“The antenna is located at the bottom of the Omnia 2 phone, while iPhone’s antenna is on the lower left side of the device. Our design keeps the distance between a hand and an antenna. We have fully conducted field tests before the rollout of smartphones. Reception problems have not happened so far, and there is no room for such problems to happen in the future” Samsung

Jobs alleged that rather than being an iPhone 4 specific problem, the reception issues that have prompted broad criticism of the new fourth-generation smartphone were in fact indicative of an industry-wide challenge.  Apple have since set up an antenna page on their site which demonstrates signal attenuation on the Omnia II together with a BlackBerry Bold 9700 and HTC Droid Eris.

[via Gizmodo]

All of the expected features are there, including HTC Peep – the Twitter client – and Footprints, their photo geotagging app.  The hacked ROM is the handiwork of Rodrigo from the MoDaCo forums, and you can see it demonstrated in the video below.

Video demo after the cut

In comparison, the iPhone 3GS looks pretty darn small, being both shorter and slimmer than the X10.  The benefit of the Android handset, of course, is that you get a significantly larger display – 4-inches running at 480 x 854 resolution – and the 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset under the hood.

We’re still waiting to hear exactly when the XPERIA X10 will be on shelves, with Sony Ericsson first confirming February 2010 and then backtracking to merely Q1 of next year.  Our prediction is a full launch at Mobile World Congress in February; we’ll be at the show, so expect all the details then.

There’s also Samsung’s “3D cube” UI, which we’re still less than convinced by, together with Bluetooth and a microSD card slot; Samsung also gave the Omnia II its own 8GB of internal storage.  The usual Verizon app suspects are on-board, which includes V CAST Music, Rhapsody support, V CAST Video-on-Demand, V CAST Song ID, visual voicemail, VZW Tones and VZ Navigator.

Perhaps more interestingly, given that screen, is the support for DivX and Xvid video files, meaning the Omnia II might make for a decent PMP replacement.  So, anybody thinking of picking up this touchscreen Windows Phone as an early Christmas present?

Press Release:

VERIZON WIRELESS ANNOUNCES THE AVAILABILITY OF THE SAMSUNG OMNIA II

November 23, 2009

Full Touch Screen Phone Features Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional, Swype Technology and One-Touch Access to Social Networking and Entertainment Features

BASKING RIDGE, N.J., and DALLAS – Verizon Wireless and Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung Mobile) today announced the availability of the Samsung Omnia® II™, a full-touch all-in-one smartphone powered by Windows Mobile® 6.5 to keep customers connected to their corporate and personal e-mail accounts and synchronized with their schedules and contacts.
Available Colors: Black with red accents on the battery cover
Key features:
3.7-inch ultra-brilliant touch screen
Widescreen WVGA AMOLED (Wide Video Graphics Array Active-Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode) responsive touch screen results in one of the brightest and clearest displays on a mobile phone in the United States
Virtual QWERTY keyboard with Swype technology allows customers to input text faster and easier with one continuous finger or stylus motion across the screen keyboard
Features Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional, which keeps customers connected with corporate and personal e-mail and synchronization of schedules and contacts
Microsoft Office Mobile® enhances productivity with the ability to manage Word, Excel® and PowerPoint® documents
Enhanced 3D cube user interface
Full HTML Web browsing capabilities with Opera 9.5 enhanced browser
One-touch access to social networking sites via shortcut widgets
Supports Verizon Wireless services, including V CAST Music with Rhapsody, V CAST Video on Demand, V CAST Song ID, Visual Voice Mail, VZW Tones, VZ NavigatorSM, Mobile IM and Mobile Email
Additional specifications:
Full messaging suite, including SMS, MMS, Mobile IM, Mobile Email and Corporate Email
Access to social networking applications, including YouTube™, Facebook® and MySpace, with Samsung’s unique TouchWiz™ 2.0 user interface
5.0 megapixel camera with flash and auto-focus and camcorder and decoder with DNSe technology and on-device editing capabilities
Wi-Fi technology (802.11 b/g)
Support for Divx and Xvid movie files
8 GB internal memory and expandable memory of up to 16 GB with microSD™ memory card (card sold separately)
Bluetooth® profiles supported: headset (mono and stereo), hands-free (car kits), object push for vCard, basic imaging, phonebook access profiles. Also supports serial port, dial-up networking, object push for vCalendar, file transfer, basic printing and human interface device profiles
Pricing and availability:

