Samsung F480 TouchWiz: The latest "iPhone killer " from Samsung

Every body is saying that it is going to be an ‘iPhone killer’. I am not a serious mobile user; so, it is upto you do decide which one is better. Next month, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd (SEO: 005930) is launching SGH F480 ‘Tocco’ in Europe. Tocco is an Italian word which means touch. Touchscreen phones are the trend at present and the Samsung F480 TouchWiz is a smart, sleek mobile phone for fashion conscious people. It resembles more with Samsung Armani handset or LG’s Prada or LG KU990. Samsung announced the phone at the Barcelona Mobile Congress in February. Unconfirmed reports said that the phone is going to have different branding in UK.

Dimension:

• Length: 98 mm
• Width: 55 mm
• Breadth: 11.5mm
• Weight: 91 gram
• The first thing that will strike you about the Samsung F480 TouchWiz is its size. The phone has the size of your credit card.phonearena.com says:

Did someone say PRADA? Well, it really looks similar. We won’t go into details about the design in this preview as the images will say it all. The F480 can stand next to the Prada and Armani phones with its head high up as it definitely looks great. Additionally, it can have a leather cover on the back (half of it) and front, making it look as a fashion accessory. The unit we currently use is of this type, but we also saw one without the leather – it is just the battery cover which is different.

• The Samsung F480 TouchWiz has leather back and chrom trim.
  

• The Samsung F480 TouchWiz supports 3G, EDGE, GSM, and GPRS.
  

• The Samsung F480 TouchWiz has HSDPA with a download speed of 7.2mpps.
  

• The Samsung F480 TouchWiz has 240 MB of internal music memory.
  

• The Samsung F480 TouchWiz has micro SD expandable memory which can be expanded up to 8GB.
  

• The Samsung F480 TouchWiz comes with USB 2.0.
  

• The Samsung F480 TouchWiz has a 2.8 inch, 320 x 240 pixel touch screen, which comes with drag 'n' drop feature to access common functions like the clock, radio player, music player, photos, birthday reminders. Upon touching each icon the phone gives a vibrating feedback. phonearena.com further says:

As we said earlier, this is the first phone to use Samsung’s new TouchWiz interface, which is the successor of the Croix. It is very similar in the way it acts, but in visual aspect they have nothing in common: our main dislikes of the Croix were that it has monochrome look, and often the user must wonder what the icons actually meant. In the TouchWiz, everything is colorful, easily distinguishable, and has label with its function, so even the first time user will orientate easy. Similar to the G600 (and the Soul), the menus change with an animated transition. In this model they cannot be personalized, but are different depending on menu you are currently in. In combination with all the colorful icons, this looks very good.

• The Samsung F480 TouchWiz has Bluetooth 2.0 via A2DP.
  

• The Samsung F480 TouchWiz has built-in blogging support, email and web browser. Cellphonedia says:

Samsung takes pride in its upcoming release of its new 3G mobile, the Samsung SGH-F480. It has a built-in camera that is about 5 megapixels with 20 x digital zoom functions. If that's not enough to blow your mind, add the fact that the Samsung SGH-F480 has video capture and video player capabilities. This makes it equipped with a digital video zoom that can go up to 12 x. Aside from this; it has a 2nd internal camera, a built-in flash, and an auto-focus function. This is along with its capability to project image stabilization. You can take pictures and videos as often as you like since it has about 130 MB of phone memory. The F480's phonebook alone can store up to 1,000 contacts. Thus, if you need more room to store your videos, photos and other data, the Samsung SGH-F480 has an external memory card slot that can accommodate 1 MB up to 4 MB of storage capacity.

Video/Camera/Audio/Radio:

• The Samsung F480 TouchWiz has 5 mega-pixel camera with auto-focus and flash.
  

• The Samsung F480 TouchWiz comes with video and image stabilizing technology.
  

• The Samsung F480 has slow motion function and built-in video editor.
  

• The Samsung F480 TouchWiz has video calling facility.
  

• The Samsung F480 is a complete multimedia phone that allows you to play a variety of audio and video files. Your mobile phonereviews.co.uk says:

The user can enjoy music on their phone by using the built in music player, radio feature or by enjoying their favourite ringing tones on the Samsung E480. The music player supports MP3 format, AAC & AAC+ music formats. The user can control their music using the easy to manage touch screen controls. The user can download or transfer their favourite music onto their phone using the connectivity options available & Internet access. The E480 supports both MP3 ringing tones & polyphonic ringtones which allow the user to enjoy a lively ringing tone experience on their phone. The radio feature is a FM radio complete with RDS feature which is accessible from the main menu.With the Samsung F480 TouchWiz, you can enjoy FM Radio with RDS.

Weak points:

• The Samsung F480 TouchWiz does not support WiFi and GPS.
  

• Samsung F480 TouchWiz is not so user friendly. The touch function drains more power from the battery. Compared to the Samsung F480, iPhone is simpler and better. GSM arena.com says:

Samsung F480 features a new UI, with nice colorful icons. It is a welcome change as previous touch UI Samsung handsets we reviewed seemed a little too reserved. The other nice improvement to the interface is the addition of widgets. We did like the idea and we are glad the implementation didn't let us down.The Widgets are basically a very convenient way for customizing your home screen. The Widget bar toggles on and off the homescreen by pressing the arrow in the lower left corner.The Widget bar itself includes a number of icons, which can be dragged onto the display and ordered to the user liking. If any of them should become unwanted, they can easily be dragged back to the bar. Here is a quick video demonstration on how the whole widget thing works.

