Samsung have launched the new Samsung Soul, a new mobile phone from thecompany that actually has a name, rather than an awkward array ofseemingly arbitrary letters and numbers (who could forget thecharmingly-named Samsung SGH-P310 for example?!). Samsung chose thename Soul as it stands for "Spirit Of ULtra" (yes, really!), and itapparently "honours the completion of its exclusive 'Ultra Edition'series." Not entirely sure why "soul" denotes the end of something, butit does imply that this will be the last in the extremely successfuland highly-rated Ultra Edition range of phones, thereby paving the wayfor an ever better crop of phones from Samsung for the rest of the year
The Soul is Samsung's new flagship phone, meaning it's a high-endmonster packed full of features. Better still, continuing Samsung'srecent theme, these aren't just gimmicks - each feature is designed towork and work really well, rather than just acting as padding for thespec list.
More pics and full details of the Samsung Soul after the jump.
Overview of the Samsung Soul mobile phone
So what do you get with a Samsung flagship phone? Well, no flag, but you do get the following rather tasty array of features:
* 5 megapixel camera
* Power LED Flash
* Face detection, image stabilizer and Wide Dynamic Range (WDR) for enhanced picture quality
* 7.2 Mbps HSPDA connectivity
* New "Magical Touch by DaCP" user interface
* Slide form factor
* 12.9mm thin
* Bluetooth 2.0
* MP3 player with Bang & Olufson Digital ICE Power amp and headset
A few features of note here. Firstly, the camera. Not only 5megapixels, but a wide range of advanced features to help you get thebest picture of your subject. Secondly, not just HSDPA, but HSPDArunning at a superb 7.2Mbps (if your network supports it of course, anddependent on contention ratios). Thirdly, an MP3 player that givesgreat sound thanks to a Bang & Olufson amplifier.
Finally, the somewhat oddly-named "Magical Touch by DaCP" userinterface. What be this, you ask? It's a new interface whereby thenavigation indicators on the keypad change according to the featureyou're using. Select the camera, for example, and the icons on thekeypad change to reflect camera-specific options (see pic below). DaCP,in case you were wondering, stands for Dynamic Adaptive Control Pad,and as you might guess, it is, in reality, a small OLED screen thatadapts to the requirements of the selected feature. Nice touch, though.
It's a shame the Samsung Soul will the see the end of the UltraRange. There were some great phones in that range, stylish,fully-featured, and even several "world's thinnest" phones. Still, withSamsung on a bit of a roll at the moment, having overtaken Motorola tosecond spot, I'm guessing the replacement range (Son of Ultra - Hmmm,SoUL II - perhaps?!) will be better still, with some rather tasty newphones to watch out for.
The Samsung Soul is out now across Europe, and will be released in other markets throughout 2008.