Samsung, the world’s second largest handset maker, and Sony Ericsson, the fourth in the line, have unceiled a bunch of new phones.
Samsung’s Wave is the Korean company’s first smart phone. It features a new type of AM-OLED display created by the company. It will also sport an array of other multimedia features.
At the same Barcelona Mobile World Congress tradeshow where Samsung launched its new device, Sony Ericsson unveiled three top smart phone models.
Sony Ericsson, the world’s fourth-largest phone maker, which has reported seven straight quarterly losses, is using Google’s Android operating system in two of the new phones, and Nokia’s Symbian in one.
Samsung’s the Wave S8500, running on its Bada OS, is a slim, touch screen phone that shows off various Samsung strengths, including DivX Xvid playback and 720p high-def video capabilities.
Sony Ericsson said it aims to return to profit as soon as possible. Analysts have said parent companies could be forced to put more money into the venture already during the first half.
“Samsung’s commitment to Bada is underlined by the fact that it is using it to power its flagship product for the show but it’s going to be an uphill struggle to get the developer community on board,” said Ben Wood, research director at CCS Insight.
The Wave will be the first with the bada OS, and it will also include a social hub, which has been designed to integrate all major e-mail, instant messaging, and social networking services. It provides users integrated messaging, managing contacts, and viewing calendar events.
The Wave is based on a 1 GHz processor, which offers users the best graphic performance available on a smart phone today. Customers will have a choice between 2 GB and 8 GB of storage, plus a microSD memory card slot.
It will sport a 5.0 Megapixel camera with an LED flash and face/blink detection. This will be capable of 720p high definition video recording. Other multimedia capabilities will include support for playing video in DivX Xvid, MP4, and WMV, and support for virtual 5.1 surround.
The Wave is only 4.6 inches by 2.2 inches by .43 inches (HWD), even with a huge 1.500 mAh battery.
The Samsung Wave will be released in April “globally”. However, it is not scheduled to come to the U.S., and the model just released won’t work on US or Canadian 3G networks because of frequency mismatches.
No prices have been announced yet.