Event Coverage

Samsung innov8 - World's First 8MP Smartphone Launched!

By Adrian Chan - 25 Aug 2008

Samsung gets Mobile Entertainer Right

Mobile Entertainment Done Right

Key regional media were invited to Ho Chi Min Minh City, Vietnam, for the launch of the Samsung innov8 mobile phone. This phone is being positioned as the ultimate mobile entertainer, and quite frankly, Samsung may just have gotten the formula right.

Here's the classy looking new Samsung innov8.

Symbian phone users will find the interface plenty familiar.

The Samsung innov8 isn't that big as compared to the Nokia N82. It's about half a centimeter shorter than the N82 when it's fully closed.

The main highlight of the Samsung innov8 will probably, in our opinion, have to be the 8MP camera. The phone is simply packed chock-full of useful functions like face detection, Smile Shot and an Auto Panorama creator, which means that the Samsung innov8 gives users the experience of having a digital compact in their hand, with the functionality of a personal media player. We found the Auto Panorama function to be very useful; it helps stitch up to eight photos together, and all you have to do is to press the shutter once. Simply press the shutter where you want to start your panorama, and follow the on-screen prompts to create your photo, and your photo will be ready in just mere seconds. No manual stitching involved.

Creating panoramas like this is as easy as pressing your shutter button once and following the on-screen prompt.

Smile Shot works just as it says. Select this function under the list of shooting modes you see, press the shutter and wait for the subject to smile. The Samsung innov8 will automatically capture the photo, ensuring that you won't miss the key moment.

The Smile Shot function ensures you won't miss any key moments. Activate it, press the shutter once, and wait for your subject to smile.

The color reproduction from the phone is also surprisingly excellent. The colors are vibrant, vivid and accurate, giving your photos that extra punch. The only fault we could find with the camera features will be the flash. Using Dual Power LEDs as its source of lighting, some of the photos we took turned out a little too cool for our tastes.

Being a mobile entertainer, the adoption of the Symbian S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2 has made the Samsung innov8 one of the forerunners as the mobile entertainer to get your hands on, especially if you're the kind who prefers to only carry one device for all your entertainment needs. Other features include a 2.8-inch screen, WiFi, 16GB of on board flash memory, optical sensor (like the one you'll find on the Samsung i780), integrated GPS, accelerometer sensor, and DNSe audio technology. The optical sensor can be turned off if you'd prefer to use the regular 4-way directional pad.

Color reproduction is excellent, especially coming from a mobile phone.

The Samsung innov8 is compatible with various video formats for your viewing pleasure. It can play the popular DivX, H.263, H.264, WMV and MP4 files. Plus, with the 16 million colors TFT LCD screen, the video quality is certainly very decent coming from a mobile phone. The videos will take advantage of Samsung's DNSe sound enhancement technology wherever applicable. The stereo speakers are found at the back of the camera, on either side of the camera lens.

If the gamer in you is crying out for games, don't fret. The Samsung innov8 did not leave you out of the equation. The phone comes with the full versions of Asphalt and FIFA 08, allowing you to wile your time away as you agonize over why your friends are late. If you prefer to play your mobile games on the big screen, you can hook it up to your TV via the 3.5mm jack, which is also the same jack for your earphones.

The 16GB internal memory is a definite plus point for people who seek to entertain themselves while on the move. With other phones, like the Nokia N95 8GB and the upcoming N96, having a built-in memory of up to 8GB, the Samsung innov8 will certainly provide double the space for those who would like to cram more videos, photos and games into their phone. And if you think the 16GB just isn't enough for your needs, there's always the option for you to increase that capacity by using a compatible microSD card to give you a grand total of 32GB.

The Samsung innov8 is certainly a phone to look out for, given the options available in the market at the moment. For those of you who're interested in getting your hands on one, we've been told that it'll be commercially available from next month (September). The pricing will be announced at a later date, so stay tuned for it shortly.

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