Unlike the competitor, LG GD910, the Samsung S9110 doesn’t come with HSDPA connectivity. However, Samsung’s price tag is so much better on the wallet…

Samsung S9110 will arrive in France later this month, and retails at €450 ($639). LG is yet to confirm pricing for their GD910 watch phone, though earlier rumors have pegged it at around £1,000 ($1,621).

This quad-band GSM device also supports UMTS (850/1900MHz) with HSDPA for high-speed data connectivity.

Certified to meet military specifications for dust, shock, vibration, altitude and temperature extremes, along with extreme weather conditions such as rain and humidity, the Samsung SGH-A657 can take a beating. Its rubberized handle makes the device easy to grip and a built-in flashlight will do an okay job of lighting up an area in front of you, but of course it would not replace a traditional one.

CNet reviews has this to say about this phone:

The Samsung SGH-A657 has a rugged design with a respectable feature set. Call quality is great, but streaming video quality is unimpressive.

Samsung SGH-A657 features:
Band: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, UMTS 850/1900MHz
Data: GPRS/EDGE/HSDPA
Size: 114mm x 51mm x 20mm
Weight: 122g
Main Display: 256k colors TFT (176 x 220 pixels)
Battery: 1420mAh
Battery Life: 3 hours estimated talk time, 10 hours estimated standby time
Camera: No
Messaging: SMS/MMS/IM
Email: Yes
Video: Playback
Bluetooth: 2.0 with A2DP
Memory: 128MB, microSD
Other: AT&T Navigator, AT&T Mobile Music, emergency calls, internal phonebook, media player

Samsung has launched the Omnia HD at Mobile World Congress, as part of its portfolio of innovative mobile phones, to offer a complete media solution for consumers.

Samsung Omnia HD mobile phone has a stunning design with a sleek finish and delivers the ultimate in digital entertainment thanks to its 3.7″ AMOLED (Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode) screen. The AMOLED touch screen offers unrivalled sharpness of tone, vivid colors and greater clarity in direct sunlight as well as less power consumption.

The HD video of this cellphone recording feature enables you to capture precious moments in HD (720fps) quality, enjoy HD content on HD TV via DLNA technology and share real-time live video as users shoot it via a special micro website.

The rest of the hardware in the Omnia HD is either the same as the previous model or better. HSDPA connectivity and Wi-Fi for data transfers, DLNA for media streaming, GPS navigation and the option of 8GB or 16GB internal storage with microSD expansion. On the back, the HD features an 8-megapixel lens.

Main features at a glance:-

• Camera resolution: 8-megapixel
• Camera flash: LED
• Video capture: Yes
• Networks: GSM 850, GSM 900, GSM 1800, GSM 1900, UMTS 2100
• Connectivity: Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, 3G, HSDPA
• Data services: GPRS, EDGE, HSDPA
• Screen resolution: 360 x 640 pixels (16 million colors)
• Video player: yes
• Music player: yes
• Input method: Touchscreen
• Ringtone options: Polyphonic, MP3
• Supported video file formats: MPEG-4
• Supported audio file formats: AAC+, MP3, WMA
• Supported picture file formats: JPG
• Web browser: no
• Dimensions (W x D x H): 58 x 12.9 x 123 mm
• Weight: 149 g
• Internal memory: 8000 MB
• Expansion slot: microSD
• Messaging options: SMS, MMS, E-mail

Arriving with a sleek design, this Symbian S60-based phone specs wise, you’re looking at a luscious 2.6-inch AMOLED display, FM radio/transmitter, GPS navigation (with geotagging functionality), an accelerometer (popularized by Apple iPhone), “3D graphics,” Bluetooth 2.0, HSDPA and WiFi. Additionally, it packs a 5-megapixel camera (with Auto Focus and a LED flash), robust multimedia player (with DivX support), 50MB of internal memory, a microSDHC slot, video recording, 11-hours of talk time and a 12.9-millimeter thin body.

Interested in this phone? Check out the Samsung i7110 video preview.

The phone is actually quite basic but nonetheless it’s an attractive mobile device that weighs only 85 grams. To make it more appealing, it comes in a variety of different colors, and each phone has three different themes and a customizable back cover.

