New and Improved

Saturday, 26th September 2009

A couple of months back, my daughter asked me when I was going to "upgrade" my handphone.

That is because I have been using the Samsung Omnia for more than a year already -- 14 months to be exact. My previous 2 phones had lasted me less than a year :-)

Dec 2006: Dopod 838 Pro (10 months)
Oct 2007: HTC TyTn II (9 months)
Jul 2008: Samsung Omnia (14 months)

In fact, I blogged about the TyTn II here

http://rootss.blogspot.com/2007/10/handy-tool.html

and the Omnia here

http://rootss.blogspot.com/2008/07/handier-tool.html

Well, Samsung has come up with a new-and improved-version of the Omnia, simply called Omnia II. And I went to the Starhub outlet near my office two days ago to get one for myself :-)

Unlike the previous version which had a proprietary-shaped headphone jack, this one has a standard 3.5mm one.

But the most distinguishing feature of the Omnia II is that it uses an advanced technology called AMOLED (active matrix organic light-emitting diode) as compared to TFT LCD (thin film transistor liquid crystal display) which is used in the Omnia I as well as in many other handphone and camera screens out there in the market. As a result, its display is much more vivid.

Watch the following YouTube video that compares the two display technologies:



It goes without saying that the Omnia II retains all the features of its predecessor -- 3.5G, WIFI, FM Radio, GPS and 5MP camera.

It has also incorporated Samsung's own touch-screen applications known as Samsung TouchWiz UI.

- The "Productivity" screen allows one to place his own frequently-used applications.

- The "Cube" screen contains a cube that can be rotated to access photos, music, videos, contacts, games and online applications.

Since it operates on Windows Mobile version 6.1 (upgradable to version 6.5), it can run Windows Mobile-based applications such as Pocket e-Sword and TCPMP.

On the right is a screenshot of Pocket e-Sword displaying my favourite verse and of TCPMP playing a video of Ps Prince's "Being Unshakeable In Times of Shaking".

Thank you Lord for this new-and-improved mobile wonder!