The Samsung Omnia II will be available online at www.verizonwireless.com and in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores beginning Dec. 2 for $199.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate with a new two-year customer agreement. Customers will receive the rebate in the form of a debit card; upon receipt, customers may use the card as cash anywhere debit cards are accepted.
For additional information on Verizon Wireless products and services, visit a Verizon Wireless Communications Store, call 1-800-2 JOIN IN or go to www.verizonwireless.com.

Sure, it’s unlocked. And that’s all well and good, but come on Samsung. Or Amazon. Or whoever is in charge of this disaster, let’s be real here. Take a look at Nokia’s N900 going for $700 and that being glared at, and out of left-field comes the Omnia II for a grand? No. But, if you’re interested in the price, then here’s your stats: 5MP camera, 8GB on board storage, WiFi, GPS, Windows Mobile (6.1) that can be upgraded to 6.5 once available, and a 3.7″ resistive, AMOLED display that runs TouchWiz 2.0.

Yes, there are good features, and yes, this phone is coming to Verizon, and this is the first time where we can say carrier subsidy will obviously be a beneficial thing. Is anyone thinking about pre-ordering this? Are you that excited for another Windows Mobile device, with some albeit fantastic physical features? We understand that technology is expensive, but let’s not go overboard here.

[via Amazon]

TouchWiz wasn’t the greatest. TouchWiz 2.0 was a huge leap in the right direction. But there was always going to be something holding back Samsung from taking any steps forward in the mobile marketplace, and it had nothing to do with proprietary software on their phones. They lacked what everyone else and their second-cousin has: a way to get first- and third-party developed applications onto their phones. Well, it looks like that’s about to change.

Earlier in the month, we disclosed Samsung’s launch of the TouchWiz SDK, and it looks like they’re holding good on the promise to deliver some quality apps for their phones. Firstly, there will be a portal that’s powered by Samsung’s own native client, and the store will be filtered via an unspecified “content guideline” for getting apps into the Samsung Application Store (we know: creative). A total of 300 applications are said to be available when the store launches, and it will apparently focus on games. Not just random Java games, either. These games are coming from major providers, like Capcom, EA and Gameloft, among others. Samsung also mentioned that they are aiming to get 2,000 applications out to the consumers by year’s end.

Samsung is aiming for high-end phones to begin with: Samsung Omnia i8910 (the Omnia HD), Omnia II, and Omnia Lite. Customers will be able to tie purchases to their phone bills, or pay for your apps via third-party means. The website is available now, but Samsung said that the store won’t be open to purchases until September 14th, and is going to launch in France, the UK, and Italy. 30 countries are lined up in the coming months, and considering that the Omnia II is scheduled for a release here in the States, then it’s a good possibility we get to see some Application Store goodness.

[via Electronista]

There’s no indication of what the two Palm devices might be, at least not on Verizon’s database, but it’s not the first time we’ve seen similar product codes mentioned.  The Sprint Palm Pre, for instance, was codenamed the P100, so it seems eminently possible that the P101 is Verizon’s version of the webOS smartphone.  That could suggest that the Palm P121 is Verizon’s Palm Eos, the candybar QWERTY smartphone we saw leaked earlier in the year.

Also fresh to the inventory is the Verizon Convoy U640, a somewhat more mundane device than the other five.  No pricing or launch dates, unfortunately, but at least confirmation that there’s some interesting telephony on the horizon.

The document also confirms that the AT&T HTC Warhawk – aka the HTC Touch Diamond2 – will seemingly keep its VGA front-facing camera for videocalls and arrive with Windows Mobile 6.5, while the carrier’s Touch Pro2 will only get Windows Mobile 6.1.  Finally the Verizon Samsung Omnia is confirmed as the 8GB model with the 5-megapixel camera and packing Windows Mobile 6.1.

