Samsung Electronics a leading mobile phone and telecommunication equipment provider, today announced the launch of ‘Soul’, Samsung’s new flagship product for 2008. To make its debut, Samsung has chosen Mobile World Congress in Barcelona as the platform to deliver its new vision for mobile handsets to enrich consumer’s lives. Samsung named ‘Soul’ to honour the completion of its exclusive ‘Ultra Edition’ series of handsets, which offer a perfect balance of design and features.

‘Soul’, an abbreviation of “The Spirit Of Ultra”, will appeal to style-conscious users who are not willing to compromise between design and technology and search out the best of the best for inspiration and stimulation to enrich their lives.’ Soul’ will be supported by a major global advertising campaign and will be available in European countries from April.” We believe that is the answer for today’s style-conscious consumers, excited by outstanding quality design and performance,” said Geesung Choi, President of Samsung’s Telecommunication Business.

“Soul is set to continue the success of past Ultra Edition handsets, such as D900 and U600, and will further enhance Samsung’s leadership in the premium phone category.’ Soul’ is the ultimate essence of mobile; a slim, lightweight and stylish product yet still boasting all the essential functions in one single device. This product, a sleek combination of highly styled design and functionality, is a triumph of extreme opposite values, ‘Portability’ and ‘Multi-function.’

Wouldn’t it be great if you didn’t have to sacrifice quality for good looks? Well, Samsung agrees and with the Ultra Edition range of handsets, you no longer have to. Available in a range of styles, starting with the world’s slimmest handset, the Samsung X820 at just 6.9mm thin, the new Ultra Edition offers something for everyone without compromising on features.

Each phone in the Ultra Edition range is all about a new type of slimness. Each is housed in a distinctive revolutionary design and is in a class of its own - the power and style of these mobiles have to be seen to believe.

• For those that love to slide, the Samsung D900 is an ultra-slim slider with a depth of only 12.9mm and also complete with a picture-perfect 3-megapixel camera, auto focus and macro mode for taking photos up close. Truly a technological masterpiece.
• The Samsung X820 is the undisputed leader of the ultra slim mobile pack, boasting the world’s thinnest profile of only 6.9 mm. Calm, cool and collected, this mobile is guaranteed to impress and amaze.
• Finally, the third in the trend-setting trio is the Samsung D830, a brand new clamshell whose dimensions fit in at a slim 9.9 mm. It is easily a design triumph in its own right and is guaranteed to be the signature slim clamshell design of the future.

“Mobile phones are increasingly considered a fashion accessory, but in the past people have had to make sacrifices in order to get this. We believe that the performance and function are as important as style, and our premium Ultra Edition range has been designed to offer the perfect combination of comfort, power and sharp sophistication“ said Ender Yavas, Samsung’s Head of Product Management. “These sleek and ultra slim designs embody the concept that more can definitely be done with less and this fact ensures that the Ultra Edition mobiles will effortlessly integrate into people’s everyday lives.

They’ll soon wonder how they ever lived without them.” The Ultra Edition mobiles were created to strike the right balance between sharp attractive design and inner strength, performance and simplicity of use. Samsung’s Ultra Edition premium mobiles set a new industry standard, whilst still maintaining the ultimate in signature Samsung design. For those who want the body as well as looks, the Ultra Edition mobiles mean that slim doesn’t have to be delicate, thanks to the use of new materials such as magnesium and titanium in their design.

Today at ITU Telecom World 2006, Samsung Electronics and Microsoft launched the Samsung Ultra Messaging i600 powered by Microsoft ® Windows Mobile ® 5.0, the first 3G smartphone with HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) support. Measuring only 11.8mm and weighing a mere 99g, the Samsung Ultra Messaging i600 is the world’s thinnest 3G smartphone with a full QWERTY keyboard.

It blends the feature-rich, desktop functionality of the Windows Mobile 5.0 platform with multimedia capabilities to help people work on the go, stay in touch with family and friends or just have fun.” I am proud to introduce the Ultra Messaging i600 Windows Mobile smartphone with Microsoft. It represents the best innovation from both Samsung and Microsoft and makes it a perfect solution for today’s mobile professional,” said Kitae Lee, President, Samsung Telecommunication Network Business.

