28 May 2008

By: Florin Troaca, Communications News Editor
Nokia Presents the Safari-featured Samsung L870
The newest S60 Samsung smartphone looks (and probably functions too) like a Nokia one
It's a rare thing to see an important handset manufacturer presenting a device made by another big manufacturer, but this is what happened today. Nokia literally presented the L870, Samsung's latest mid-end slider. We first saw Samsung L870 back in mid-April, when the handset was unveiled during a Dutch mobile fair, and we knew it's a device that runs on Symbian S60. Now Nokia is actually bringing the L870 into the spotlight, via a press release that introduces "the best of S60", straight from the S60 Summit held in Barcelona, Spain. Since the Finnish company "owns" the S60 platform, I guess that presenting a new smartphone that runs on it is a normal thing to do. Even if we talk about a device made by one of Nokia's main competitors on the mobile market. In fact, the new Samsung phone has a design quite similar to some of Nokia's sliders, so we could say it's a "Nokia made by Samsung". "Today, the collaboration with one of the key stakeholders, Samsung, is strengthened with the launch of the business style L870. This announcement increases the total count of announced S60 devices to 79", declared Matti Vanska, Vice President, Mobile Software Sales and Marketing, Nokia. The features of the 79th S60 handset, besides Symbian S60, include a 2.4 inch display with 256K colors and 240 x 320 pixels, Safari web browser (like Apple's iPhone), 3G connectivity, Bluetooth 2.0, a 3 Megapixel camera, Media player, FM radio, microSD card support and so on - all in a case that has only 13.5 millimeters in thickness. L870 is not the first Samsung phone to run on Symbian S60, as the South Korean company also released i450, i550, i560 and the 5 Megapixel G810, all coming with the same S60 Operating System. The Nokia-like Samsung L870 will hit the market starting August 2008 for a retail price that was not yet announced.

Samsung L870 Samsung

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15 April 2008

By: Florin Troaca, Communications News Editor
Samsung U800, L870 and i900 Unveiled
Nice features and good looks
Samsung currently showcases three new mid to high-end mobile phones, in the Netherlands, at the TeleVisie 2008 fair (14 - 15 April). Previously unannounced (not officially at least), the handsets are Samsung U800, Samsung L870 and Samsung i900, and come to strengthen the South Korean company's line-up of evolved devices planned to be launched this year. Samsung U800 is apparently a new member of the Soul family, being a candybar version of the U900 model. The phone comes with quad-band 3G connectivity (UMTS), a 3.2 Megapixel camera, Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0, Music player and FM radio. Measuring only 111 x 46 x 9.8 millimeters, U800 is dressed in a metallic case and, like the other two Soul phones, it looks really nice. With an adequate marketing campaign, Samsung U800 has all the chances to become a best seller. Samsung L870 is a slider that runs on Symbian S60 and, well, it kind of resembles Nokia's N95 in design. The new handset measures 102 x 50 x 13.5 millimeters and packs a 3.0 Megapixel camera, GSM and UMTS connectivity, FM Radio, Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0 and a wide display of unknown resolution. Samsung i900 is a full touchscreen phone and runs on Windows Mobile 6.1. Measuring 112 x 56 x 13 millimeters, i900 offers a 5.0 Megapixel camera, tri-band GSM and tri-band UMTS connectivity, Wi-Fi, the latest Bluetooth and USB versions (2.0), and, probably, built-in GPS too. Aside from the above mentioned details, not much else is known about the three new Samsung phones. However, they will probably be launched starting the second half of 2008, for retail prices that will not allow everyone to buy them. Most probably, the most expensive of the three handsets will be i900, as it seems to offer the most evolved features.
Samsung U800 PortableGear.nl
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