about? Too much crack this morning?
Put the pipe down...
@Kanga Lol, you sure you're not talking about the Supersonic?
@Kanga
jesus man
WTFs wrong with u?
@Kanga They are in a way competing with Apple cause I just unloaded my 3Gs and got my new Nexus One today! I believe that more people are going to drop their stale (in my opinion) iPhone OS for this or any other Android based phone. This is what happens when you don't innovate for three years and nickel and dime your customers on small updates Apple. I am a long time Apple fan and I love their products, but the fully open Android OS is just to enticing. I am sure that their will be a great "A+" update from the Cupertino boys in June, and I am sure that they will keep a huge market share for quite awhile, but Apple needs to wake up and smell the roses. Android is coming a long pretty damn quick and they aren't messing around. Especially, if Android is kinda just a hobby like some news sources like to write about. The iPhone is the main reason that Apple's stocks have been so high the last 3 years. I love my Macbook Pro and all my Apple related gear, but the Apple "walled garden" isn't enough to keep me as a customer. I want choices and I want to use my expensive smartphone the way I want to use it just like I do my laptop and desktop. I don't want big papa Apple to dictate what I can and cannot download and use on my phone anymore. Apple you have been great, but now the tables have turned and you are going to have to do something big to get me back as a cutomer (well, atleast in the phone world that is). I am sure that many people will continue to buy the iPhone and it will do great, but their are a lot more "geeks" out there that are probably considering (if they haven't left already) greener Android pastures.
*end rant*
@angermeans Wrong. fractured = failure
VLC needs to make an Android application that can decode every video file under the sun. That would make me a happy panda.
@Proverb: I completely agree.
@Proverb
The problem is android is too immature to allow for 3rd party applications to have access at hardware acceleration for non "out of box" supported codecs. There is currently no public mechanism for this. The Archos series devices can do it, but they're all proprietary. Decoding the audio and video is not the issue, but it will play like shit if there's no hardware acceleration.
@Proverb Problem with 3rd party media players is that they cannot leverage the underlying hardware codecs. Most of the Samsung phones use the Samsung S5PC100 and have something called a Multifunction codec whos APIs are not opened to 3rd party developers except through DirectShow on windows mobile. Android devices like Nexus One and HTC variations use the Qualcomm snapdragon processor where Qualcomm provides all the codecs and doesn't open up the APIs very well to 3rd party developers either the same is the story with Omap 3430 powered droid.
Earlier there used to be something called Beta Player or TheCoreMediaPlayer on windows mobile which used software codecs but the performance cost to battery life is huge.
I'd love to have VLC or Gom player on mobile devices but it's kindof impractical right now
@DoctarPeppar I was writing my post and you beat me to it, :)
@Girish
Yeah that's the thing, all these chip manufacturers and OEMs don't WANT us to play any audio \ video format that we have. They want to keep their code locked down and they only want us to use the out of box supported codecs, and they don't want 3rd party developers to create alternate video players.
Samsung is probably the best in terms of audio \ video format compatibility though, but what we really need is for Google to lean on these chip mfgs (Qualcomm) and get them to open up their APIs and then create a standard way for Android developers to access them without getting into intellectual property disagreements...if that were to happen then any video or audio format could be played back with full hardware acceleration...but, only in a dream world I guess.
@Proverb I wish VLC could turn me into a panda...
@Proverb
You can a get a port of VLC or mplayer on a jailbroken iPhone via Cydia. Both work OK, but sometimes they drop frames and stutter on even SD videos, as there's no HW acceleration.
Same with WinMo. I recall some media player app that could also play a variety of formats, but drained the battery because of no HW acceleration.
It's pretty much like that for all mobile devices at the moment...
I'm hoping that something like OpenCL will be made for mobile GPUs so anyone can write whatever they want to have HW acceleration...
@ThreeDee912
Agreed. Tried the vlc. It just doesn't work that well. They say a killer app for the huge number of mobile devices in the future will be video -either web based or local storage. Funny thing is, there's just too many competing formats, never enough local storage, and never enough processor power +/- hardware acceleration. Yeah, right, let's see the EVO handle 720p or 1080p hidef mkv files. Where you gonna store it? Do u have to carry a pocketful of memory cards? That's so 2006. Actually, given the greater availability of bandwidth, a good interim solution is to offload most video processing and stream live. I've been pretty amazed at 640x480 live streaming via Iphone 3gs component output even on crapT&T 3G but it'll take a full 4+ bars to do so without hiccups. It's just my opinion, but i don't think just video conferencing or camera pixels will determine future phone winners. I think it's the ones who can effectively market the quality and quantity of apps and video and music content will reap the most rewards from the tech-overwhelmed general consumer public.
