SINGAPORE—Don’t compare Samsung’s Omnia with the Apple iPhone. It wouldn’t be fair, says Samsung’s global marketing vice president Younghee Lee. “The Omnia is much better. Our product is superior in all the features and functions.”
The Samsung Omnia (SGH-i900) had a world launch at Communicasia 2008 last week, at the Samsung booth in Singapore Expo’s Hall 4. Already available in Singapore, the Omnia will reach Europe at the end of July and the Philippines in August.
Living up to its name, which means “everything” in Latin and “wish” in Arabic, Samsung Omnia promises to fulfill all that one desires in a mobile.
Spectacular device
“This is a historical moment for us,” Lee said.
Josh Delgado, director of Samsung Australia’s Telecom Division, demonstrated the features of what he calls “a spectacular device” at the Omnia press conference.
He showed the Omnia’s patented TouchWiz touch-screen capabilities and tap, sweep, drag and drop functions, letting us view a clip from “Kung Fu Panda” and demonstrating the use of the Omnia’s 5-megapixel camera.
The Omnia’s camera is equipped with smile detection and anti-shake technology and can take auto-panoramic shots. “We don’t compromise on features,” Delgado said.
Stylish and sleek
Design wasn’t compromised either. The Omnia looks stylish and sleek. Its smooth lines and hairline grooves make sure the phone fits in your palm and gives you a good grip.
Samsung Omnia is a multimedia wonder, allowing you to enjoy your digital entertainment with its wide 3.2-inch WQVGA LCD screen. Samsung Omnia’s 16GB internal memory (8GB units will also be available) and 32GB external memory will allow you to store up to 8,000 songs, 12,000 pictures and 23 DVDs.
Optical mouse
Samsung partnered with Windows to equip the Omnia with a Windows Mobile 6.1 operating system and an optical mouse which means the Omnia can work as your computer away from the office or your home. You can use it to operate Microsoft Outlook e-mail, Microsoft Word, Powerpoint and Excel. You can use it to go online, surf your favorite websites, and post updates and even upload photos to your blog. You can also download additional programs and customize your Omnia like you do your computer.
Samsung Omnia’s advanced navigation allows you to use your fingers, the mouse or the stylus to play with your phone’s different functions. The Omnia is equipped with three kinds of touch-screen keyboards—a qwerty one, a 5x4 and a 3x4. Thanks to haptic technology, pressing the screen makes you feel like you are touching actual keys— something that’s missing from other touch-screen phones in the market.
The battery is detachable and can last up to 400 hours on standby.
The Omnia may be overloaded with features but Samsung’s primary priority is still the ease of use. “We want users to use it with one hand. We made the user experience for making a phone call and SMS very easy. We did not forget the basics,” said product specialist Youngjoon Kim.
Lee agreed. “No matter how good it looks, how much multimedia functions it has, if you can’t [do something as simple as] call, you’ll get angry at your phone,” she said.
Other features
You can also use the Omnia to send MMS and make video calls.
Other Omnia features include GPS, FM radio, a torchlight, handwriting recognition and even a business-card reader that can scan business cards and automatically store the data in your phone.
Kim believes users should explore the phone on their own to find out just how many things they can do with it. “The users should experience the rich contents and discover all kinds of functionality,” he said.
Star of the show
People had the chance to do just that at Communicasia 2008.
The Samsung booth showed a wide range of their products including their Olympic phones and the results of some of their recent tie-ups with Giorgio Armani, Adidas and Bang & Ofulsen.
But the Omnia was clearly the star of the show.
A number of units had been made available at the booth for people to enjoy their own Omnia experience.
There was even a larger-than-life model to allow consumers to see the Omnia’s touch-screen functions and drag-and-drop capabilities on a bigger scale.
“We’ll definitely find the connection,” Lee said. “Once the market gets to know the Omnia, I’m sure they would love it.”
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