“Samsung will continue to explore new market opportunities with Microsoft and we look forward to collaborating together to bring more innovative products to market.” The Samsung Ultra Messaging i600 is the first smartphone in Asia Pacific and Europe that supports the HSDPA network for faster data transfer speeds, as well as seamless communications through high-speed connectivity via Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.0 EDR. It is also the first smartphone to support web applications such as podcasting and RSS Feeder.

Samsung Ultra Messaging i600 users can listen to stereo-quality music and view high quality video clips with Windows Media Player 10 Mobile and a Bluetooth stereo headset. Internet browsing rivals the PC experience due to the device’s large 2.3” high quality color screen and wireless broadband capabilities. The Samsung Ultra Messaging i600 also includes a speakerphone, built-in voice recognition and support for a 1.3 megapixel digital camera that can record video. Built-in Pocket MSN offers consumers the consistent and familiar user experience that they currently enjoy with MSN Messenger on their desktops. With this offering, users will automatically have a separate Inbox for Hotmail messages on their device.

Samsung’s latest iteration of its popular Blackjack Windows Mobile phone is getting ready to hit the spotlight. The Samsung SGH-i617 BlackJack 2 (II) is said to have an integrated GPS module – the SiRF III GPS receiver that’s apparently hardware-based. No word yet on what software will be used though. We do know that the phone will run on Windows Mobile 6.0 OS and is a Quadband, GSM, HSDPA-enabled phone. Price and release date haven’t been announced, nor have any detailed specs come to light.

Considering the fact that it is an upgrade, the SGH-i617 BlackJack 2 will presumably retain a familiar design, with QWERTY keypad and Wi-Fi connectivity. Hopefully it should also have Bluetooth with A2DP, and microSD support for external memory. No word yet on what camera it’ll sport, though being an upgrade it should have at least a 2 megapixel camera. But then again, this is only speculation… as soon as we know you’ll know, so stay tuned.

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., has launched its first open market phone - Samsung MAX in the CDMA segment. The slider is launched through the company’s own distribution network and aiming at the growing CDMA market, will be available to both Tata Indicom and Reliance Mobile subscribers. Hyundai Kim, Vice President and Head - CDMA Division, Samsung Telecommunications India Pvt. Ltd., said, “We expect to fuel the growth of the Indian CDMA industry through the launch Samsung Max in the open market.

Fully feature loaded Samsung Max is launched to serve the Multimedia needs of the CDMA consumer. The availability of CDMA phones in the open market will provide Indian consumers freedom to choose network operator’s of their choice”. Samsung maintains that the Samsung Max is a complete multimedia phone localized to suit Indian needs.

It’s obvious enough that music phones are quickly gaining in popularity in North America, because people definitely want more out of their mobile phones than just text messages and voice calls. One of the more innovative cellular phones that has captured the MP3 player market is the Juke by Samsung, available through Verizon Wireless in the States.CES is going on this week, so the organizers are very busy in handing out all sorts of awards. The Samsung Juke recently received Red Dot Design and Engineering Showcase Honors, helping propel the swivel phone into the innovation stratosphere.

In case you’re not familiar, the Samsung Juke looks much like a flash-based music player while in its closed position, but it can swivel open to reveal a full numeric keypad. Other vitals include Bluetooth wireless technology, Location Based Services, an integrated camera with Night Shot, and a slim color display. The Juke is available in red, teal, and navy.

The specifications of Samsung’s F490 multimedia phone slash another iPhone wannabe, have been released. This 3G ready, HSDPA and EDGE enabled tri band mobile features a large 3.2 inch TFT touch screen display and sports a resolution of 240 x 432 pixels, so it still falls a bit short of Apple’s created benchmark. On the plus side the display actually features a 16:9 widescreen ratio, which does have merit when it comes to videos. Where it would do better than the iPhone would be in the camera section as the F490 features a 5 megapixel camera (no auto-focus) that runs a on the Croix UI. It also has an LED flash and is capable of recording video in MPEG4 format with QVGA resolution at 15 frames per second.

