PhoneDog.com - The latest about the Samsung I900 Omnia

VIDEO: Samsung Omnia Lite (Unlocked GSM) - Hands-On

7/3/2009 1:35:00 PM

Noah gets some time with the junior member of Samsung's new Omnia Trio: Omnia Lite.

VIDEO: Samsung Omnia 2 i8000 (Unlocked GSM) Hands-On

7/2/2009 7:25:00 PM

Will it come to Verizon eventually? That'd be cool - Samsung Omnia 2, unlocked version, hands-on with Noah from PhoneDog dot com

VIDEO: SeeqPod - Free Music for iPhone, Windows Mobile and Browsers

1/22/2009 7:35:00 PM

Seeqpod.com has long been one of Noah's favorite websites. Why? Because whenever a bad song pops into his head, Seeqpod lets him hear it. Now you can get Seeqpod on your iPhone or Windows Mobile phone, too. Noah gets hands - and ears - on with Seeqpod.

VIDEO: Samsung TouchWiz Phones - Omnia, Eternity, Behold, Pt 3

12/16/2008 1:45:00 PM

Hands-on and in-depth with Samsung's new line of TouchWiz phones. Noah goes in-depth with the Omnia (GSM and Verizon versions), Eternity (AT&T), and Behold (T-Mobile). Check out what makes TouchWiz tick on this new breed of all-touch devices.

VIDEO: Samsung TouchWiz Phones - Omnia, Eternity, Behold, Pt 2

12/15/2008 2:20:00 PM

VIDEO: Samsung TouchWiz Phones - Omnia, Eternity, Behold, Pt 1

12/14/2008 4:40:00 PM

ARTICLE: Our own Dr. Photo reviews the camera on the Samsung Omnia

12/1/2008 4:00:00 PM

Hello, and welcome to the first installment of Dr. Photo*,

I'm Adam and yes, I'm a doctor, but no, I don't know what that thing on your elbow is... I'm a physical chemist (which is how I get away with calling myself a doctor without ever touching people) and a professional photographer and have been called in by my friends at PhoneDog to take a close look at cell phones from a photographer's point of view (less so from a chemist's, although I'm happy to answer any chemistry questions you may have). My goal here? To give you, my loyal public, an idea of how these cameras stack up against their big brother single function cameras.

On with the reviews!

The first cameraphone up for review is the Samsung Omnia. I checked out the unlocked GSM Omnia, though by the time you read this there may be a Verizon-branded version of the phone, as well. This phone has many nice features besides the camera, including touch screen goodness and high-speed data, which have been well reviewed here on Phonedog. So let's talk about the gigantor 5 megapixel camera that's included on this phone. This is a huge camera for such a dainty phone and this is really the start of a new wave in cameraphone technology. Enough jibber-jabber, how does Omnia's camera stack up?

Image Quality and Camera Performance

Let's get straight to the heart of the matter: What do photos taken on this device look like? Here's a simple little picture I took one rainy afternoon using the macro feature of the camera. I must say I very much appreciate that Samsung included a macro mode. This shot was taken at the highest resolution the camera offers and with a little post processing color correction, it doesn't look half bad.

Next is a photo of a color check chart so you can see Omnia's color reproduction. This picture probably doesn't tell you much without a direct comparison to another device, but one thing you can see is that straight out of the camera (without any editing), the colors are a bit flat. They aren't really vibrant and the contrast is fairly low. This isn't a huge issue for a device like this, but if you're looking to use Omnia as your main camera, you should look into some basic photo editing software to do some post-processing of your shots.

I'd recommend Gimp (for you open source fans) or iPhoto, both of which are more than enough software to do some basic color pepping and contrast adjustments. Simple edits like this will really make your photos pop. There are built in contrast and saturation adjustments on Omnia, but I didn't find them to do much.

The lens built into Omnia is fairly sharp and fast (an f/2.8, which for those not in the know, allows much more light onto the sensor than the standard f/5.6 lens found on most camera phones). By "fast" I don't mean to imply that focusing is fast, because when autofocus is turned on (this can be disabled in the camera menu) Omnia focuses incredibly slowly. Trying to take pictures of moving objects with Omnia is basically impossible because it takes seconds to focus. Add to this the device's shutter lag (the time between pushing the button and the camera actually taking the picture) and any movement of your subject becomes a major obstacle towards capturing a good photo. What's handy, though, is that you can turn off Omnia's auto focus and just use it as a fixed focus camera. This will work perfectly well in many situations.

