Samsung is following Apple, MS & LG in the trend where cellphones involve “big, wide touchscreens” as their main look and feel. Their Ultrasmart F700 phone has a qwerty keyboard, 2.8″ widescreen, 5 MP camera and 3G support. We are not sure at this point if this is a smartphone which allows you to develop and run native applications or if it’s just a glorified “feature phone”. The whole interface is based on Adobe’s Flash while a recent press release along with the claim of “full HTML browsing” makes us speculate that the phone possibly uses the Opera web browser — possibly on top of Linux.
Samsung’s Answer to the iPhone
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Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSAlert.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
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The reported screen resolution does not make sense to me. They report a 240×440 resolution in their spec sheet, but when using their own image here under Photoshop to find the ratios of width-X-heihgt: http://images.akihabaranews.com/news_pics/13261/Ultra_Smart_F700_1…. that ratio does not work out as they claim. According to my calculations (ratio) it looks more like a 240×416 screen rather than a 240×440. In fact, the 240×416 would make sense if the phone actually runs Symbian underneath (with a new Flash-based UI) because the original Symbian S60 resolution was 176×208 and also had support for 240×320. Of course, there is the possibility that the pixels are not square, but I don’t think that this is the case here. In conclusion, based on their own pictures, I think that the reported 240×440 res is wrong.
I’ve noticed that you are overly obsessed with phones, nothing wrong with that, just an observation.
Obsessed no, it’s simply my new role. I don’t do OS stuff anymore, I only do mobile/gadget reporting.
I think you are right becuse it does support real video. the PPC and linux player are not that much supported like symbian.
like in my PPC it does not support vga.
Koreans are pretty fast, LG Prada and now this and it even has sliding keyboard… and I guess their phones will hit market before iPhone does…
Edited 2007-02-08 09:15
Remember, cellphones are usually in development between 6 months and 2 years. Longer if this is a new platform. So, the phone in question (and LG’s too) it’s much more than 1 year old.
Well then so called Apple innovation is not innovative in any way, it’s just trend where everybody goes… but still I prefer iPhone’s interface plus video iPod, WiFi and Safari (I don’t like Opera crappy UI)
Edited 2007-02-08 09:26
Yes, this is exactly what they are all doing, following the trend of technology. They don’t copycat, they simply do whatever makes sense at this point in time. I blogged about it a few days ago, explaining the trend:
http://eugenia.blogsome.com/2007/02/02/the-future-is-touchscreen/
As for Opera Mobile (not Mini), it is just fine on a mobile phone. It has NOTHING to do with the UI of the desktop browser version. It is a good mobile browser.
Remember, cellphones are usually in development between 6 months and 2 years. Longer if this is a new platform. So, the phone in question (and LG’s too) it’s much more than 1 year old.
iirc lg won a design-award last year with the prada
The price …
Edited 2007-02-08 09:27
Not only that, but they didn’t actually show us anything about the phone’s primary feature: the phone interface!
If you expect me to dial with the QWERTY keyboard, you’re out of your mind, so how about showing us the fake keypad?
Samsung may be making the same mistake everyone did with all their “iPod Killers”… its not just about a “big wide touchscreen” or a “flashy UI”. Its much more than that… Multitouch could do for the iPhone what the Scrool Wheel did for the iPod, only time will tell… and I recall Steve Jobs saying “and boy have we patented it !“.
Also any mobile phone requires approval from the corresponding authorities before it can be made available to the public, not to mention the prototype needs to reach the operators and content developers (like Glu Mobile, Gameloft, EA, Dchoc, etc.) long before it is released to the public so no, don’t expect Samsung to release a phone ‘tomorrow’.
Edited 2007-02-08 09:52
Multi-touch screens have been around for ages, it’s not an Apple innovation.
http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=multi-touch+ui
You are getting offtopic but here it goes:
Multitouch is the name Apple gave to its touch screen technology. Nobody is implying that multitouch technology was invented by Apple…
Even my Samsung X830 has a Scroll Wheel (and plays MP3), but it doesn’t make it an iPod , now does it? Better yet, even the last iBook generation (mid 2005) had a multitouch trackpad which recognized simultaneous touch points (2 finger scroll for example).