From the multimedia angle the F490 supports Bluetooth with an A2DP profile as well so it supports wireless stereo Bluetooth headsets. But in case that seems like too much for an average users it also has a 3.5mm earphone socket so you’re free to use any headset you may already own. The video player supports WMV, MPEG4, H.263, H.264 file formats in up to VGA resolution at 30fps. The F490 has a 130MB of internal space that can be extended with the support of microSD cards.

Everyone at Samsung probably hates it when people compare their devices to the Apple iPhone. But when you officially announce a cell phone like the Samsung F490, the comparisons are inevitable. Previously, we caught a sneak peek at this handset through a random Ukrainian source, but at the time, nothing was set in stone nor did we have any idea whether this device was even for real. Samsung has now officially revealed the Samsung F490 and, yet again, comparisons to the iPhone are popping up. The F490 features a large 3.2-inch TFT touchscreen display that covers nearly the entire front face of the phone.

Underneath are a few touch sensitive controls for basic stuff like initiating and ending a call. The display can also be used in landscape for video watching. Core features include 130MB of internal memory, Bluetooth, USB, tri-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE, and HSDPA. Look for the Samsung F490 to drop in Europe next month for $780.

Cell phone snatching – or in other words, street crime – has become a headache for the average citizens of Karachi as most of them are scared to use their phones on the street on the off chance that the next person they encounter is a bandit. While reviewing the statistics of the year 2007, it was found that about 90,000 cell phones had been snatched and stolen from various parts of the city. It is noted that the highest risk zone vis-à-vis stealing of phones is the east zone.

The graph shows 15 per cent criminal activity with 14,309 phones snatched and stolen from various jurisdictions of the police stations located in that zone. While in the south zone the activity was of 13 per cent, in the central zone, 12 per cent, 11 per cent from the Malir zone and the lowest was at the west zone, where the crime reported was 7 per cent. In the respective zones, the risk areas were Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Korangi, Preedy, Gulistan-i-Jauhar and Ferozeabad, while the towns which were on top inlcude, Saddar town, Gulshan town, Jamshed town, Clifton town, Liaquatabad-North Nazimabad and respectively other towns. The most snatched phone brand was Nokia at 61 per cent, Sony Ericsson at 16 per cent, Samsung at 10 per cent, while Motorola was on the fourth position with 8 per cent.

While commenting on this particular crime situation a senior officer said, “I think this trend started in 2005 where the issue was highlighted, as mobile phones are now more easily available than ever; and obviously Karachi being a major city of the country, there is more usage here and for the same reason, snatching and theft of these devices started this year. To combat this crime we have started working with the stake holders and cell phone companies.” As there was no system laid down previously, the Citizens Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) has now started working on collecting the IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) through which cell phones can get blocked and invalid since the phone becomes unusable. Initially in 2005, this crime was reported to be hardly 5 per cent; today, however, about 400 to 500 cell phones were stolen. Now the people are encouraged to report this crime, and according to a data, about 130,000 cell phones have been blocked through the process of the IMEI.

Samsung is confronting bad news on many fronts. The South Korean company is facing probes into an alleged bribery scheme implicating powerful sectors of the country’s society, and its money-spinning memory-chip business is in the worst slump in five years. That’s why Samsung executives must be thrilled to have their mobile-phone business. There, executives can get a very upbeat view of Samsung’s future. The numbers tell the story. With Motorola struggling for more than a year, Samsung overtook its American rival in 2007 to become the world second largest handset (BusinessWeek.com, 11/30/07) after Nokia. Its global market share is up about three percentage points from last year, at 14.5% in the third quarter, compared with Motorola’s 13.1%.

And for every quarter this year, Samsung set a new sales record, with the 115 million phones sold in the January-September period exceeding the 114 million sold during all of last year. Samsung believes its record-breaking run is just beginning. This year, its sales are expected to top 160 million phones, up 40% from last year, and executives are confident the pace of its growth will be about double that of the rest of the industry next year, when they expect sales of 200 million. “The growth momentum is accelerating, and there’s no reversal in the trend,” says Samsung’s Executive Vice-President Chu Woo Sik.