Another issue with Omnia's image quality is noise. I was excited to see that Samsung included a feature that lets you select whatever ISO you want for a shot. The great thing about this is, if you have a dark scene that doesn't move much (Like, say, your sound asleep friend from whom you've artistically removed one or both eyebrows) you can use a low ISO and a slow shutter speed. This really reduces all that junky noise you usually get with cameraphones in low-light situations. The reality of the using Omnia's ISO adjustment was not as rosy, though. I happily set up my ISO 50 (as opposed to the "auto" setting) and shot this picture outside of my office one night. See all of the funny colored bands in the image? There is no way this is true ISO 50! It seems that no matter what you set the ISO to in the system settings, the camera will "outsmart" you and set it to whatever it likes. Me no likey this. This is a major problem, especially since Omnia is touted as a high end camera.

One last issue I encountered was with the flash (LED illumination). I found that noise in the pictures wound up being the same whether I had the flash on or not. I had hoped that keeping Omnia's flash would crank its ISO down to a reasonable level, but sadly this wasn't the case. Check out these pictures of the Doctor's dog:

Can you tell which one was taken with the flash, and which wasn't? Not by the noise, you can't: They both look pretty crappy to me. The one on the right has more fill light, which is from the flash, and this is perhaps the best use of the flash, as a fill light.

Features the Doctor Likes

There are some features on Omnia's camera that I really dig. The best one is the panorama widget. When it's turned on, the camera guides you through taking the whole panorama. After you take the first picture the screen displays boxes to the left and the right of where you just took the picture. When you line up the camera so the whole box is in the frame it will automatically take the picture. Omnia will do this for up to 8 frames and then it automatically stitches them together. I must say, I wish my big fancy camera could do this. It really makes panoramas super easy. I know you must be saying, "but surely there is a downside, Doctor Photo." You are correct, there is a downside.

Omnia seems to use a very low resolution when taking panoramas. The resulting images are really small, and their longest edge is always shorter than the same edge on images taken at full resolution. I guess this is because of the computation power that would be required to stitch together eight full-res images - it'd be too much for a cell phone to handle. I guess I can't fault Samsung too much for restricting the resolution during panorama shots here, but be advised that any panos you take with Omnia will be too small to do much with besides post online. But if you're hurting for some cool panoramas to post to your Photobucket or MySpace page, Score! A few other things that I like about this camera:

Camera interface: The touch screen UI is straightforward to use.
Macro settings: These allow you to focus on objects at very close range. You don't find macro mode very often on cameraphones and it's a nice addition here.
Brightness controls: Omnia has easy-to-use brightness corrections located the main camera screen. Not the most amazing feature, brightness controls, but I really appreciate them - especially when I want to do something "artsy."

Features the Docotor Does Not Like

I usually hate to beat a dead horse, but I feel this one must be beaten. Image noise and the ISO issue are potential deal-breakers with Omnia. If I'm taking a picture of the city at night, I want to be able to crank my ISO down, put the phone on a ledge, and take a picture that won't wind up all garbled by noise. Is that too much to ask? I mean, look at this picture.

The noise is almost as bright as the city lights. Just annoying. Okay, I'll leave the poor horse alone now, and go beat something else. A few other things that I did not enjoy about Omnia::

Focus time is really long. This is helped by turning off the autofocus, but that in turn takes away some of your control over other things
Shutter lag is too long. I know, it's a cameraphone and not a DSLR, but anything that can be done to improve shutter lag would make Omnia - and all cameraphones - more usable.
Shutter sound. Okay, I understand that some people like the cute little noise that the digital camera makes when they take a picture ... like it's a real old tyme camera or something ... but I do not. Even with all other camera sounds turned off, Omnia still makes the shutter noise. Look in camera settings? Yes, it can be changed to other annoying sounds! No off setting. Samsung, for the love of all that is good in this world, please release an update to turn off the damn shutter noise!

The Doctor's Prognosis

If you're looking to replace your camera with a cell phone - as opposed to hunting for a cameraphone that's just better than the others - I can't quite prescribe Omnia as the cure for what ails you. Samsung made a great attempt at a point and shoot camera killer here, but it just isn't quite there yet if you want to have control over what your camera is doing. On the other hand, if you want a cell phone with a butt kicking camera built into it and know that it won't quite replace your stand alone shooter, this may be your man. Omnia will let you capture and post photos to Facebook and have them look way better than 90% of the rest of what's on there. But if you want to print 8x10 inch prints to hang in your SoHo loft, Omnia's not the one for you.

