Samsung i8910 Omnia HD

Now that's a big one - the handset with one of the longest spec sheets we've ever seen has just dropped on us like a bomb. The Omnia HD is Samsung's go at touch-taming the Symbian S60 and is introducing truly revolutionary stuff.

A 3.7" OLED capacitive touchscreen, an 8 megapixel camera that should be able to humble even some digicams and of course the HD video recording - does it really get any sweeter? Geeks have been warned - continue reading this preview at your own risk. We are not to be held responsible for sleep disorders or compulsive spending.

Samsung i8910 Omnia HD is surely one of the most interesting packages to look out for at this year's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. With a specs sheet like that it's hardly a surprise but we cannot quite get Samsung's choice of name. There was nothing wrong with the original Omnia but reusing a name is not exactly suggestive of revolutionary. Oh, and don't get us started on the superscript. It may look cool and all, but just go ahead and google OmniaHD.

With the following preview we did our best to provide you with as much information as possible for the very short time we spent with the handset. Since our unit is at the very early stages of development we would focus mainly on the hardware and ergonomics as the software is well in need of getting polished. By the way, we've already reviewed the Symbian S60 5th edition touch user interface with Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, so you should already know the basics.

Samsung i8910 Omnia HD at a glance:

• General: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, UMTS 900/1900/2100 MHz, GPRS/EDGE class 12, HSDPA 7.2 Mbps, HSUPA 5.76 Mbps
• Form factor: Touchscreen bar
• Dimensions: 123 x 58 x 12.9 mm
• Display: 3.7-inch 16M color OLED touchscreen, 640 x 360 pixels
• Memory: 8/16GB integrated memory, non-hot-swappable microSD card slot (up to 16GB)
• OS: Symbian S60 5th edition
• Camera: 8 megapixel auto focus camera with LED flash, geo-tagging, Face detection, Smile Shot, Wide Dynamic Range (WDR) and HD video recording at 24 fps
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP, standard microUSB port, GPS receiver with A-GPS and optional Samsung Mobile Navigator by Route66, HDMI (dongle needed)
• Misc: Accelerometer for screen auto rotate, Proximity sensor for auto screen turn-off, FM radio with RDS, DivX/XviD video support
• Battery: 1500 mAh battery

Palm Pre

Manufacturer	Palm, Inc.
Carrier	Sprint Nextel (USA) Bell Mobility (Canada) O2 (UK, Germany & Ireland) Movistar (Spain)
Available	June 6, 2009 (Sprint Nextel) Late 2009 (Bell Mobility) Late 2009 (O2)
Screen	3.1 in (79 mm) HVGA (320×480) 24-bit color capacitive touchscreen
Camera	3.2 megapixel camera with LED flash, "extended depth of field", and geotagging
Operating system	Palm webOS
CPU	600 Mhz Texas Instruments OMAP 3430 (ARM Cortex A8 + PowerVR SGX)
Memory	256 MB RAM
Storage	8 GB
Networks	CDMA
Connectivity	EV-DO Rev. A Bluetooth 2.1+EDR with A2DP MicroUSB Wi-Fi 802.11b/g with WPA, WPA2, 802.1X authentication A-GPS
Battery	1150 mAh Lithium-ion
Physical size	Closed: 100.53 mm (3.958 in) (h) 59.57 mm (2.345 in) (w) 16.95 mm (0.667 in) (d)
Weight	135 g (4.8 oz)
Form factor	Slider

Apple iPhone 3GS

Speed
The "S" stands for "SPEED!" And according to Apple, it is faster launching applications or rendering Web pages.

• The iPhone 3GS has a new processor built-in. Apple claims that it is up to two times faster than the previous generation: Launching messages is 2.1 faster, load the NY Times in Safari: 2.9 times faster. It also consumes less, which has an impact on the improved battery life.

Camera
This is one of the strong points of the iPhone 3GS, according to Apple. They increased the resolution to 3 megapixels, which—judging from the shots they showed-seems much better quality under all conditions.

• 3 Megapixels sensor.
• New camera, with auto focus, auto exposure, and auto white balance.
• You can also tap to focus, changing white balance in the process. That is really neat, if you ask me.
• Special macro and low light modes.
• The camera also supports photo and video geotagging.
• Any application can access all the camera functions now.

• It supports video, 30 frames per second VGA with auto focus, auto white balance, and auto exposure.
• You can trim the video shot just using your finger, then share it via MMS, email, MobileMe and YouTube.

Connectivity
The other part of the "S" is the support for the faster 7.2 Mbps 3G standard, which in theory will deliver data faster to your iPhone.

• Three band UMTS/HSDPA.
• Four band GSM/EDGE.
• Wi-Fi 802.11b/g.
• Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR

Graphics
• The new iPhone 3GS includes new 3D graphics support in hardware. This means faster and more complicated 3D games.
• Same 3.5-inch widescreen multitouch display, but this time it has a fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating. I wonder if it will withstand a full frontal Shake Shack burger attack.

Design

• Same design as before, including the glossy finish of the back (so much for all the rumors about the matte back.)
• Same size as the old iPhone 3G: 4.5 x 2.4 x 0.48 inches.
• The weight increases a bit: One ounce to 4.8 ounces (135 grams vs 133 grams).
• Greener materials: Arsenic-free glass, BDF-free, Mercury-free LCD.

New special features
• It has a magnetometer, which works with a Compass application, third parties, and it is integrated into the new Google maps app, showing your orientation with a small semitransparent cone.
• Voice control. You can now talk with your iPhone, Enterprise-style. You can instruct it to play similar songs to the one you are playing, or call people.
• Nike + support built in.
• Supports accessibility features, like zooming on text, inverting video, and voice over when you touch whatever text is on screen.

Battery life
• One of the more important new features is the increased battery life.
• According to Apple, you will get up to 12 hours of talk time on 2G and 5 on 3G, with a up to 300 hour standby time.
• On 3G, it will deliver 5 hours of internet use.
• On Wi-Fi, Internet goes up to 9 hours.
• Video playback is 10 hours vs 30 hours for audio.