• The Samsung F480 TouchWiz has three hour talk time and 250 hours of stand-by life.
  

Price:

The price of Samsung F480 TouchWiz is around €500 (£400).

Now, the million dollar question is, do you think that Samsung F480 is better than iPhone?

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Samsung's reorganization and reassignment creates further controversies

First, it was the top level executives; now, Samsung Group is reorganizing its companies in an effort to reinvigorate its image. According to the latest news, Samsung Electronics Co.(SEO: 005930), the major profit earner of Samsung group, will be combined with its home appliance division that makes refrigerators, air-conditioners and washing machines. The home theatre, DVD and Blue-ray player business will be merged with its TV section. Samsung’s notebook computer, digital music player and set top box business will be transferred to its telecommunications network division. Wall Street Journal reports:

The moves are "in line with the latest technology trend" and "we hope to further strengthen our position as a digital convergence leader," the company said.

The moves follow a change at Samsung Group's top management last week, when Samsung Electronics said external relations chief Lee Yoon-Woo would be its new chief executive, succeeding Yun Jong-Yong, who had led the electronics giant since 1997.

But analysts said it is still uncertain if the reorganization would bring about any significant synergies.

"We haven't paid attention to its home appliance business, which hasn't contributed to its profitability much," said Song Myung-Sup, an analyst at CJ Investment & Securities. "It remains to be seen if the combination will actually create synergies."

Unfortunately, what seems to be an effort to revive has created further agitation and controversies. Thirty nine year old, Lee Jae-Yong, Samsung Electronics’ former chief client officer and son of the former chairman of Samsung Group, Lee Kun-Hee has been reassigned to a new post. On Thursday, in a statement, Samsung Electronics said that Lee Jae-Yong, will work in China, India, Russia, and in other commonwealth of Independent states to develop the company’s business. Though he was not charged of any wrong doing, after Lee Kun-Hee was charged with tax evasion and breach of trust, Lee Jae-Yong resigned along with his father. Yong’s reappointment has irked the Samsung employees. They protested against his reassignment.

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Samsung & LG: Once fierce competitors are becoming partners

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd (SEO:005935)and LG are two of the top electric companies of South Korea and fierce competitors in global market. Now, the once fierce competitors are becoming partners. In order to survive the competition, last week the two companies agreed on a cross-purchasing deal for their flat screen television products. Under the agreement, LG Display will buy Samsung’s 52’’ LCD panels and Samsung will buy LG’s 37’’ LCD panels. Till now, the two companies used to buy LCD panels from Taiwanese makers. With the rise of the Taiwanese LCD makers controlling 42% of the global LCD market the two South Korean giants have joined hands. The Korea Times reports:

The deal will also contribute to cutting the nation's trade deficit, while promoting investment in the local LCD panel industry. In addition, Samsung and LG have agreed to jointly develop mobile television technology aimed at becoming the industry standard in the North American market. Executives of the two companies said they plan to present their proposal to the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC), an international group developing technology standards for digital televisions used in the United States and Canada.

The Samsung-LG collaboration comes before the ATSC's U.S. office is scheduled to pick a mobile television standard in the first half of next year. The joint action is expected to set the stage for domestic companies to move from rivalry to partnership in order to cooperate in developing technology, making products and exploring overseas markets.

In a display conference at the Seoul Hotel chaired by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, Lee Sang-wan, chief of Samsung Electronics LCD division told that in the next two months Samsung would start the second phase of its eighth-generation lines that would be able to produce 60,000 sheets per month. Till now, Samsung has been refusing calls from LG to provide large-size panels because of the tight supply in the industry. The two companies could not reach an agreement over pricing and other technical matters.

Korean companies are market leaders in semiconductor, shipbuilding and other industrial sectors. Till now, the companies were competing with each other but with the rise of Japanese and Chinese manufacturers, the companies are now teaming up with each other to survive the growing competition.

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Samsung : Disagreement with subcontractors resulted into Gumi plant shutdown

World’s largest electronics company, Samsung Electronic Co., Ltd (SEO:005935), had been forced to shut down its plant due to disagreement over material price with its contractors. This incident also provoked lots of negative criticism and marred the company’s image. The company admitted that its mobile phone handset producing plant at Gumi in Seoul had to stop 20% of its operations for eleven hours, starting from 11 p.m. Friday to 10 a.m. Saturday, as the small and medium-sized subcontractors accused the company of passing on the cost-cut burden upon them. Korea Times reports:

Samsung said the plant has been normalized after it agreed with the participants to review prices in upcoming talks. However, worries are high that Samsung’s premium handset image might get hurt in the long term without decisive measures to ease such disputes.

Samsung hopes to narrow the market gap with the industry leader Nokia by sticking with a two-tier strategy _ premium phones such as the Soul and Haptic from its domestic plant and mid-tier phones from those overseas. The company plans to increase the annual production of handsets in Gumi to 80 million this year from 75 million in 2007.

This is the first incident of production halt in Gumi plant since its inception in 1988. There are 630 suppliers in Gumi. According to the report of Strategy Analytics, a market research firm, Samsung and Motorola is currently at the second position controlling 16.4% of the global mobile phone market. A Samsung spokesperson said that the company should strengthen its price competitiveness at Gumi plant as the product is losing its pricing edge. Currently, Samsung has manufacturing facilities in India, China, and Brazil. It will set up another facility in Vietnam to meet its current production target of 200 million.

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