Samsung has announced that they will begin selling their T229 handset through T-Mobile. The T229 is an entry-level flip handset with basic features such as speakerphone, VGA camera, Bluetooth and is also compatible with T-Mobile’s MyFaves calling plan. It’s available in an 850/1800/1900MHz tri-band configuration.
The T229 will be available for $30 with a new two-year contract.
Samsung To Make Phones From Corn Flour
Samsung has announced that they’re planning to launch an environment-friendly mobile phone, the SCH-W510, which is made from corn flour later this month.
"W510 uses natural-dissolved bio-plastic made from corn starch for the battery cover and other parts, according to Samsung. Besides the plastic parts, the company applies other environment friendly materials such as anti-bacterial surface coatings to minimize harmful effects of mobile handsets on the nature and the human body. "
It’s nice to see companies doing their bit to care for the environment. It would certainly be nice to tell friends that your phone is made from corn flour, raised eyebrows can probably be guaranteed.
Samsung Omnia Becomes First Windows Mobile Phone To Be DivX Certified
DivX Inc has just announced the DivX certification of the Samsung Omnia, adding to the number of growing DivX certified mobile phones by Samsung.
DivX and Samsung have recently entered a multi-year agreement to include DivX encoding and decoding capabilities into Samsung’s future mobile phones. Thus, Samsung’s Omnia is the first Windows Mobile based DivX Certified phone on the market, and the fourth Samsung phone to achieve DivX certification.
Devices have to go through a rigorous testing program to ensure a high-quality DivX media experience, including reliable video creation and playback, interoperability with other DivX Certified devices in order to achieve the DivX Certification.
Samsung Instinct Going For $199 As Well?
If following the iPhone designs wasn’t enough, it seems that Sprint is trying to imitate the pricing of the iPhone 3G with its latest Samsung Instinct. It’s said to be going for $199.99 on contract, after rebates. This probably shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise, as Sprint has been busy trying to play the “Instinct versus the iPhone” game.
Sprint will also require users to sign up for an “Everything” plan along with their Instinct, which is quite similar to the iPhone as well. The Samsung Instinct will have a little edge over the iPhone in terms of timing though, as it will be launched on June 20th.
Samsung i900 Officially Announced
Samsung has finally announced their i900 Omnia (which we’ve all already heard about). This phone should be released with Samsung’s own TouchWiz user interface preloaded and is reported to be available later this month in undisclosed areas of the globe, with Europe expecting to see it in July.
Features of the i900 include:
- Windows Mobile 6.1
- Quad-band GSM / GPRS / EDGE
- 7.2 Mbps HSDPA
- Built-in accelerometer
- WiFi
- USB connection
- FM Tuner
- Bluetooth
- 3.2-inch 400x200 display
- 5 megapixel camera with smile detection and geo-tagging
- 8GB and 16GB versions
Verizon's Samsung i760 Getting The Windows Mobile 6.1 Treat
Though the Samsung i770 is still the current buzz, it doesn’t mean that the i760 is dated and forgotten, as shown by this rumor. Apparently that the i760 will be receiving a Windows Mobile 6.1 update sometime this month, which seems quite plausible, especially taking into the fact that carriers are rolling out the 6.1 updates already.
Verizon Getting The Samsung i770?
In another slide supposedly from Verizon, it seems that Verizon will be getting the Samsung i770, which will come as an upgrade to the i760.
The i770 will be running on Windows Mobile 6.1, and will be a world phone, as the GPRS network mode in the corner reveals. Aside from that, it will also have WiFi, and has a touchscreen with the i760’s sliding keyboard removed.
Samsung Wants Their Soulb Phone To Be Spelled In A Specific Manner
Though Samsung has just officially announced its new model, the Soulb, it already has a follow up article to accompany it. Apparantly Samsung specifically wants the Soulb to be spelled with the last letter in superscript (Like the picture here). They're currently urging all media to spell it that way.
Though it does make it look pretty (and of course, “soulb” doesn't look very pretty), its not really feasible to use superscript in all situations. There are often cases where superscript just can't be used. Such places include mobile phone ad's, which uses text messaing that often doesn't have superscript (if ever). Search engines such as Google and Yahoo! recognize it as the same thing, as they don't really care whether your search is in superscript or not.
The muddy the waters a little more, Samsung themselves have used the name "soulb" without the superscript in their official press release.
Samsung's Candybar Soul, The Soulb?
It looks like Samsung has been busy making a candybar version of their Samsung Soul. And in the official announcement, it’s called the Samsung Soulb. This phone will be available in Soul Grey, Platinum Silver, Metallic Black, Soul Pink, and Amethyst Violet, though there are no official pricings at the moment. In terms of availability, Germany should be getting it first, with other regions set to have it available shortly after, aside from North America.
Here are the specifications of the Soulb:
- 9.9mm thick
- 3 megapixel camera with LED flash
- Document viewer / editor
- Web browser
- Multimedia player
- Bluetooth 2.0
- FM radio (with RDS support)
- 1GB internal memory
- microSD card expansion
Samsung T339 With Hotspot@Home
Pictures are available of the Samsung T339, branded under T-Mobile. This phone will be giving users the Hotspot@Home feature, which is a great thing.
Whats more, buying this phone shouldn't break the bank, which is in line with pretty much everything else T-Mobile offers.Aside from that, it features the usual fun and techie stuff, such as:
- Bluetooth
- Wi-Fi
- Quad-band EDGE
- A2DP
Many people have drooled over the iPhone’s beautiful Safari browser, but they won’t have to anymore (some users anyways). Samsung’s long rumored L870 slider phone will be featuring Apple’s Mobile Safari browser, the first time a phone (besides the iPhone, obviously) has the Safari browser. It should be available in Europe around August.
Other than the web browser, here are the other specifications of the phone:
- Symbian v9.3
- S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2
- 3 megapixel camera
- 2.4 inch QVGA display
- FM radio
- Stereo Bluetooth
- microSD
- Tri-band GSM
- HSDPA
Samsung Drops Qualcomm, Decides On Infineon Chipsets
Samsung, who previously relied wholly on Qualcomm for its chipsets, is moving toward using mobile chipsets from Infineon instead. They will also be using this shift as an opportunity to reduce costs, and also as leverage in future negotiations.
Qualcomm currently holds many patents for CDMA and 3G technologies, and has been taken to court before for its allegedly unfair pricing structure. Samsung has stated that Infineon chipsets come at a 20% discount versus Qualcomm’s, and with the same quality standards. This move will most likely have repercussions throughout the industry, as other manufacturers look to possibly move away from Qualcomm’s chipsets.