Sharing the same name doesn’t mean they share the same philosophy/technology.
Anyway according to the press Apple has filed over 200 patents related to the technology behind the iPhone so the word “innovation” does pop up a lot of times, we’ll just have to wait and see.
Having in mind the iPhone is not yet for sale, Samsung will be playing catch the best way they can, thats the way capitalism works. They can’t just sit quiet until it comes out.
Edited 2007-02-08 20:01
This is absolutely true – even the gestures Jobs showed off have been multi touch staples for a while – however, Apple bought Fingerworks a long time multi touch company who does hold some patents.
Samsung is on my ****list after their abomination of a phone called the A707 (aka Cingular Sync). What a horrid phone:
1) When you put it it on silent, the camera uses the loudest shutter sound when taking a picture
2) When you put it it on “Airplane,” the camera uses the softest shutter sound when taking a picture
3) You can get a bluetooth headset for hands-free conversation, but it doesn’t support voice dialing (my three year old Sony Ericsson even did this!)
4) Horrible battery life (a few hours at best)
5) Not impressed with 3G (Connection Failed Retry Again? is something I see way too often)
6) They refuse to provide a software update that will provide the missing SSL certificate that gmail mobile needs to work (the app will install and run, but fails due to missing SSL certificate)
7) The hot key sequence to delete an incoming message is different depending on whether it’s a plain SMS or a “multimedia message” (so much for finger memory)
8) Absolutely horrid Netfront Browser on the phone.
I could go on, but suffice to say that I hate Samsung now after being stuck with the A707.
I have absolutely no faith that they will do right with this phone when they can’t even get their “newest and greatest” before this one right.
Edited 2007-02-08 10:21
The phone you are having a problem with has nothing to do with this new platform, so it’s not exactly on topic. It’s a different OS we are talking about.
Maybe so, but the guy was saying he distrusts samsung as a company, irrelevant of the product. Same way a lot of people around here will not be installing Vista after they lost trust in Microsoft with XP.
Sorry, but I can’t agree with this. Samsung has SEVEN very INDEPENDENT divisions developing different phones. Not 1, not 2, but 7. Saying that you don’t trust Samsung because one model sucked, it’s very unfair and not realistic when comparing that one division to the rest dvisions — which as I said they are very independant in the kinds of products they create and OSes they are using. It is NOT the same as the XP/Vista thing you mentioned because XP/Vista comes from the same place pretty much.
LG also has 3-4 *very independant* divisions too, and Motorola another 4-5 too. Nokia has two (GSM in Finland, CDMA in US). You can’t compare them, they are all doing their thing.
Unfortunately, people are doing such comparisons because they read “samsung” or “philips” and they think that this is one solid company, while in reality is just a conglomeration of companies doing their thing. This is much different than what Dell or MS or Apple is doing in the PC world.
Sorry, but I don’t think that really apply.
How many consumers know that Samsung’s phones are developed independently?
No one have capacity to keep track of what phone model is developed in which devision. No one cares either, and that it Samsung’s problem.
It is also their chosen risk, they have choosen to have many divisions while they know it will then be harder to keep a unified level of quality.
If one Kia car model has a reputation of poor enginering, that will effect all of it’s models. It’s the consumers perceived quality of a brand that really matters.
If Samsung screwed up a phone once, it will take them many good models to repair that one bad experience.
“they think that this is one solid company, while in reality is just a conglomeration of companies doing their thing.”
If so, then consumers have every right to treat all these “companies” as one, since all the phones are sold under the same name, and they should.
I don’t disagree with what you say, but from the moment a user learns the truth, I expect that user to realize that products are not black or white.
I don’t disagree with what you say, but from the moment a user learns the truth, I expect that user to realize that products are not black or white.
Knowing that a specific division made my phone does not make me dislike Samsung any less. The point is that they could address several problems that the phone has and refuse to and that has nothing to do with division and everything to do with crappy service.
OK if X company (i.e samsumg) makes 50 phones and only one sucks then you don't trust X company anymore only for one model? and what happends to the 49 others?