Samsung is marketing the Tobi (Samsung GT-S3030) as a safety aid, perhaps first of its kind for a mobile phone. The Tobi has a “SOS call” and “SOS message” function plus a “Fake Call” trick that Samsung hasn’t fully explained. Samsung has also made some effort in the materials used for the phone using more eco-friendly materials.

Available in a range of 6 color schemes:

• Sweet Pink
• Loyal Blue
• Apple Green
• Bright Orange
• Oasis Blue
• Snow Silver

Each phone also has three different colored themes, changeable back covers and a see through protective sleeve for displaying a favorite photo. The Samsung Tobi has two preloaded games; Brain Challenge and Tetris Mania. Of course, you can download more games off the Internet.

The Samsung Tobi supports playback of MP3, AAC and WMA audio files. The display is quite unusual, a 1.9″ panel which Samsung describe as “QCIF” (176 x 144 pixels). On the back is a 1.3 megapixel camera. The Samsung Tobi has 15MB of internal memory
which can be expanded up to 8GB using a microSD card. The Tobi has Bluetooth 2.0 and USB 2.0 connectivity too.

Samsung Tobi (Samsung GT-S3030) features at a glance:-

• Network: GSM 900 / 1800 / 1900
• Screen: 176 x 144 pixels
• Camera: 1.3 megapixels
• Size: Lightweighe slider 95 x 45 x 18mm / 85 grams
• Memory card: microSD
• Bluetooth: Yes
• Infra-red: No
• Polyphonic: Yes
• GPS: No

This is a a budget handset that will most likely appeal to the young adults.

The M8800 is featuring the following specifications crammed into a body that measures just 13.8mm in thickness.

* 3.2″ touch screen display
* 8 megapixel camera with auto focus
* Face Detection technology
* Geotagging

Samsung have produced an email flyer with some pretty detailed pictures but they don’t add much to the specifications that we have already given except to add that the M8800 Pixon has face detection, shake reduction, high-speed video capture and surround sound.

Other camera functions include a 16x zoom, although digital zooms aren’t worth the circuit board they’re printed on. There’s a dual-power LED flash, which is good for those dark nights in pubs and clubs. To view the pictures, there’s a photo browser that uses the built-in accelerometer to automatically rotate images to the correct orientation.

Video is supported by “virtual 5.1 channel” surround sound, which frankly sounds very suspect to us. The M8800 is controlled with an 3.2-inch touchscreen, in a frame only half of an inch thick.

The new Samsung GT-M5310 is a ultra-lightweight music phone with the innovative music player that can be controlled via various movements. Shaking in various directions, turning the phone upside down, etc brings up various functions. It is aimed at those people who value multimedia playback over other features.

It measures 9.9mm in thickness and has 3.5mm jack, music keys between the numeric pad and the display, FM radio and microSD slot.

It’s a pretty simple tri-band GSM device with GPRS and EDGE data, a 2″ 240 x 320 pixel display and a 2 megapixel camera, but Samsung have put most of the effort into music. In addition to an MP3 / AAC / WMA compatible media player, the Samsung M3510 also features something called the “BEAT player”, “Find Music by Shazam” and Samsung’s Digital Natural Sound engine (DNSe), plus an automatic audio equaliser and digital rights management support. Usefully, the Samsung M3510 comes with a 3.5mm audio socket and also some dedicated media keys.

The 800 mAh battery can provide up to 5 hours of talktime, 10 days standby time or 15 hours of music playback.

Samsung i780 is one of the few recent models of the manufacturer, running on the Professional edition of the Windows Mobile 6 Operating System.

Samsung boasts of having some of the slimmest mobile phones in the world. The company has obviously applied its know-how to this i780 as it is a mere 12.9mm thick.

It has a large touch-sensitive display with resolution of 320 x 320, but yet utilizes the slim candybar form-factor with a full hardware QWERTY-arranged keyboard. The LCD takes up most of the front of the handheld.

The keypad buttons are longish in shape and well-spaced out with good tactile feedback. It makes for very good thumb typing, as good as what you’d find on Treo and BlackBerry devices.