*Visit Dr. Photo's own website from here.

USER REVIEW: Great touch-screen phone for not only business, but everyday people.

11/26/2008 1:13:22 PM

PROSVariety of keyboards for e-mailing and texting, 3G, WiFi, Optical Mouse is actually useful (personal preference), Scrolling and rendering is very good, great display.
CONS
WinMo isn't the greatest OS out there, battery life isn't the BEST (this isn't a BB).
SUMMARY
This is a great phone, has many features, and in my opinion can be a great phone for anyone, and not just for the business world. Texting options and calling was great, and opera mobile in this device is amazing. The camera is 5-MP, which is good, but it does not seem to be as good as another 5-MP camera phone (this mainly has to do with WinMo). Still great camera nonetheless. It comes packed with features and other options to fit your needs. Def. look into this phone if you like touch-screen devices, or just want a flashy nice camera phone to show off to your friends.

ARTICLE: Omnia: Is Samsung bringing the Omnia to Verizon?

10/14/2008 11:30:00 AM
This is an interesting turn of events, if it proves to be true. With all of the speculation about if and when Samsung would bring their Windows Mobile powerhouse, the Omnia, to AT&T, nobody stopped to think about a CDMA version of the device. Nobody, it seems, except Samsung and Verizon Wireless.
According to this rebate form posted on HowardForums and later found on Engadget Mobile, Big Red is prepping a VZW-branded Omnia to unleash on the US market sometime in the next month. Looks like they'll also be unveiling the Samsung Saga, a CDMA variant of the i770, another WinMo smartphone. No word on pricing or what changes VZW might make to the 5MP packin', TouchWiz rockin' Omnia, but if this rebate sheet is for real, we should be finding out very soon.

USER REVIEW: Omnia not worth the money or effort

9/25/2008 6:11:56 AM
PROSLooks good and very impressive however looks can be decieving.Camera takes good quality shots.
CONS
Fine but no better then a HP hand held computer,
battery life is terrible.good for emails,not so good for general texting and calls.
SUMMARY
This from my experience is a poor substitute for a Blackberry,frequently drops calls,complex layout takes some adapting to,downloading pictures,music etc.is complicated.SD card is in the phone so you need to dismantle phone each time you choose to access it.Battery life is very poor 6 hoyrs max.if you do a few short calls texts and access the internet for approx 20 mins.Screen scratches very easily and limited overthe counter resources to protect it. Mobiles I believe are supposed to make life easier not more stresful and complicated.The dislay is difficult to read in sun light.

ARTICLE: Here come the smartphones: Launch info for AT&T Bold, Fuze, and Mirage

9/18/2008 11:00:00 AM
Has the AT&T launch of the BlackBerry Bold been pushed back to November? A data sheet BGR has gotten hold of says Yes. BGR himself says No. Hmm. Here's the latest info ... or purported info, anyway:
A supposed AT&T product sheet dated September 17 lists the following launch dates for some new AT&T gear:
BlackBerry Bold: November ETA
HTC Fuze (Touch Pro): 10/23
Samsung Mirage i907 (Omnia for the US): 10/21
Nokia 6650: 10/23
Motorola V9x: 10/2
Pantech C740: 10/14
BlackBerry 8320: 10/21
And there are some new colors of the BlackBerry Curve and Pearl on tap, as well.
All of that being said, Boy Genius is still "sticking very firm" to their October 2nd launch date for Bold on AT&T. Only time will tell for sure.

ARTICLE: Mirage: Samsung Omnia coming to AT&T as i907 Mirage Oct 7th?

9/16/2008 1:45:00 PM
Hey, guess what? Engadget Mobile's reporting that the Samsung Omnia might just show up in the States as the AT&T Samsung i907 Mirage before too long. As in available for order on October 7.
'Bout time ... I'm getting tired of answering all of those, "Hey PhoneDog! When's the Omnia coming to the US?" questions ;-D

USER REVIEW: samsung omnia review

8/31/2008 11:13:15 AM
PROSgreat camera, very loud speakers, wifi, 8 or 16 gb of internal storage(i have the 8 gig version), expandable memory slot, accelometer can be used on all the menus and the home screen, vibrating feedback when u press the touchscreen, windows mobile 6.1, a mouse pad like u find on a labtop, great battery for a smartphone, 7.2 mbps, u really dont have to use the stylus for other than the screen calibration when u set up the device,gps with audio, google maps, u can install 3rd party programs from t
CONS
no 3g in us yet.
SUMMARY
it is really expensive to get this phone unlocked i reccomend w8 till it comes to att and hope they dont take features from it to make the iphone better.if u have any questions email me at mets3214@yahoo.com it will take like 2 hours to get used to this phone. the white version has come out in singapore but it mite come to att too. personally i like the black a little better but i still like the white one alot.

