Samsung didn't launch a lot of smartphones during it's existence as the company leaders didn't thought that this sort of product is going to be succesufull.Now the company has launched a new smartphone : the new Samsung i520 a mobile device based on the S60 platform.

The company wanted to remind everyone that they had a license for the S60 platform not just Nokia. The i520 is running on Feature Pack 1 for S60 3rd edition and Samsung made some efforts to come up with new solutions as the market is dominated by Nokia.





Samsung decided to make they're new smartphone a slider , thus Samsung i520 is housed in slider-style form-factor."Modern consumers are increasingly looking to use one device that easily plugs into their life, whether it's for work or play. Today's smartphones not only have to be supersmart but also have to look good for fashion-savvy consumers - they won't accept anything less. Samsung is delivering on this demand with the launch of this sleek range." said Geesung Choi, President o f Samsung's Telecommunication Network Business

So the question is what could Samsung bring to the Feature Pack 1 platform that other phones don't have ? The first thing that Samsung could improve was the number of pre-installed applications,but the best parts of the device are it's great design and the hardware part.The only direct rival of the phone is Nokia E65 which is based on S60 3rd edition. "Samsung's smartphones not only ensure you can choose the platform and look that you prefer, but also that, no matter what choice you make, Samsung's market-leading design and functionality are always present." said Geesung Choi, President o f Samsung's Telecommunication Network Business.


The sales package contains : The handset, a 950 mAh Li-Ion battery, the charger , a headset , USB data cable , user guide and a microSD memory card.The handset measures in at 101.7x50.5x17.9 mm and weights just 99 grams, which is the same as other sliders in terms of dimensions,but all in all the slider looks great and it's easy to throw in a pocket or a bag.The sliding mechanism isn't working as smooth as you'd want and we can spot a difference between the i520 and other sliders from Samsung.On the back of the sliding half we can find the 2 Megapixels camera.



Samsung decided to offer the phone only in one colour and that's black.The manufacturer fitted the device with toch-keypads.The Samsung i520 resembles the E900 with the "OK" navigation key in the middle being mechanical, and the surrounding keys are touch-sensitive. In most cases these buttons do quite well and don't bring about any hardships, yet in winter they just refuse to react on presses.When you close the slider the keypad locks automatically, but you can still answer an incoming call by pressing the "OK" button.These touch-sensitive buttons are just an attempt to follow the fashion, rather that something truly vital. The keypad is lit in blue and the keys are easy to use.


The display has a resolution of 240x320 pixels ,can show up to 262 000 colors and uses TFT tehnology.The display of the i520 is one of the best available on the market in this class of phones.The display can show up to 8 lines.



In the upper right corner above the display we can see the camera for 3G calls.On the left side we can find the volume button and the dedicated music player button.On the right side we can spot the power button , camera button and a microSD slot which is covered by a rubber flap,further down is the socket for plugging in charger or headset.

On the back side we can find the speaker and the battery which is the same as the rear plate like in many other Samsung phones.The i520 has a 950 mAh Li-Ion battery and the manufacturer says that the battery can last up to 3.5 hours of calls and 145 of calls combined with some periods of stand-by.The battery needs around of 3 hours to fully charge.




Menu
We can spot a difference in the design of the menu for the i520,unlike other phones the colors used for the menu are now black-and-orange.The device has the following highlights: scrolling text at standby screen, ability to subscribe to various news feeds, while in the original edition this capability isn't available


As for the hardware part the model is powered by a ARM11 CPU running at 355 MHz. The handset comes with is Qualcomm MSM6275, chips TI OMAP 2430 (support for hardware 3D accelerator, but in this model it isn't available). There is 50 Mb of user-manageable memory in the i520, not counting micorSD memory expansion slot. The Bluetooth version found in this smartphone is 2.0 with EDR support. Unfortunately there is no A2DP support.On USB connection you can select either USB Mass Storage or PC Suite mode. The USB version is 2.0. The transfer speed is around 600-800 Kb/s. Once you have plugged in the cable, the phone automatically starts charging up.

Samsung decided to replace the Quick Office application with the new Picsel Browser. This application enables you only to view office documents, pdf-files, images..etc.With Quick Office you were able not only to view the documents but also to edit them,with Picsel Browser you can't edit them just view the documents.Of course you can install any office application on this device but that's not free of charge.The company picked Picsel Browser because it's cheaper for the manufacturer to build in an own application rather than acquire a license for another app.



Camera.

Samsung i520 comes with a 2 Megapixel CMOS camera which makes pretty good pictures in good light conditions, while the pictures made indoors have a lot of noise.



The camera has the following resolutions: 1600x1200, 1152x864, 800x600, 640x480 and 320x240 pixels.You can also select picture quality : High, Normal, Basic, as well as shooting mode: still image, multi-shot, self-timer (10, 20 or 30 seconds) and night mode.
In video mode the device has a resolution of 352x288 and 15 FPS in MP4 format


Here you can view a photo take with the W880i :

(click on a image to enlarge)


The Music player is pretty much the same as all players in the S60,but it has small differences in the interface.




Conclusions
The i520 is a really interesting alternative to Nokia's devices and has some interesting differences from the Nokia labeled deviced.Here we can include the ability to charge over USB on connection with PC,nice interface,3g support..etc.The quality of the reception is great and the volume is pretty high.As for the drawbacks we can point out the touch sensitive buttons which sometimes don't work as you'd want.
The Samsung i520 will appear in stores at the beginning of March at a cost of 480-500 USD. If you are into sliders and at the same time you are looking for a S60-powered smartphone, then the i520 will a be a great phone for you.

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i just see at the net spiral.. but the keypad look weird

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