Future - Review » Samsung

i8910 update is now live!

Tristan — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:54:16 +0000

It’s official, Samsung has just released their first firmware update for the i8910 and is available via Samsung PC Studio 7. You need to update to the latest version for the update to work and the SIM card should be in the phone when you update it. I haven’t check it out myself but I will soon, and I will release the changes done to the device when I can. For the moment I have only seen the update work in Italy and had no feedback from people outside the Italian border.

If you have an i8910 and live outside Italy. Comment below if it works.

“L’aggiornamento è disponibile tramite PC Studio 7. Vi ricordiamo che la Sim deve essere inserita nel terminale durante l’aggiornamento. Vi ringraziamo per la pazienza e la fiducia.”

“The update is available from PC Studio 7. Remember yourselves that the Sim should be introduced in the terminal during the updating process. We thank you for the patience and the trust.”

http://www.facebook.com/SamsungOmniaHD?ref=nf

Here is a video sample from the new firmware. I hope this is it it’s awesome.

The Samsung i8910 sound codec will be fixed!

Tristan — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 18:09:24 +0000

The big annoyance with the Samsung i8910 (omnia HD) is that it performs really well recording 720p 24fps video but the audio recording is drastic and was one of the main cons of the device. After forums going crazy and Samsung Innovator site getting many complaints from owner, the Samsung team has taken action and will release an update for the phone in the upcoming weeks. There will be a total of 2 firmware updates. The first will focus to improve the general performance of the software and the battery. Probably giving users the ability to switch off unnecessary apps running in the background. The second update will hit the next week after the first update and will replace the codec that the i8910 is using for the moment to record sound while recording video. They will change the ARM codec with an ACC codec which is suppose to perform a lot better.

Thanks SAMSUNG!

source: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Samsung-Omnia-HD/77222679005?ref=mf

Join the forum discussion on this post - (2) Posts

Love the i8910? Build a widget and get $$

Tristan — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 20:31:41 +0000

Samsung will soon open up a competition for programmers who think they can create the best touch wiz widget. If you think you are one of them or you just want to have your widget seen by the public, then drop on in and register. You never know, you might win…

You need to register first (if you haven’t already) to the Samsung Mobile Innovator site and then proceed to the competition. You can register your already built widget, or create a new one.

Can you please create an all in one messaging widget which can connect to all IM services and skype or something. Actually maybe something like Fring.

You can register and upload your widget here http://samsungiq.com/
Good luck

What cool widget would you like? Talk about it in the Forum

Join the forum discussion on this post - (1) Posts

Samsung Omnia Jet running at 800MHz

Tristan — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 00:29:18 +0000

Samsung has been showing off many new devices lately. The i8910 HD for example which should be in my hands soon hopefully (if mobilecityonline.com gets them). Then the Omnia II, the Omnia Pro and finally the Pixon. The Omnia II and the Omnia HD both run on Windows Mobile and the rest I believe run on the Samsung OS, all of course having the touch wiz homescreen and the all fancy and useless 3D cube.

The Jet will have an AMOLED and will have a 800 MHz CPU. Not bad from Samsung, let’s just see how it performs. A 5 Mgpxl camera with duel LED, 2GB built in Rom and a crappy battery only lasting 3 hours talk and 250 standby. Oh and a 3.5 mm headphone jack for you music lovers.

The Omnia Pro might be better choice. But Windows Mobile is a downer. Maybe WM 6.5 will change all that. And hopefully soon Windows Mobile will support capacitive touch screen based devices. I mean they should support it by now don’t you think?!

Samsung Jet

Iphone 3Gs VS Samsung i8910 HD

Tristan — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 20:52:13 +0000

The newly announced Iphone by Apple has once again created a product that everybody will be craving about. The Iphone 3G speed has many improved features over its predecessor. Having a better 3 megapixel camera which is able to shoot video is one example. But of course looking at other phones like the i8910, the camera is a joke. We have to put in mind that Apple is not really attracting its customers by releasing a new high-end device. Because no matter what the Iphone is not a high-end device. Apple has a way to sell its product in a more hypnotising way. It seems whatever Apple releases must be the best and definitely worth the upgrade. With new improved products coming out every 6 months, Apple has definilty found the way to sell what it wants. Now this is different in other countries like Russia or Japan and even Europe, the phone doesnt sell as much as in the US and even mac computers are not as used over there. Maybe everyone exept America has found that Apple is not the god of gadgets, and that there are better alternatives.

The Iphone though has sold like crazy and the App store is what to thank. Having just delivered 1 Billion downloads from it, it has definitly made the Iphone a popular device. Many companies now are opening up app stores for their platform. Nokia just released its app store called Ovi store which will let Symbian users download apps over the air like the Apple app store. You can even download specific apps based on your location. This is a nice feature but will probably effect only a small amount of apps. And even Ovi has a long way to go to even compete with Apple, but Symbian is the most used mobile platform in the world so they might have a chance to catch up.

The Samsung i8910 runs on Symbian which means that the Ovi store does run on it and you are able to download apps when connected to the internet. Samsung has also built its own app store but there is still some work to be done to make it fully functional (link).

So let’s talk about the differences between the Samsung i8910 and the Iphone 3G S. One is made by Apple and the other by Samsung. Samsung has been making phones a lot longer then Apple and thus has more experience and knowledge with what people want. Apple has to but they are still a little behind.

Spec wise: Here is a comparison.