VIDEO: iPhone 3g v HTC Touch Diamond v Samsung Omnia Part 3

8/29/2008 11:00:00 AM
It's the third and final part of the battle of the beasts. This episode focuses on messaging and overall impressions. Specs? UI? Flexibility? What really does matter in a phone? Voice quality, even?

USER REVIEW: It is amazingly packed with everything anyone would need in a mobile device!

8/29/2008 6:27:14 AM
PROS3.5G, WiFi, Bluetooth, Real full internet (including Flash and JAVA), Thin, clean design, crisp screen colors, 5 MP camera with smile detection, flash, auto focus and digital zoom, video recording with slow motion mode, strong GPS, 5 to 6 hours of battery life, creative & useful UI.
CONS
Windows Mobile is still a stick in the a**.
SUMMARY
The Samsung Omnia is the best mobile phone I've ever used in my life. It has everything I wanted in one mobile phone; I got the 16 GB version, so I have a lot of space to play with. It has a built-in GPS that I use with Google Maps, and it is very precise and spot on and fast. The 5 MP camera is surprisingly real, meaning that it delivers the high quality images you would expect from the number "5 MP". Video recording is another great feature, with flash and digital zoom, slow motion recording, and a packed editing software built right into the mobile phone. Sound is great, not as high as you would expect but very real and usable; playing music is easy and fun, and using the head set gives you a clear crisp sound that you would want to have.

I love the Geo tagging feature, where every picture you take gets tagged by the GPS of its actual location at the moment you took that picture.

SMS, Mail, MMS and the whole package of internet communication. Opera browser beats every single mobile browser I've ever used on a mobile phone; it kills Safari, BlackBerry and IE Mobile browsers and bury them in mud and dirt.

The software bundle is great; Office and the works. WLM messenger for chat. Great UI, easy to navigate.

A front camera for video calls is also a great touch. The mobile is packed with all connection options; WiFi, Bluetooth, GSM, 3.5 G (7.2 Mbps, unlike the old and sluggish iPhone 1.5 Mbps max), USB.

I can't find better words to describe how good is this mobile phone, but I can assure you that it is by far the best ever made mobile phone in all markets around the world, and all other companies, especially NOKIA, imate, HTC and Apple who all should learn from Samsung's Omnia how to do some real-deal mobile phones instead of the crippled feature-missing phones they keep producing.

Omnia is a: iPhone killer, imate smacker, NOKIA hanger, HTC drawner.

VIDEO: iPhone 3g v HTC Touch Diamond v Samsung Omnia Part 2

8/28/2008 7:30:00 PM
Three of the heaviest heavyweights take center stage in part two of this PhoneDog Dogfight. In this corner - the iconic iPhone 3G. In that corner - the "Windows Mobile with a cherry on top" HTC Touch Diamond. And in, uh, that corner - the super-spec'd Samsung Omnia. Whose cuisine will reign supreme?

VIDEO: iPhone 3g v HTC Touch Diamond v Samsung Omnia

8/26/2008 1:25:00 AM
Three of the heaviest heavyweights take center stage in part one of this PhoneDog Dogfight. In this corner - the iconic iPhone 3G. In that corner - the "Windows Mobile with a cherry on top" HTC Touch Diamond. And in, uh, that corner - the super-spec'd Samsung Omnia. Whose cuisine will reign supreme?

ARTICLE: Unboxing: Samsung Goes Viral With Omnia Unboxing Video

8/19/2008 7:20:00 PM
This is pretty cool. Samsung apparently reached out to Technivator to make a staged unboxing video for their new Omnia smartphone. And Technivator delivered. This is pretty sweet - even if I did just use the phrase "staged unboxing video" (what kind of world is this?). Nice work, Technivator. And tip o' the hat to you, Eric, if you were involved in this:

VIDEO: Samsung Omnia i900 Unboxing

8/16/2008 12:00:00 AM
Shiny new and sealed in its fancy box, it's a phone Noah can truly get geeked out about. Samsung's Omnia i900 is Windows Mobile smartphone with Sammy's TouchWiz UI. And oh yeah, it's got a full touchscreen, optical mouse, WiFi, HSDPA, 5MP Camera, GPS, and Divx certification to boot.

