The success of Flip’s pocket camcorders has seen a fair few manufacturers scrambling to grab a share of this potentially lucrative market. Many of us, it seems, quite like the idea of owning a product that lies somewhere between a cameraphone and a camcorder. Samsung’s HMX-U10 is for the person who wants a highly portable camcorder with high definition video, plus a few extras – a fairly enticing combination.
Samsung’s me too Youtuber cam, the HMX-U10
First impressions are good: the HMX-U10 is compact, sleek, stylish, and from the back, could easily be mistaken for an upmarket MP3 player. It also sports a 7-degree bend in its body, which Samsung says makes it more ergonomically-friendly. In practice, it makes little difference to how the HMX-U10 handles, but it certainly ensures that this pocket camcorder stands out from the rest.
The Camera features a 1/2.3-inch CMOS chip with a 10Mp resolution, plus a fixed focus f/3.0 lens. The HMX-U10 offers a wide, some might say, bewildering choice of shooting options. There are three HD shooting settings: 1920 x 1080/30p; 1280 x 720/60p and 1280 x 720/30p. You can also record in SD quality (720 x 480/60p), and in slow motion in QVGA resolution at 120fps. Read the rest of this entry »
Samsung’s Galaxy Portal is the Korean firm’s latest dip into Android waters and for now it’s exclusive to T-Mobile. It’s been available in Europe since last year as the Galaxy Spica but, unlike most Samsung smartphones, this is pure Android. There isn’t the slightest hint of Samsung’s TouchWiz interface, so it’s effectively a clean slate, to do with as you will. In terms of features, it’s an avowedly midrange quad band handset, with a LCD touch screen, 3.2Mp Camera, Wi-Fi and AGPS.
T-Mobile UK exclusive: Samsung’s Galaxy Portal i5700
Glossy black and slim at 115 x 57 x 13mm and 124g, the Galaxy Portal is standard Samsung touchscreen fare. Beneath the screen Samsung has crammed in no less than seven buttons in a not terribly tidy configuration: menu and back, plus call start and stop surrounding a diamond-shaped navpad, with additional buttons for home and the web nudging in at the sides.
The web button seems a bit superfluous, since you can easily access the same function from the screen, but the home button proved invaluable, since the call stop key doesn’t double up as a home key, as you might expect. Around the sides are a volume rocker and Camera shutter button. Read the rest of this entry »
Ever since Samsung released its first netbook in 2008 – it was the NC10 – it’s been churning out new models like there’s no tomorrow. And with the recent arrival of Intel’s second-gen Atom ‘Pine Trail’ platform, it’s no surprise Samsung has taken the opportunity to get some new netbooks to market.
Matte screen fans, rejoice! It’s Samsung’s N220
As far as first impressions go, the N220 doesn’t disappoint. The glossy black lid features a deep red glow that changes in intensity depending on the angle it’s viewed at. If red doesn’t rock your boat, there’s a rather funky green alternative. Being glossy, it’s a magnet for fingerprints.
The six-cell battery props the netbook up by roughly one centimetre at the rear, taking the total thickness to 36mm, but it sits flush with the rear edge. Read the rest of this entry »
Review Samsung clearly has high hopes for its latest round of Windows Mobile-powered Omnia smartphones. The Omnia II was a significant improvement over last year’s original, due in no small part to Windows Mobile 6.5, which offers a big leap in usability over previous editions of WinMo. The Omnia Pro maintains a high level of functionality, with an eye on business customers.
Split personality: Samsung’s Omnia Pro
With a 5Mp Camera, HSDPA 3G, Wi-Fi, A-GPS and Samsung’s TouchWiz interface, the Omnia Pro also features a slide-out Qwerty keyboard and an alternative interface. At 113 x 58 x 17mm and 165g, the Omnia Pro is considerably chunkier than the Omnia II, which measured up at 118 x 60 x 12 and 129g. The Pro’s additional girth and weight is offset a little by reduced length and width, making it not seem like quite the brick it might have been.
The screen has shrunk a little from 3.7in to 3.5in and beneath it are call start and stop buttons flanking an outsize menu button that forms the shape of a smile – this is meant to be the fun face of business. Above it are a VGA Camera for video calls and a light sensor, while round the sides are screen lock and Camera shutter buttons, a volume rocker and a button labelled ‘W&L’. Read the rest of this entry »
Review Samsung’s ST550 is a rather innovative point-and-shoot compact Camera as it features both a front and back LCD. The idea is to make self shots and timed group pics easier to compose. With the ST550, standing with arm outstretched and looking silly – just to end up with snapshot of just half your head in front of the Tour Eiffel – will become a thing of the past.
The narcissists’ choice: Samsung’s ST550
The ST550 is a slim 12Mp compact with a 4.6x optical zoom 4.9-22.5mm f-3.5/5.9 lens equivalent to 27-124mm on a 35mm Camera. The LCD on the back is a 3.5in touchscreen LCD and a 1.5in front LCD to take perfectly framed self-portraits. It also sports an 80-3200 ISO range and a 1280 x 720 HD video recording at 30fps. Designed for gadget lovers and budding narcissists, the ST550 will set you back around £260.
With the ST550, Samsung leads the way not only in originality but also in technology. The large rear LCD screen has an impressive resolution of 1,152k dots and uses a very clever, if not perfectly functional, touchscreen technology. The Smart Gesture User Interface and motion-detection system let you access all the Camera settings directly on the screen through a series of interactive finger taps, hand gestures and Camera tilts.
If you want to scroll through your photos you can just tilt the Camera one way or the other or if you want to delete a picture you just have to draw an X on it with your finger. Should you not want to use the built-in orientation sensor that allows for hand gesture recognition you can still operate the Camera by tapping on-screen buttons. Read the rest of this entry »