@Proverb Overall, I believe that the fast processor and the display are the two pillars of the Samsung Wave. At the moment, the proprietary OS and the current lack of apps are a bit of a turn off, but Samsung is trying really hard to ramp this up quickly. Time will tell. Opinions: http://bit.ly/samsung-wave-first-view
@Proverb CorePlayer looks promising, it's not out yet thought and will only be software decoding. http://twitter.com/CoreCodec http://corecodec.com/products/coreplayer
If it doesn't support MKV files with H.264 video and either Dolby Digital or DTS I really don't care.
@reallynotnick
Damn, you beat me to it! :P
@reallynotnick
Wave supports dolby 5.1...if I´m not wrong
@reallynotnick
That single speaker in your mobile will be perfect for pumping out 5.1 goodness.
@reallynotnick
my needs are simple really. I just want native flac support on android (in particular the Moto Droid).
Is that so much to ask?
"Want some DivX-encoded 720p goodness on your fancy new superphone?"
Not really...MKV contained x264 \ AC3 and DTS would be much better.
@DoctarPeppar
This.
That is the ugliest UI I've ever seen
Can we just get one smartphone with a snapdragon + keyboard??!! Just one!! its all I ask :'(
@puerrican85
The LG eXpo...
@puerrican85
Anything but the expo, weak support from LG and no support from community such xda and modaco marks it off my list, not to mention its ram size cant compare to HD2 500+mb > 256mb ram. Just hoping samsung or HTC releases something soon.
I agree we do need a VLC application for Android, for every video and audio format support under the sun. Somebody at Google, work the phones and make it happen, please.
@Johnny Tremaine CoreCodec is developing CorePlayer for Androi, but it is all software decoding and nothing is released yet. You can see the codecs it CorePlayer supports here: http://corecodec.com/products/coreplayer
@Johnny Tremaine Whoops, meant to also link to their Twitter. http://twitter.com/CoreCodec
Why do Samsungs look so shit? Their logo is crap and they seem to try too hard with their handsets appearance but it's all overdone and as result they phones have too much going on. They should make their phones minimalistic and sleek, with a nice logo.
That Galaxy S looks too much like an iPhone and it gives the false impression that Android is a copy of the iPhone - it is not.
@Hydraulics
That's actually one reason why I like the design of the Wave, because almost all touchscreen smartphones (i.e. those without slide-out keyboard) have the same basic look - screen + rounded corners. It's a bit repetitive, so seeing other designs is nice. Now... Galaxy S falls back into the standard scheme, of course.
CorePlayer doesn't do this already?
Sorry, it just seems like it does everything else so... :)
http://coreplayer.com/
Where are we supposed to get HD DivX movies anyway?
All the HD stuff on the pirate bay is in MKV lately. I'd love to have MKV support on my next phone :)
They finally put a video chip in an android phone that would make it able to reasonably display graphics! What's next, actual games on the android platform?
I would rather have FLAC on a smartphone than DivX, or MKV :p
@b3n
I wouldn't be surprised if FLAC playback is included.
Also, you can play FLAC with any Symbian phone (Nokia..), on Android and most likely on Windows Mobile as well.
@b3n
why? so you can fit 1/5 the music vs v0 for almost zero perceivable difference in sound quality? FLAC makes sense in a home environment, but not in a mobile space, where file size is key
@Streetfights
So that you don't have to CONVERT your FLAC collection just to use it on your phone.
And you can fit plenty of FLAC albums on the average phone's storage (microSD or inbuilt) nowadays.
Uhhh... My iPhone 3GS can watch all my MP4 720p videos that were extracted from MKV files using MKV2VOB... which is how most movies are stored now-a-days anyway.
Don't tell me you guys didn't know that it could do that?? Just pop the video over into some file sharing app with video playback like iFiles or something. Baddabing!
@Rwilson
mp4 is not divx and iPhone is not divx HD certified... Which was the whole point of this article.
It's like reading an article called "samsung introduces world's thinnest LCD TV" then commenting with "but I can already watch tv on my LCD tv"
@dzeikei
Clearly playing 720p video on your mobile phone isn't new, and I think you'd be hard pressed to find a friend who has a 720p video on their HDD that is in DivX 720p OFFICIAL format.
It's a nice little announcement, but far from useful.
Pity nobody actuall uses DivX. Especially not for HD material.
is this UI for 12 year olds? Blah.. pass. Even with DivX.
First? Do you mean the Samsung i8910HD? that has been doing 720p Divx/Xvid for a year now!
@I like things
It has been doing 720p recording in mp4 and playing divx videos in various sizes.
I managed to find a 720p divx movie on my PC and i'm transferring it to my i8910 now, we'll see how it goes :P
@(Unverified)
It says "Unable to open file" :(