book of life

By TJ Manotoc, ANC | 09/08/2008 2:26 PM

So much has been said and written about Apple’s foray into the mobile phone market. And it’s tough to imagine that it would not attract a direct hit from competitors that were bound to make something that will appeal to the same market and possibly give them more. Enter the Samsung Omnia, and whether Samsung likes or not, the bloggesphere and the media have already given it the tag, the potential iPhone killer?
 
But what would it take to knock of a certified hit, at least amongst its core target market? It would take classy styling, seamless integration of features, and yes, applications that can make the phone much more than what it is.
 
First, without a doubt, the  Omnia is a looker. Some may it look similar to the iPhone. But I personally feel it wasn’t intended to look that way. But in the realm of sexy gadgets, the Omnia is definitely up there.  The form factor is nice. It feels good in your hand, it’s neither too big nor too small.  There are a few more buttons than its Apple counterpart but then that’s what you would expect from a mobile phone.
 
Second, we go to memory capacity.  There’s 8gb and the 16gb… and even additional memory via a non hot-swappable micro SD card beside the battery.
 
Feature-wise, the Omnia is truly intimidating. I couldn’t help ask, how on earth were they able to squeeze all that into that tiny slim and sexy body? It packs Windows Mobile 6.1 Pro OS, 3G and HSDPA speeds, wifi, GPS receiver with A-GPS, 5 megapixel camera with video recording, zoom, autofocus, smile detection, and geotagging, FM Radio, Optical joystick with virtual mouse functionality, built in accelerometer, TV-out, DivX support, and a headset with a 3.5mm audio jack.
 
Wow. I ended up asking, what can it not do?
 
But since I was already holding it, an even more important question was, how does it work?
 
Well, don’t forget this is a touch screen phone, so there’s no physical keypad. But interestingly, Samsung has given the Omnia numerous input options, the most interesting and ones would be the QWERTY and the phone keypad. The full keyboard however is a bit tough to use with just your fingers.  A stylus comes with the unit, but there’s no built-in slot – you’ll have to tie it to the side of phone like a lanyard.  The keypad mode seems easier to adapt to… a virtual keypad similar to what you find in any candybar phone.
 
There’s also some sort of a skin over the usual "desktop" of the Windows Mobile where you can drag and drop "widgets" from the sidebar to launch applications.
 
Surfing on the Omnia is ok, but it doesn’t blow you away, even when you’re on wifi. A plus is that it does use the whole 3.2" screen and comes loaded with pocket explorer and Opera mobile.
 
Mobile Office comes built in with a full version that lets you create, view, and edit office documents that you can also email as attachments.
 
In the middle of 2 buttons that function as the Menu/Call/End Call buttons is an optical joystick that’s about the size of an M&M and works like a laptop trackpad. 
 
The camera looks great, the 5mp looks smooth on screen and auto focus with the zoom is quick to respond. And oh yes, you can shoot in the dark cause it has a real flash.
 
All in all the Omnia is one great solid device. If you are a loyal fan of the Windows Mobile platform and you do not demand a tactile feel of real keyboard, you will quickly learn to love the touchscreen interface of the Omnia.
 
Now the question, can the Omia make iPhone users change their minds?
I leave that up to you since this is like asking, Mac or PC?
But with the great hardware, this Windows Mobile device should definitely make it to your top list.

as of 09/23/2008 11:51 AM