SAMSUNG Monte (GT-S5620) as a phone sits somewhere between a smartphone and a regular phone. I felt this way as I was using it because it featured a capacitive touchscreen. A capacitive touchscreen is usually found on a smart multi-touch device. Touchscreen devices are usually capable of operating in portrait and landscape modes, but the Monte works only in portrait orientation with text input through a keypad interface. You won’t find a landscape virtual keyboard which is a pity. This design limitation may be due to the screen width and resolution.

The display rendered colours well thanks to the 262 thousand colours display. The screen uses a not so common resolution of 240 by 400 pixels, but this is higher than even some of the latest smartphones from competing manufacturers. The slightly higher resolution gives the Monte an advantage of displaying slightly larger text fonts on the 3-inch wide screen. I found this a useful for my ever worsening eyes.

When I first held the Monte I was really attracted to how well it fits into my palm. It was a comfortable fit that I’m sure Samsung engineers took time to develop. The back was tapered ever so slightly and the bottom rounded off. The design was not just a symmetrical shape that went after looks and I commend Samsung for this design. Samsung did well to incorporate and maximize the design as you see from the metallic orange highlight on the sides. (*Please check stores for colour availability.)

Keeping a familiar button layout as Samsung’s Jet and Blue Earth, the micro USB port for charging and transfer can be found on top with a 3.5mm headphone jack next to it. On the right-hand side the Lock button and camera shutter button. Hidden behind a cover is the micro SD card slot. The left-hand side has the volume up/down rocker switch and a hole from which dangling accessories can be hung.

The internals, at least what internals accessible by a user from the rear, reveals a mechanism I like. It is a spring loaded slot-in for the SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card. This design feature made it simple to insert my SIM without having to dig out the battery pack. Something I often have to do with other phones.

Operation of the phone was easy as I’m already familiar with the Samsung Jet. But new users shouldn’t worry because there has been some UI changes for the better and that makes it very easy to navigate. I really liked the numeric representation at the top of the screen indicating which virtual screen workspace is in focus. Previously, it was simply a short line. Activation and access to the built-in apps and widgets is done through a simple named button named, Widget. The widgets then appear from the bottom and you can flick to scroll what is available. A big improvement over the system used in the Jet.

Digging through the program icons I found something interesting and potential buyers may consider it to be the deal maker for getting the Monte. It is labeled ‘Dictionary’. It is a nifty English-to-English, English-to-Chinese or Chinese-to-English electronic dictionary. Other than the Dictionary I liked the fact that more of the Widgets are not just browser links.

As a Social Media networking device the Monte is equipped with the usual applications so don’t worry about being left out or falling behind all your friends' status updates. I was able to connect to and post updates using either my 3G network connection or the built-in Wi-Fi.

Google Maps, Mail and Search is included and works well. The browser installed is the Dolfin webkit browser version 1.5 and should suffice for most users. It maintains the single-handed, one-finger zoom in/out. An interesting inclusion for the browser is the ability to operate in landscape mode but the text input for inputting search text, usernames and or passwords remains as numeric keypad style and not a horizontal qwerty keyboard.

The Monte serves up a friendly connected experience but doesn’t go so far as being a smartphone and that is cool because not everyone wants a smartphone. The 3.2-megapixel camera may disappoint some as it doesn’t include a LED or xenon flash. As with Samsung’s camera software, the panorama mode still stands out as one of the talking points. Reserve photo taking with the Monte to the bright sunny outdoors.

| Posted by JamCanSing 19-Apr-2010

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TV fan alert! This is the phone that you may have been waiting for. Samsung Star^TV is here! Now you can watch your favorite local drama, stay tune to the latest news and catch all free-to-air channels right in your palm. Who say one has to stay glued to a TV? You can walk down Orchard Road while watching your favourite soccer team battle on the field!

