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Samsung Omnia 7 review
We knew Samsung's been in the Windows Phone 7 game pretty much since day one, but the Korean giant's managed to keep its Europe-bound Omnia 7 under tight wraps until mid-summer this year. Two months onwards, we find ourselves cradling this macho-looking device, and giggly flicking through the various tiles in its newborn OS. Just to freshen up your memory, we're looking at a 4-inch Super AMOLED-donning slate, garnished with a dash of Tyrian purple aluminum on the back, and capped with some dark gray polycarbonate at the top and bottom. Well, you know the drill -- join us after the break to find out how the rest of this phone fares. This review is primarily of the Samsung Omnia 7 hardware. Check out our full review of Windows Phone 7 for our thoughts on the OS. %Gallery-105343%
Windows Phone 7 handsets: spec comparison
Having trouble keeping track of all the new Windows Phone 7 handsets today? We don't blame you -- even we had trouble remembering all the minor differences between the similarly specced devices. To end our frustration, we've compiled a big chart that lists out the carriers and specs for all 10 devices (with a couple extra MIA) to make our lives a tad easier -- head on pass the break if you need the peace of mind.
Samsung i8700 put through 13-minute video exposé
You know how those Korean electronics makers are. One does something -- such as a Windows Phone 7 leak -- and the other has to go and try to match or better the feat. Samsung has today easily outdone LG, whose Optimus 7 only revealed some press pics, with a thorough video exposition of its i8700 WP7 handset. We're hearing references to this phone being called the Omnia 7, which makes sense, but is at present not something we've been able to verify. So what might you enjoy in this video treat? It's mostly a jog through now familiar territory, though we do get to witness the phone taking a picture -- the camera software and performance are two of the less well known aspects of WP7 handsets. There's also what looks like a custom Samsung hub, which includes weather and stock price updates, all of which is topped off with that signature WP7 responsiveness and ridiculously deep blacks that we've grown used to with recent Samsung handsets. Video after the break.
Samsung's i8700 Windows Phone 7 handset goes through the video leak ritual
It's well known around these parts that if you aspire to be a highly desirable smartphone, you have to leak out in three clearly delineated stages: pictures, video, and specs. We've seen the i8700 a couple of times already now, and the specs can probably be extrapolated from Windows Phone 7's stringent hardware profiles, but the video, that was the bit that was missing. Until now, of course. Slide past the break to see it smoothly sailing through the now familiar WP7 interface. The video's focus is soft, but it won't get in the way of seeing some truly buttery processing of touch input. [Thanks, Eggo]
Samsung i8700 for Windows Phone 7 leaks, puts developer prototype to shame
Could this be the best-looking Windows Phone 7 device yet? That's open to some personal interpretation, of course, but Sammy's alleged i8700 is looking like quite the beast -- and it should assuage any lingering fears that the Omnia HD-based prototypes floating around would be influencing final ID for the company's numerous WP7 launches later this year. If we had to venture a guess, we'd say this is probably that unnamed model we saw not long ago, identified by its sharp, squared-off edges and the button layout below the display. The about screen reveals 8GB of internal storage and the backside shows a camera of unknown resolution paired to an LED flash, so if you're not tied to the idea of a physical QWERTY keyboard, this might be the Windows Phone 7 handset you've been looking for. Question is, what carriers? [Thanks, Pradeep]
HTC Gold with Windows Phone 7 in November, and more from a rumored UK roadmap leak
O, to see what Omio sees. The outlet has obtained what it claims to be "a huge UK mobile phone release schedule for the rest of the year... [from] all the manufacturers" (emphasis its own). So, from where would such an all-encompassing roadmap hail? We don't know, nor can we corroborate any of this, but the details are numerous so let's go through it -- albeit with cautious optimism and a few grains of salt. The biggest phone we can see of this baker's dozen of a lineup is the HTC Gold (sound familiar?), due in November and loaded with Microsoft's mobile OS newcomer Windows Phone 7. Unfortunately, that's all the information provided, but it's certainly enough to entice us. Also in November, we've got Samsung i8700 and Nokia E7 -- the latter being possibly a N8-esque QWERTY slider with AMOLED display and Symbian^3, and the former being a mystery (although Omio takes a gander that its aquatic Greek mythology might suggest a Bada-powered existence). Going up the list Memento style, October purportedly brings across the pond-ers HTC Vision, the virtually unknown HTC Ace, Nokia N8, and Sony Ericsson's Xperia X8 and Yendo. September's a bit of a yawner -- SE Hazel and a Nokia X2 candybar -- as is August with the X6 8GB and BlackBerry Curve 9300. And July? Nokia E5-00, Sony Ericsson W20, and Samsung i5500. As is usually the case, the more you can wait, the better your options. Now, let's see if this supposed roadmap stays on course.
