Samsung U900 Soul 3G












































Samsung has released a new slider in Europe called Soul, its new flagship slider phone. Serving as the final bow for the Ultra Edition, it blends in a split-screen, context-sensitive touch control system similar to that of the LG Venus: rather than rely on fixed buttons or an entire front touch surface, the Soul includes a small touchscreen area whose buttons change depending on the immediate context for the screen above. When playing music, track controls replace normal commands, Samsung says in an example. The Soul is also the first Samsung handset to sport a themed UI where the entire look and sound can be replaced at once.

The handset is both very camera- and data-focused. A 5-megapixel camera is accompanied by a high-power LED flash as well as by face detection and image stabilization - all features normally reserved for some of the better dedicated cameras, the company says. Transfers are quick with 3G Internet access over HSDPA up to 7.2Mbps downstream; the phone supports North America with quad-band calling over GSM, though whether it also supports 3G in the Western region is unknown. The phone makes heavy use of Google features and supports built-in Gmail and search functions, including a dedicated button at the top level of the interface.

The 12.8mm (0.5in) thick phone is said to be music-savvy with AAC, FM radio, MP3, and WMA support, including protected WMA music stores. Bang & Olufsen's ICEpower audio enhancement technology is also onboard the Soul, which should be available first in Europe by April but is likely to see service in the US through AT&T if left in its current form.

Samsung has just upgraded its old u900 cell phone with the brand new SCH-u900 FlipShot Camera. It boats an integrated 3 megapixel camera module and of course, the FlipShot tag. Available in two color variants (red and black), the handset also featurs an EvDo connectivity, GPS satellite navigation with VZ Navigator software, Bluetooth A2DP, dial-up networking, serial port and object push for vCard, along with basic print and image profiles. Compared to its predecessor, the new one has slimmer and more rounded body, especially at the edges.

Only the black version of Samsung SCH-u900 FlipShot Camera phone is currently available. You can purchase it at Verizon Wireless for $199.99 (two-year contract). If you want the red one, it’ll be available at Best Buy starting from 26th of this month.

A built in music player complete with Bang & Olufsen enhanced audio features allows the user to enjoy a high quality music listening experience on the Samsung U900 Soul. The music player supports the most popular music playback formats & comes with easy to music features. The user can store their songs in the music library which also makes it easy for the use to locate their favourite songs. The touch sensitive magic touch navigation pad complete with its icon display allows the user to control their music player with ease. The Samsung U900 Soul comes with an integrated FM radio complete with radio RDS feature which allows the user to view text information on the 2.2 Inch colour screen whilst listening to their favourite station. The on screen information is provided by the radio station which can include information on the song currently playing or news information.

The built in 3G HSDPA technology provides the user with a high speed internet access which is like a mobile broadband experience, fast speed data transfers & a multitasking capable mobile phone. The Samsung U900 Soul is a tri band network phone which covers three GSM networks & will automatically switch between networks to provide the best network coverage. A built in Internet browser allows the user to access the world wide web & enjoy a high speed connection thanks to the built in 3G HSDPA technology. The user can experience a HTML & XHTML web experience on the Samsung U900 Soul & the phone supports RSS feeds.

Soul Specifications:
* Connectivity: quad band GSM/HSDPA 7.2 Mbps
* Display: 2.2" 16M color QVGA TFT
* Camera: 5 mpxwith autofocus, 4x digital zoom, face recognition, image stabilizer and WDR optimizer, power LED
* FM Radio with RDS
* Google mail
* 15 hours of music playback
* Bluetooth 2.0/USB 2.0
* ICE Power digital power amp by B&O
* microSD memory card slot
* Dimensions: 105.9x49.5x12.9 mm

Samsung Z720



































The Z720 is a high performance 3G phone which comes complete with HSDPA which provides high speed data transmissions & a powerful mobile handset. The 3G capabilities of this phone allow the user to enjoy video calling which allows the user to enjoy a face to face chat with any 3G video calling compatible contact. The Z720 has a small VGA camera which is used when the user is taking part in a video call & the user can also take photos self portraits with this second camera feature. The user can connect their Samsung Z720 to any compatible devices including their home or work PC, laptop, printer or PDA using a Bluetooth® wireless technology or a USB connection. The phone comes with tri band technology which allows the user to experience roaming throughout Europe & the majority of the US. The roaming capabilities of the Samsung Z720 are fully dependant on the network operator. The phone supports UMTS & comes with EDGE technology which provides high speed downloads & data transfers. The fitted battery provides up to 300 of standby time from a fully charged battery or approximately 5.1 hours worth of talk time.