Samsung is innovative with the navigation method: there is no D-pad, joystick, or even trackball. There is a ‘touchpad’ as in a portable computer, through which you must sweep a finger to control an on-screen pointer and press it to confirm. If this method is not your favorite, it can be turned into a ‘virtual’ 4-way controller and in addition, the 2.55” 320×320 pixels touch screen and the stylus are present, of course.

Samsung i780 supports triband GSM/GPRS/EDGE at 900/1800/1900 MHz and single-band UMTS/HSDPA at 2100MHz. The connectivity side passes the test with WiFi of 802.11b/g and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR. The long-rumored GPS is indeed included, which is fast becoming a standard on high-end smartphones.

CNET Asia Reviews:

The good: Attractive price; good QWERTY keyboard; convenient shortcuts; slim design; extra battery included.

The bad: Square screen may not work well with third-party programs; optical joystick not as fast as regular directional pad; bundled GPS app not optimized.

The bottom line: Though not perfect, the i780 is an excellent choice for those who want the most features in a sub-S$1,000 PDA-phone.

Samsung announced a new touchscreen phone, the Samsung Omnia, with hap tic support and running Windows Mobile 6.1. The Samsung Omnia, also known as the Samsung SGH-i900 is a broadly similar device that competes head-on with the new Apple handset. OMNIA, meaning ‘everything’ in Latin and ‘wish’ in Arabic, goes beyond the current top-of-the-line features available in today’s mobile phones.

Based on the most up to date Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional operating system, Samsung OMNIA gives users a mobile extension to their PC experience, with access to MS Office documents such as PowerPoint, Excel and Word.

Users can also send and receive email and manage their appointments in Outlook while on the go. The Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional operating system means users can download additional programs as they would on their PC and customize it for their individual needs.

The Samsung Omnia comes with a large 3.2″ 240 x 400 pixel touchscreen display with hap tic feedback. Samsung OMNIA also comes with a five-megapixel CMOS camera with the latest value-added features, which include auto-focus (AF), face and smile detection and auto-panorama shot.

The phone features GPS, FM radio, Bluetooth 2.0 and Wi-Fi. For storing music, the Samsung Omnia comes with 8 gig or 16 gigs internal memory.

Samsung’s patented TouchWiz user interface makes entering data and text simple. With unique widgets, users can customise and personalise the way they use their phone. It also facilitates easy and convenient calling and texting with a dedicated dome key for controlling communications.

the Samsung Omnia’s multimedia player supports MP3, AAC and WMA audio types, also MPEG4, DivX, H.263, H.264 and WMV movies plus many other types of multimedia file.

Samsung officially confirmed yesterday the style-driven Soul b, a stylist handset that broadens the Samsung Ultra lineup. The Soul b stands for Spirit Of Ultra in bar form factor. The Samsung U800 “Soul b”, or as Samsung insist on spelling it, the Soulb is the third phone to bear the “Soul” brand after the original U900 and G400 clamshell.

Two significant things missing in the Soul b are the 5 megapixel camera of the Soul U900 and G400, and the Soul U900′s interesting touch pad. Unfortunately, they are two of the best features of the original Soul.

Samsung Soul b is a feature-loaded brushed metal phone. The handset checks in at 9.9-millimeters thick and features a 3-megapixel camera (with Power LED flash), document viewer / editor, web browser, multimedia player, Bluetooth 2.0, FM radio (with RDS support), 1GB of internal memory and a microSD slot just in case.

Samsung Soul b comes with the customizable graphic user interface, found for the first time in the Samsung Soul. Users are allowed to create their own skins with the on-handset User Created Skin setup. Additionally, display skins are customizable with fonts, colors and background images.

Along with the tri-band GSM support, Samsung Soul b features HSDPA (3.6 Mbps), as well as Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP. The 1GB built-in memory, is expandable via microSD slot.

It’s also noted that the Soulb will be available in Soul Grey, Platinum Silver, Metallic Black, Soul Pink and Amethyst Violet for an undisclosed price, but things aren’t looking too swell for North Americans. Germans will get first dibs when it lands in “early June,” while just about every region save for NA gets it shortly thereafter.