Any phone company have tons of mobiles, ones sucks, others are awesome but blame the entire company for one model in particular is the most trollist comment i never see (and i'm an AmigaOS users, so i see and hear trollist comments every day)
Edited 2007-02-08 14:59
Sorry, but I can’t agree with this. Samsung has SEVEN very INDEPENDENT divisions developing different phones. Not 1, not 2, but 7. Saying that you don’t trust Samsung because one model sucked, it’s very unfair and not realistic when comparing that one division to the rest dvisions — which as I said they are very independant in the kinds of products they create and OSes they are using. It is NOT the same as the XP/Vista thing you mentioned because XP/Vista comes from the same place pretty much
Sorry, I can’t agree with you. Consumers don’t care which *division* or whom at a company is responsible for crappy products. When they chose to but the name “Samsung” not “Samsung Division X” on the phone, they chose to represent the entire company with the crappy phone I got stuck with.
Quite frankly, it’s a phone. I shouldn’t have to care what OS or whatever platform system it is. It should just work, and it should do everything it is supposed to well.
I read your complaints and I must say that none of them is super important. Half of the cellphones out there can’t run Gmail for example because this certificate is not as standard as other certificates. Most of my phones have the same problem too. And there are bugs on all phones, no matter which one you get. The only legitimate concern is about your battery life. A phone should have at least 3 hours of talk time and 5 days of standby time. Otherwise, take it back and get another one.
In fact, the most important problem you didn’t list about samsung phones: they dont allow you to install java apps that were moved to the phone via BT or usb.
BTW, all this is off topic, so please don’t expand more.
So, Samsung have 7 divisions all doing poor work.
This really isn’t a competitor to the iPhone unless it has incredible ease of use. That’s pretty far down on Samsung’s list of things to do. At least, their monitors are fairly easy to use. After using my Samsung phone for 6 months, I don’t believe that ease of use is something on their list at all.
Including a 5MP camera is great but the hardware isn’t really the issue. They have nice specifications. Mine has decent specifications and better than average hardware. It’s just the software that is pathetic.
I suspect that they’ll have done better with this phone but then, I thought that before I bought mine.
Someone will buy it, though, if it’s released here.
Same way a lot of people around here will not be installing Vista after they lost trust in Microsoft with XP.
I lost trust in Microsoft with win95…
So you liked win 3.1 but then lost it
All binarycrusader is saying is that they don’t listen to their customers…This phone needs an SSL certificate and he was not able to get it via a software update…It is for this reason why he has lost faith in them…I don’t agree with the seven independent divisions statement, in this digital age…If I have a problem with the phone, Customer Support should be able to forward my query to the respective division. Then they, if they value their customers, will solve the problem then issue a software update on their website.
The keyboard looks useless to anybody that does not speak English. How do you input letters with diacritical marks? Will there be different versions for different countries, or will we have to put up with some sort of dictionary-based prediction/correction?
Having a touch screen, it would be nice to get a thinner/lighter keyboardless version.
Of course and there will be different versions for different languages. Like it is for the PocketPC keyboard phones.
Why I’ll never buy this cr… device – HARDCODED keyboard!
It’s so stupid… Why? How about to use Russian language on such keyboard? No how. Russian alphabet contains 32(31) letters, not 26 as in Latin.
This device even doen’t have enough keys to apply Russian.
Software On-Screen keyboard is much more useful.
Edited 2007-02-08 11:16
BTW, I am Russian and I will buy this kind of device, if it will be available in Russia.
How do you use mobile phones right now? I didn’t see a single mobile phone with russian-only keyboard, really
Hardcoded is a very nice thing when it’s -20C on the street and TouchScreen becomes The Untouchable!
Back in the Sovjet Russia, we used to pee on the phone to make the screen work.
But then again, we didn’t had to touch the screen afterwords.
Edited 2007-02-08 12:29
>> Back in the Sovjet Russia, we used to pee on the phone to make the screen work.
We used to simply turn in on
Anyway, and i can see it all alound – a lot of people prefer to use “real” keyboards with their Pockets, Phones and so on – this is a large market. The key word here is … Market.