Of course, some of these details could be wrong – it’s unclear whether Sprint collated them from public sources, spec-sheets or somewhere else – and things like Windows Mobile versions could well be changed as release dates get pushed back.  Still, if you’re in the market for a touchscreen smartphone running Microsoft’s OS, and you can’t decide whether you want a hardware QWERTY keyboard or not, there’s plenty of choice just around the corner.

[via WMPowerUser]

The ad dictates that the Omnia II will revolutionize the way you email and text, promoting that it will be faster and more accurate. More accurate than what? We’re not sure, but that’s a pretty bold statement, especially considering the Omnia II is rocking Windows Mobile and a resistive touchscreen. Sure, it’s huge at 3.7″, but more size doesn’t necessarily mean more accuracy.

Either way, the Omnia II is going to be a great phone with that TouchWiz 2.0 User Interface, and the fact that it has that amazing AMOLED screen. We just wish we had a bit more solid information regarding the phone’s release here in the States, considering its running amok around Europe right now. Plus, there’s always the sneaky question regarding why Samsung Mobile would put a silhouette instead of an actual image of the phone. Oh, questions, questions…

[via Samsung Mobile]

Video hands-on after the cut

For a start there’s that 3.7-inch WVGA AMOLED resistive touchscreen, plus either 8 or 16GB of internal storage and a microSD card slot.  The GT-i8000 has a 5-megapixel autofocus camera with dual LED flash and geotagging, face/smile detection, digital image stabilization and 15fps video recording.  Connectivity includes WiFi b/g, Bluetooth with A2DP support, a microUSB port, 3.5mm headphones socket and quadband 850/900/1800/1900 GSM/EDGE data.

Finally there’s an accelerometer, GPS, DivX/Xvid support, an FM radio with RDS, 800MHz CPU and a 1,500mAh battery, all squashed into a phone 118 x 59.6 x 11.9 mm in size.  In fact the only real drawback about the GT-i8000 is that it runs Windows Mobile 6.1, which even Samsung’s TouchWiz 2.0 UI can’t really save.  Still no word from either the Canadian or US carrier as to whether they’ll be offering the Omnia II GT-i8000.

[via Nowhere Else; via BGR]

Video demo after the cut

Samsung have obviously got Windows Mobile field-leader HTC in their sights, packing the Omnia II with a 5-megapixel camera and the usual WiFi and GPS.  Both UMTS/HSPA – supporting HSUPA 5.76Mbps and HSDPA 7.2Mbps – and CDMA/EVDO Rev.A versions will be on offer; Verizon are tipped to be launching the latter sometime this month.

We’ll have to wait for our own hands-on experience, but going by the images in the gallery below the Omnia II’s display manages to make even the iPhone 3G’s screen look dowdy.  Whether that’s enough to tempt people to Windows Mobile remains to be seen, however.

Samsung made the Omnia II official earlier this month, surprising with the fact that the device publicly announced was not the GSM HSPA handset expected but a CDMA device.  Verizon’s latest smartphone will offer EVDO Rev.A; there’s no talk of it being a “worldphone” with both CDMA and GSM support for roaming.

Also unknown is a specific release date in July, and what sort of pricing the Omnia II might command.  The phone has a 3.7-inch WVGA display, 5-megapixel camera, WiFi and A-GPS.

Connectivity is tipped to include 3G UMTS, WiFi, Bluetooth and miniUSB, while there’s also GPS and a microSD card slot.  The UI is prompting discussion: some are saying that it’s unchanged over previous iterations of Samsung’s Windows Mobile TouchWiz overlay, while a video demo said to be of the Omnia II shows a new, cubic arrangement.

Video UI demo after the cut

Other hardware specs include an unspecified Qualcomm processor and 150MB of internal memory.  There’s also some confusion over the display specifications, as at least one source tips the AMOLED panel to support up to 16.7m colors while at present Windows Mobile will only support 65,000 colors.

Nonetheless, this looks to be an interesting follow-up to the original Windows Mobile Omnia i900.  There’s talk of it being announced at a Samsung event on June 15th.

[via SlashPhone]