If you have been following the latest series of Samsung mobile phones, the design and TouchWiz interface on the Samsung Star^TV will not be unfamiliar to you. Comes decked with 3.2MP camera with Smile Shot feature. And now you can flip through your photo album with a tilt movement of the phone! Tilting the phone will allow you to view the next shot.

But the coolest feature of this phone is of course the Mobile TV feature. To get the TV reception on your mobile, you will need an extendible antenna. (What? An antenna? Wouldn't that look funny on a modern phone?) Well, you do not need to worry about this at all! The retractable antenna is cleverly hidden on the top right corner of the phone and it retracts within the phone body when you don't need it. So it will look just like a regular cool Samsung mobile phone.

The Star^TV uses the retractable antenna, hence you will need to find a good spot with good reception to get 100% clear picture and audio. The TV reception performs well when watching outdoors. Picture and audio are both clear and loud enough for couples to share and enjoy their favourite programme together while camping at the beach or a picnic by the park.

One thing I wish it came bundled with is a stand for the phone so that we can rest the phone at an angle on a flat surface and enjoy the show. Now you'll have to hold it or find a phone stand for Star^TV.

I will recommend local TV programme fanatics to give the Samsung Star^TV a try. This is useful if you are always on the go outdoors and would like to still be able to catch your favourite TV show. And did I mention that you can record TV programmes too?

Find out more about the Samsung Star^TV here.

| Posted by victortan 14-Apr-2010

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Are you one of those who hold 2 different mobile numbers? Or if you are a frequent business traveller who keeps in touch with your local counterparts using a local mobile number, and yet wants to be in touch with your own mobile number, look no further! Samsung B5722 does the magic by integrating two mobile lines in a single handset! 

One look at it, it reminds me of Samsung Lindy and Corby. It features a minimalist design similar to Samsung Lindy and Corby, uses the TouchWiz interface and keeps you up to date with instant access to social networking websites like Facebook and Flickr! To chat with your friends or colleagues, you can use the Messenger application to stay in touch on the go!

The built-in camera is pretty basic like Samsung Lindy which I had reviewed before - It is 3.2 Megapixel with digital zoom. But hey! Samsung B5722 comes with LED Flash! The Samsung B5722 features a 262K Colours QVGA TFT LCD screen and the resolution is 240 x 320. The colours are vivid and the touch screen is pretty responsive.

Like Samsung Lindy and Corby, it also features the music player and the FM Radio. The volume buttons can be found at the left side, together with the USB, charging and ear piece jack - It is not your regular standard USB jack and looks pretty new to me. Well, if you have a Bluetooth headset, you can stream music via Bluetooth!

Apart from the camera and phone lock buttons which can be found at the right side of the phone, you will be able to find the “switch” button which makes switching between the two mobile lines extremely easy. Once pressed, the other line will become the master line and the signal bar of that line will be highlighted in blue.

Like Corby, it is a GPRS phone and doesn’t support 3G connection. SIM card slot 1 supports GSM Quad-band (850, 900, 1800 & 1900 MHz) and SIM card slot 2 supports only GSM Dual-band (900, 1800 MHz). Not a big issue for Singapore as our GSM network runs on 900 and 1800 MHz. If you are a business traveller, I’ll recommend you to put your Singapore Sim Card in SIM 2 slot. To make things easier for you, when you insert the SIM cards for the first time, the phone will prompt you to key in the description for the respective SIM cards so as to help you identify the number later.

Samsung is very thoughtful when they design this phone - They actually created a programme which selects the master mobile line based on time specified automatically! Definitely a good application for people who practise work-life balance!

If you like Samsung Corby and have a need to be in touch using 2 mobile lines, this is the phone for you :)

| Posted by victortan 01-Apr-2010

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BLUE Earth is an interesting name for a phone. I figure it is named this way to emulate the world we live on - the big blue planet. So, what does Samsung’s Blue Earth bring to the mobile phone arena? You guessed it, it has Green features. And even though it is small, can you imagine thousands of these saving every little bit of our fossil fuels? Every little bit counts and the Blue Earth is doing its part.