Will see wich solution will bring greater revenues!
Edited 2007-02-08 12:36
> Hardcoded is a very nice thing when it’s -20C
> on the street and TouchScreen becomes The Untouchable!
Oh boy, what are you smoking there, who on earth comes to an idea to use any keyboard when it is -20C??
Exactly, no one, but the point about touchscreen keyboard is a good one: one can have any keyboard/language he likes, and personaly I hate this sliding keyboards…
Dont get me wrong, I’m no Apple iPhone fan or something, but it is really nice to have a thin, light and multi-functional device at hand. It is definetely a plus to see some competition, Apple might reconsider the price, I hope
I see it is a music player as well (surprise). My Samsung flash mps/ogg player functions as a mass storage device (so does an iPod, yes, but one can’t listen to music in its mass storage, iTunes/gtkpod required), and I wonder if this phone will function the same way. Probably not, its profile seems too high for them to use such a piracy enabling method of copying your song files
Edit:
Oh yeah, I like the actual keyboard. Prefer it to a touchscreen. Actual tactile feedback is not to be underestimated, even if it is on rather tiny keys. If the iPhone emitted a click on each character of input, that would help, but I prefer knowing that I actually pressed something. For me, touch screen + physical KB is the best of both (assuming I would every buy such a phone. I don’t even use my current one that does not much more than make phone calls, I’d never blow a chunk of cash on a machine I’d never use).
Edited 2007-02-08 12:49
isnt this samsung similar design to M3100 or MDA vario II
so many years no big invention in the mobil section.
Then Apple presentes it’s iPhone…
now everyone wanne have a touchscreen. – crazy, isn’t it?
there have been Touchscreen mobiles for ages but nobody takes care of them (or said that were a bad system of control them) until apple present it's Iphone and said that is revolutionary, and now all apple zealots says that all are coping apple.Conclusion: if apple release a garbage and says that is a revolution all people will buy it, but if a X company relese the next revolution, edge of technology, super quality gadget nobody will take care of it
mh I don’t think the ipod is garbage, and I also don’t think the iPhone is garbage.
I have never heard of touchpad mobile phones before. (Talking of a price range from 500 – 700 $)
I have never heard of touchpad mobile phones before.
So maybe do some research before posting apple fanboism comments here?
(hint: SonyEricsson P800/900/910, Nokia 7710, Windows Mobile-based)
So maybe do some research before posting apple fanboism comments here?
You’re overreacting. All he said was that he didn’t think the iPod and iPhone were garbage. Now that constitutes a Fanboy comment?
Grow up.
This phone looks simply amazing!! Slide out full thumb keyboard plus button-free giant flashy touchscreen interface–if it’s implemented right there will be no stopping it!!! This is the first phone-sized communication device I’ve seen *without* external buttons, but which still conceals a full, horizontal-format QWERTY keyboard–this is what I’ve been waiting for all these years!
Of course, as with all devices, there’s plenty of room for error. But based on the pictures alone, I want one!!!
Edited 2007-02-08 15:50
I (foolishly) bought a (samsung flagship model) A900. The battery was absolutely abysmal, no ability to add words to the T9 dictionary, no way to set your own MP3 file as a ringtone without jumping through hoops converting mp3s to aac video files etc.
Poor UI design, poor design w/regard to cable ports, and just a general all-round lemon.
The only way i’d ever use another Samsung phone is if it was free.
Amm, EDGE is not 3G, it’s kinda 2.5G. UMTS is 3G with double the speed of EDGE and becoming a standard, I find it weird no one makes cool stuff for 3G yet. Maybe they only want it for US market, but European market is larger than US and consumers are way more technicaly aware, also UMTS is present in many countries by now, working just fine…at least acording to my experience.
Sorry, but if you think this has a chance against the iPod in # units sold, you’re smoking crack
I ve never tried the samsung phones as i have always found them too “girlie” but in the bad UI category I can’t think of anything worst than Motorola UIs.
Userfriendliness is not on their to do list either.
5 years ago it took 3 people to work out how to enter a name in the phonebook. Today it is near impossible to transfer a ringtone through bluetooth. hopeless.