Microsoft Unveils Samsung Phone as Third Windows phone Handset

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.slashgear.com/microsoft-unveils-third-windows-phone-7-series-device-its-a-samsung-1577716/' target='_blank'>http://www.slashgear.com/microsoft-...amsung-1577716/</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"We weren't given that much time to look at the device, and we weren't able to actually touch or play with it, but from what they were showing off, it looks like Samsung is determined to offer a quality handset to the Windows Phone 7 Series line-up. Especially along side the two other manufacturers that Microsoft showcased on screen, ASUS and LG, Samsung is definitely in the game. While Microsoft wouldn't elaborate on any real details about the device itself, you can obviously see that the standard hardware keys are on the phone: Back, Start, and Search. Microsoft also pointed out that the Samsung device has a very bright screen (an AMOLED display, perhaps?), and then the camera. The Samsung will have a terrific camera, and considering how beefy it looks on the back of the phone, we are hoping that's very true."</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com//wpt/auto/1268686692.usr1.png" style="border: 1px solid #d2d2bb;" /></p><p>In addition to the Samsung phone being shown, the big news is that the minimum hardware specs are finalized and public...and boy do they rock! Screen resolution will be either WVGA (800 x 480) or HVGA (480 x 320), and while there's no mention of screen size, it's logical to guess that the WVGA devices will have larger physical screens (think 4+ inches) and the HVGA devices will likely be in the 3 inch range. All screens will be capacitive screens with a least four contact points, which means a great multi-touch experience. <MORE /></p><p>All phones will have aGPS, an accelerometer, compass, light and proximity sensors. The cameras on the phones will be at least 5 megapixels, with a flash, and the phone has to have a dedicated hardware button for the camera. I know I've been irked more than once at my HD2 for not having a dedicated hardware button for the camera, so I think this is great news.</p><p>A minimum of 256 MB of RAM and 8 GB of flash storage will mean a highly usable device - and if you think 256 MB of RAM sounds a bit on the slim side, remember there is no crazy HTC Sense on the home screen taking up gobs of RAM, and since there's no true multi-tasking (from what I understand) you won't be sharing that RAM amongst a dozen apps at once. The GPU has to be DirectX 9 compatible, and the CPU needs to be an ARMv7 Cortex/Scorpion or better.</p><p>Remember also these are minimum specifications, so I'm sure well see Windows phone 7 devices with 16 GB of storage, an 8 megapixel camera, and other high-end specs.</p><p><a href="http://www.slashgear.com/microsoft-unveils-third-windows-phone-7-series-device-its-a-samsung-1577716/" target="_blank">Jump over to Slashgear to check out the videos!</a></p>

[jpaq1]

Its not necessarily so that a phone with a WVGA screen and a res of 800x480 will have a 4-inch+ screen. My Samsung Omnia II has a WVGA screen with a res of 800x480 too, but it "only" has a 3.7-inch screen. Of course larger screens are a real possibility too! However, IMHO, from a practical POV, a 3.7-inch screen is pretty ideal already.

[Jason Dunn]

Its not necessarily so that a phone with a WVGA screen and a res of 800x480 will have a 4-inch+ screen. My Samsung Omnia II has a WVGA screen with a res of 800x480 too, but it "only" has a 3.7-inch screen. Of course larger screens are a real possibility too! However, IMHO, from a practical POV, a 3.7-inch screen is pretty ideal already.

You're right, I'm only guessing - but given the rampant success of the HD2, I really do think that the OEMs will trend toward larger screens. I used a Samsung Omnia II for a bit and I thought the screen felt a bit...small. :D

[The Yaz]

"since there's no true multi-tasking"

I hope I misunderstood this because my current phone contract expires in December and I am finally free (with my wife's permission) to get a new smartphone and was hoping to pick one of the WP7 devices.

How can the 7 phones not have multi-tasking when we've been blasting Apple for a while now about the same thing?

It would make sense though. If the rumors are true and iPhone 4.0 comes out this summer running multiple third party apps concurrently after Microsoft finally releases their long-awaited OS we'll find out Windows Phone 7 is still 12-24 months behind Apple :( and they might never catch up.

This can't be...

Steve

[Jason Dunn]

How can the 7 phones not have multi-tasking when we've been blasting Apple for a while now about the same thing?

It's not that surprisingly if you step back and think "OK, the primary goal here is to have a fast, responsive phone that will hardly ever bog down and tick off the customer." If that means throwing multi-tasking out the window for something else that delivers 90% of what multi-tasking does, but still protects the user experience, then I think that's the right decision. People want their phones to just work - they need appliance-like levels of stability. People are willing to put up with quirks and crashes and delays on their computers much more than they're willing to put up with the same thing on their phones.

So much of this depends on how Microsoft implements this; maybe I'm wrong and maybe their implementation won't be great - it's just too early to tell.

It would make sense though. If the rumors are true and iPhone 4.0 comes out this summer running multiple third party apps concurrently after Microsoft finally releases their long-awaited OS we'll find out Windows Phone 7 is still 12-24 months behind Apple :( and they might never catch up. This can't be...

I'd be surprised if Apple were to allow true multi-tasking. It's hard to get it right. I've never thought that Windows Mobile Professional did it quite right; Windows Mobile Standard always seemed to be more stable running multiple apps. I didn't have near the number of slow-downs on my non-touch screen phones as I do on touch-screen phones.