Display:

Omnia HD i8910

Type	AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
Size	360 x 640 pixels, 3.7 inches
	- Accelerometer sensor - Proximity sensor for auto turn-off - Scratch-resistant surface

Iphone 3G S

Type	TFT capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
Size	320 x 480 pixels, 3.5 inches
	- Multi-touch input method - Accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate - Proximity sensor for auto turn-off - Scratch-resistant surface - Ambient light sensor

Camera:

Omnia HD i8910

Primary	8 MP, 3264×2448 pixels, autofocus, LED flash
Features	Geo-tagging, face, smile and blink detection, image stabilization, wide dynamic range, ISO 1600
Video	Yes, HD 720p@24fps, D1 (720×480 pixels)@30fps, QVGA time-lapse and slow-mo video recording

Iphone 3G S

Primary	3.15 MP, 2048×1536 pixels, autofocus
Features	Touch focus, geo-tagging
Video	Yes, VGA@30fps
Secondary	No

Features:

Omnia HD i8910

	OS	Symbian S60 rel.5
	CPU	ARM Cortex A8 600 MHz; 3D Graphics HW Accelerator
	Messaging	SMS, MMS, Email
	Browser	WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML, Opera 9.5
	Radio	Stereo FM radio with RDS
	Games	Asphalt 4 HD, incl. motion-based + downloadable
	Colors	Black
	GPS	Yes, with A-GPS support
	Java	Yes, MIDP 2.0
		- Digital compass - MP3 player - DivX/XviD/WMV/MP4 player - Organizer - TV-out (for SD content only) - Turn-to-mute - Document viewer (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF) - Voice memo

Iphone 3G S

	OS	iPhone OS (based on Mac OS)
	CPU	ARM Cortex A8 600 MHz, PowerVR SGX graphics
	Messaging	SMS (threaded view), MMS, Email
	Browser	HTML (Safari)
	Radio	No
	Games	Downloadable, incl. motion-based
	Colors	Black, White
	GPS	Yes, with A-GPS support
	Java	No
		- Digital compass - Google Maps - Audio/video player - TV-out - Voice command/dial

Conclusion:

As you can see the Iphone still has a long way to start competing with European and Asian phones. The i8910 is better, cheaper at $650 unlocked which means that you can use it with T-Mobile and At&t. The only thing that I prefer over the i8910 is the fact that Iphone has multitouch and the app store. But in almost every other feature, the Samsung Omnia HD takes it away by a mile.

What do you think? Talk about it in the Forum

Join the forum discussion on this post - (1) Posts

Samsung i8910 vs HTC Magic Android

Tristan — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 18:51:34 +0000

I found this on youtube. It shows a comparison between the i8910 and the new HTC Magic running the latest version of google Android. The video is to see which one performs better in certain categories.

1) Boot time: I would say that the Omnia HD wins by a few seconds
2) Main menu: The HTC takes that round because it is faster then the i8910 at displaying the main menu
3) Display: No questions here. The AMOLED is going to be hard to beat.
4) Homescreen. The Android homescreen layout is simple and really smooth. So is the i8910 but the widgets might get annoying after a while. The good thing is that you can switch to the regular S60 homescreen if you get bored of it. So for this it’s a tie
5) Keyboard testing, texting. I like the Android virtual keyboard, but the screen is smaller then the i8910. The keyboard can only be used in landscape though. Tie again.
6) Browser render speed and navigation. One of the problems that S60 5th edition has is the browser. From the video you can clearly see that the Android browser has kinetic scrolling which is lacking in the S60 browser. You can download opera for the i8910 which is probably a better choice then the one pre-installed but for this the point goes to the HTC Magic.
7) Video quality and playback: Nothing to say, the display just can’t be beaten and the Xvid pre-installed playback is just a great plus for Samsung. Point clearly goes towards the Omnia i8910 HD.

The winner is… Samsung i8910
Even with its somewhat bad browser, the i8910 is clearly one of the best devices to come out this year. The AMOLED is the best in the market, and the 8 megapixel camera is just awesome.
I want to thank Mubasa for posting the video.

Just pre-ordered my Samsung i8910 HD !!

Tristan — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 23:19:38 +0000

The phone will arrive between June 12-15!! Expect an unboxing video and the whole nine yards. Go to the forum to ask what you want me to film and show on the video.

Join the forum discussion on this post - (44) Posts

Omnia i8910 HD touch response

Tristan — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 19:28:02 +0000

After watching the video, you can see how responsive the 3.7 AMOLED capacitive screen is on the phone. Comparing it to the Iphones screen, I would say that they are really close to each other is form of preciseness and speed. The i8910 has a fast processor which makes the menu appear in a snap with no delay.

Basic Iphone vs Omnia i8910 HD comparison

Tristan — Sat, 30 May 2009 18:12:07 +0000

As you can see the Omnia i8910 wins by far.

Now will this happen with the next Iphone coming out having almost the same features as the Omnia HD? Tell me your thoughts about it in the forum.

check out what the next Iphone is expected to have under the hood. http://www.future-review.com/the-next-iphone-3rd-gen

Join the forum discussion on this post - (4) Posts

Omnia i8910 HD slowmotion and fastmotion video recording

Tristan — Sat, 30 May 2009 02:39:08 +0000

Here are two videos showing what the Omnia i8910 is capable of. These are neat features when you want to make movies with your phone, you can even edit it by adding text and credits directly on the phone itself.