ARTICLE: Innov8 and Omnia: Hands-On With Samsung's New Superphones

8/8/2008 12:00:00 AM
Earlier this week I got my first hands-on time with Samsung's latest high-end handsets, the Innov8 and Omnia, at a Christmas in August press event in San Francisco. I didn't get a ton of time with the devices, but it was enough to shoot a few videos (watch Omnia here and Innov8 here) and form a few impressions.

In a nutshell, I think Omnia could be a big seller here in the States while Innov8 is much more suited to our friends in Europe and elsewhere around the globe. Why? Omnia's a slim full touchscreen candybar phone in the style of Instinct, but it features high-end multimedia features and Sammy's TouchWiz UI, with all of its finger-friendly widgets and customization options. That stuff's hot in the states right now (just ask Apple), and Omnia promises to offer a potent combiation of of WinMo 6.1's power and ubiquity with a user-friendly UI skin the likes of which HTC fans have been enjoying for awhile now. Plus, the new-fangled optical mouse system actually looked pretty interesting, as it offers some handy options like scrolling mode (as opposed to full cursor control).
Innov8, on the other hand, is a somewhat chunky slider phone powered by Symbian OS. While Innov8's 8MP camera has already drawn a lot of interest from cameraphone enthusiasts Stateside, Symbian devices just haven't really caught on here outside of a hardcore group of Nokia enthusiasts who use unlocked devices primarily on AT&T. Cingular/AT&T have carried a few Nokia E- and N-Series Symbian phones in the past, but they didn't exactly do brisk sales. So many US business users are tied to Windows Mobile that there's honestly not much room left for a "utilitarian" smartphone platform to gain traction here. And let's be honest - S60 can do a ton, but it's not exactly flashy.

So I'd look for Omnia to show up in some form on a US carrier. Hopefully it'll be soon, and hopefully whatever carrier(s) pick it up will more or less leave TouchWiz alone save for a little branding and maybe a few widgets. More importantly, the truer the US versions stay to Omnia's impressive spec sheet - 7.2 Mbps HSDPA, WiFi, 5MP Camera w/flash and video recording, 8/16GB internal storage - the better.

But I wouldn't hold out for a US carrier version of Innov8 anytime soon. I could be wrong, but if you're looking for a Samsung cameraphone with 8MP of imaging power, I'd say your best bet is to pick up an unlocked Innov8 through an importer just as soon as they become available. Either that or hope that Samsung takes that camera tech and plants it in a handset better suited for our American stylings. Sooner or later, you know that'll happen.

VIDEO: Samsung Omnia i900 Hands-On

8/6/2008 7:30:00 PM
Hands-on with Samsung's Touch-Wiz wunderkind, the Omnia. WinMo, TouchWiz, 5MP Camera, HSDPA and WiFi. Boom! I apologize now - I didn't have my usual camera for this and the video quality isn't great, especially on close-ups.

ARTICLE: Samsung Omnia: Buy an Omnia, Get an Xbox 360 Free - In Italy

7/16/2008 10:15:00 AM
One of the most exciting phones currently not coming to the US is Samsung's i900 Omnia. Omnia is set to launch in Italy next Tuesday, July 22, and will make its way across Europe by the end of August, but Samsung hasn't released any plans for a US launch. Too bad, since this GSM Windows Mobile smartphone will feauture a WQVGA touchscreen display, 5MP camera with auto-focus and getotagging, GPS, 3G/WiFi, an optical mouse for navigation, and 8 or 16 GB of memory backed by a microSD card slot ... all packed into a 12.5mm thin hosing with a snazzy brushed metal back.
But we knew that. What we didn't know is that when Omnia hits Italian shelves next week, Media World will be offering quite a deal to early adopters: Buy an Omnia, get an Xbox 360 free. Yup. According to GSM World, the electronics retailer is taking preorders now, and if you sign up for an Omnia you get an Xbox. Not bad, huh? It's kind of like the opposite of, "Stand in line for 6 hours and get to pay full price for an iPhone."
Samsung's i900 Omnia carries a retail price of 499 Euro (appx $793 USD) for the 8GB version, though it should sell for considerably less on contract thanks to subsidies. Once the phone is available we'll do our darndest to get an unlocked version to try out here in the States - it looks that promising.