The Blue Earth is the first solar panel equipped mobile phone and this is how it helps to reduce the burning of fossil fuels. In theory, if you live in sunny areas of the world you could probably get by with not having to charge directly from the wall adapter. Check out the real estate that the solar panel takes up on the rear of the phone. In fact, the solar panel component of the rear cover takes up about eighty percent of the rear cover. There are a couple notices within the product manual that states the charging time will vary depending on conditions. An indication of the charging ability is noted. It states, “…1 hour of sunlight at about 80,000 lux (approximately the amount of sunlight at noon on a sunny day) charging will provide 5-10 minutes of talk time.”

With many electronic battery operated products, you need to ensure it does not get too hot as the battery could cause a fire. This is important inside a vehicle especially in the sunny climes of Singapore. I can attest to the fact that the phone gets extremely hot during the noon day sun sitting on my dashboard. This heat is in part the absorption to the dark dashboard colour and the phone operation (it was left on).

When flipped over, you see how it passes the electricity generated to the phone via the two metal contacts. The solar panel is protected by what feels like a piece of glass so be careful not to drop your Blue Earth.

The phone exterior is finished in a pearlescent blue that changes slightly depending on the angle of the light reflecting off the surface. I like the finish and the colour. It reminded me of an old mobile phone I had 10 years ago but that’s another story.

The physical size of the Blue Earth is about the same size as the Samsung Jet. It is small enough to fit in a tight jean pocket and not be too obvious. Since it isn’t super thin you also won’t need to worry about it snapping in your pocket. It fits nicely into my medium sized hand and can be operated with a single hand. I was able to do this comfortably in my left hand and use my thumb to navigate and press the touchscreen. Take note - the touchscreen is a capacitive screen. This means you'll need to use your finger to activate it. A stylus device will not work. This is a good thing because it means the screen won’t react to accidental presses if it is in your pocket; however that doesn’t stop the buttons from being activated. Don’t worry, the Hold button will stop accidental button presses while it is in your purse or pocket.

There isn’t a lot of buttons. You’ll find the volume up/down rocker switch on the left hand side, Hold and camera shutter on the right. On the face, there is the green Dial/Call button, red End Call/Power and in between is the Back button. For connectivity, you’ll only find a micro USB port located at the top right hand side. The port is protected with a plastic snap-in cover. Strangely, there isn’t a 3.5mm headphone jack to be found. I guess that isn’t so much an issue these days with many Bluetooth wireless headsets available.

The phone is equipped with a 3-megapixel digital camera. What you won’t find is a LED or xenon flash so make sure there is adequate amount of light for a properly exposed picture. The camera functions are easy to understand thanks to nicely designed user interface icons. The two camera functions I have come to love with Samsung mobile phones are the Panorama and Macro shooting. Unfortunately, the Blue Earth does not feature a Macro focusing option.

Check out pictures I captured with the Blue Earth. The outdoor shots turned out pretty good with good contrast and colour reproduction. I included a mosaic shot made up of four photos and it would have turned out pretty good if there was a true macro mode and the resolution was a bit higher. At the current resolution, the mosaic shots are really only good enough for posting on the web. If you want prints I suggest taking single high resolution pics and then assembling them together on your computer.

The Blue Earth is the first step to creating more ecologically friendly gadgets and I really like that. You can learn to appreciate the eco-friendliness of the Blue Earth by using the built in Eco Walk application. It translates your steps into calories burned and you also get to see visually how many trees you’ve saved the planet.

You can contribute additional savings, though it isn’t tracked, by using the Eco profile. The profile uses ringtone settings that use less energy. There is also an Eco display mode that reduces the display brightness. You could do this by hand every time but Samsung cleverly put in a setting to easily switch it on or off.

This isn’t for the hard core Smartphone, multimedia user. Instead, if you are a conservationist and citizen concerned with saving the earth for generations to come, you can have a clear conscience with a Blue Earth purchase.

| Posted by JamCanSing 01-Apr-2010

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