Latest Design Inspirations By Think Designs

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

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 Samsung i8910 Omnia HD Samsung i8910 Omnia HD Samsung i8910 Omnia HD
Samsung i8910 Omnia HD official photos

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 2.1 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

For starters here is a bunch of photos of the i8910 - while certainly not as sleek as the Samsung S8300 UltraTOUCH, the handset spells multimedia and that is enough of an attraction to a lot of people.

Samsung i8910 Omnia HD Samsung i8910 Omnia HD Samsung i8910 Omnia HD Samsung i8910 Omnia HD
Samsung i8910 Omnia HD

So let's waste no more time, the hardware part of the Samsung i8910 Omnia HD preview awaits In the video below.




Monday, February 23, 2009





Acer announced four PocketPC's, which we'll roll out in a mo but not before a glimpse of what seems a properly done homework in terms of getting to know their market better. Acer have split consumers into three groups to pitch their latest releases accordingly.

The first group is that of power users. They want the best there is and know how to make the best of it.

For the second market group communication prowess comes first and they hold personal and professional information security above all else.

The third group is just loosely defined but the key properties are stylish design, reflecting the user's personality and ease of use, especially when it comes to mobile Internet.

For all of their devices no matter what group they fit in, Acer have prepared a custom thumbable user interface to sit on top the deep murky waters of Windows Mobile.

Acer M900

The Acer M900 tries to cater to the power user. The spec sheet of this jack-of-all-trades includes Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, a 3.8 inch touchscreen of WVGA resolution and a full slide-out QWERTY keyboard, as well as GPS and a 5 MP camera with autofocus and flash.

The Acer M900 fits the pragmatic user profile too as it comes with HSDPA and full office document editing. Another feature, that's still quite rare too, is the fingerprint sensor for better security management. And with the memory also being expandable there is hardly anything missing, is there?


Acer M900

Acer M900 at a glance: QWERTY, WinMo 6.1, Outlook Mobile, Office Mobile, HSDPA, 3.8" WVGA, fingerprint, sensor, GPS, FM Radio, 5MP camera autofocus flash, expandable memory.

Acer DX900

The Acer DX900 fits this category as well but it has prime bait for the pragmatic user - dual SIM handling. This lets you keep business and personal calls separate without the need for an extra handset. HSDPA is still on board. The display is only 2.8 inches wide, though VGA resolution quite makes up for that. The camera is a 3.2 megapixel unit again, with autofocus and flash.

The UI is designed to ensure ease of navigation. It lets you quickly dial your most important contacts with the speed dial panel that shows contact photos. The Acer DX900 has microSD expandable memory and a video calling.


Acer DX900

Acer DX900 at a glance: dual SIM, HSDPA, 2.8" VGA, UI 3d animated icons, 3.2 MP camera autofocus flash, videocall, expandable memory.

Acer F900

The Acer F900 tries to attract the style-conscious users who value good web browsing. It uses a new user interface with homescreen widgets and comes with Internet Explorer Mobile 6 with JavaScript and Flash support. Data connections are covered by HSDPA/HSUPA support and Wi-Fi.

The 3.8" WVGA display offers plenty of room for fitting web pages. The other features of the Acer F900 are integrated GPS, expandable memory and the very same 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus and flash like the rest of its siblings.


Acer F900

Acer F900 at a glance: 3.8" WVGA, new UI - widget homescreen, 3.2 MP camera autofocus flash, GPS, FM Radio, expandable memory, IE6 with Flash Lite, HSDPA/HSUPA, Wi-Fi.

Acer X960

The last newcomer is the Acer X960 - it has a 2.8" VGA screen and widget based UI that gives quick and easy access to contact details and messages, as well as calendar details. The X960 should appeal to people who travel often - it has integrated GPS for navigation.

The Acer X960 has a 3.2 MP camera with flash and autofocus as well as a secondary videocall camera.


Acer X960

Acer X960 at a glance: 2.8" VGA, widget-based UI, GPS, 3.2 MP camera autofocus flash, videocall.