The multimedia capabilities of the Z720 are impressive. Let's start with the camera. This is a 3 megapixel camera with autofocus and a powerful 13x digital zoom. It's an excellent camera - except that it's lacking a flash. Video recording at a resolution of 176 x 144 pixels in MPEG4 format is supported. A second VGA camera (640 x 480 pixels) is used for making video calls. The display on the Z720 is outstanding and does full justice to the camera.

The music player has been enhanced to support WMA format in addition to MP3, ACC, ACC+ and e-AAC+ formats, so you can play virtually anything. The player is easy to use with playlists of up to 30 tracks. You can use the stereo headset supplied by Samsung or a wireless Bluetooth headset. It may not be an iPod, but it's a pretty useable implementation of an MP3 player. We do have one minor niggle though - the built in memory. Samsung have been a bit stingy with onboard memory and given the Z720 just 20 Mbytes of user memory. You can expand this with a MicroSD memory card, but it would have been nicer to have had more built in. There's no radio either, but you can stream music via the 3G services.

In addition the phone has some useful "bonus" features - a document viewer for viewing MS Office files, offline mode for use when listening to music on a plane, email and Java games. Connectivity is via Bluetooth or USB. The user interface is very nice and friendly, with Samsung's new "black" menu design.

The powerful Z720 comes with a built in music player which supports all popular music formats. The user can enjoy the entertainment on their 3G phone just as much as they enjoy the built in technologies. The user can download all their favourite tracks & listen to them when they are on the move. The phone comes complete with 20 Mbytes of internal memory but the user can expand their phones memory further by adding a memory card which allows the user to store as much music as they desire. The user will never be short of a high quality listening experience with the Samsung Z720 as a mobile companion. The user can capture photos & record video footage using the integrated 3 megapixel camera feature which comes with an auto focus feature & a massive 13 x digital zoom feature. The user can edit & change their camera, video & photo setting to suit their style & gain the perfect finish to each & every shot taken. The camera feature is easy to use & the user can store their favourite snaps on the phones expandable memory or share their favourites with friends & family using the built in MMS messaging service. The built in video functions allows the user to record, play, edit, save, delete & share their video recording on their Samsung Z720. The user can record high quality video at a recording resolution of 176 x 144 pixels. The video player supports MPEG4, H263 & AMR video playback formats.

The Samsung Z720 is a good phone that enhances the hugely-popular D900 with new functionality, however it loses points because of its truly awful battery life, and below-average internal memory.

Features of the Samsung Z720 include:

  • 3G video calling, fast downloading and streaming
  • 3 megapixel camera with autofocus and 13x digital zoom
  • Video camera (176 x 144 pixels, MPEG4 format)
  • Second video camera (VGA - 640 x 480 pixels) for video calling
  • Display: TFT, 262,144 colours, 240 x 320 pixels (2.1 inches)
  • Music player (MP3, ACC, ACC+, e-AAC+, WMA formats)
  • 64-voice polyphonic ringtones / MP3 ringtones
  • Voice memo recorder
  • Integrated handsfree speakerphone
  • Messaging: SMS, MMS, email (POP3, SMTP, IMAP4, SSL, TLS)
  • T9 predictive text
  • Document viewer for MS Office, PDF and HTML files
  • 3D Java games plus downloadable games
  • Flight mode
  • Personal organiser functions
  • Memory: 20 Mbytes plus MicroSD memory card slot
  • Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.0, USB 1.1, PictBridge
  • WAP 2.0, GPRS Class 10, EDGE, HSPDA (1.8 Mbps)
  • Triband (900/1800/1900 MHz) plus 3G (UMTS)
  • Size: 104 x 51 x 13.8 mm
  • Weight: 80g
  • Talktime: 5.1 hours