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In fact, Microsoft hasn't announced any plans to discontinue Windows Mobile 6.5. And, while it might not be trendy, the older operating system has -- as we detail later in this story -- long found a niche in Samsung's messaging-centric phones, which offer portrait-oriented QWERTY keyboards.
Until now, these devices didn't feature touchscreens. However, Samsung's new Omnia Pro 4 (B7350), the fancier of the company's new two phones, has a 320 x 320 pixel screen that measures 2.6 inches diagonally and is said to include touch functionality.
According to Samsung, the Omnia Pro 4 (above left) includes quad-band GSM, 802.11b/g wireless networking, Bluetooth 2.1, plus both GPS and FM receivers. The phone's autofocus 3.2 megapixel camera can record video with a resolution of 320 x 240 pixels and a frame rate of 15 per second, the company adds.
The Omnia Pro 5 (B5620), above right, has a standard 2.4-inch display with 320 x 240 pixel resolution, plus a two megapixel camera for which no video recording capabilities are cited. Features are otherwise similar to the Omnia Pro 4's, though only the latter is said to be supplied with the Opera web browser in addition to Microsoft's Internet Explorer.
Like the carriers who resell its previous messaging phones, Samsung does not disclose what processors the Omnia Pro 4 and Omnia Pro 5 come with. (That's an odd bit of coyness given that the company is one of the world's largest producers of ARM CPUs and flash memory!) Samsung does allow that 200MB of storage is available to the Omnia Pro 4 user, with a microSD slot that accepts up to 32GB of memory; the Omnia Pro 5 user, meanwhile, gets 220MB of storage, plus a microSD slot that accepts up to 15GB.
Specifications offered by Samsung for the Omnia Pro 4 (B7350) include:
Specifications offered by Samsung for the Omnia Pro 4 (B5620) include:
Introduced in May, U.S Cellular's SCH-i225 Exec had a two megapixel camera, GPS, and Bluetooth, while Bell Canada's GT-B7330 Messenger upgraded to a 3.2 megapixel camera and adds WiFi. Like the new Omnia Pro 4 and Omnia Pro 5, the devices are part of a long line of messaging-centric phones from Samsung, including the Blackjack, the SGH-i617 BlackJack II, the SGH-i637 Jack, the SCH-i220, and the Samsung SPH-i350 Intrepid. Probably closely related under the skin, all these devices sport similar portrait QWERTY keyboards, 2.4-inch displays, and the Windows Mobile Standard (non-touchscreen) operating system.
Bell Canada's GT-B7330 (above left) strongly resembles both the SPH-i350 Intrepid and the (also Samsung-sourced) Softbank X01SC (above right) announced last November. Like these, it has a 2.4-inch display with 320 x 240 pixel resolution, a 3.2 megapixel camera, WiFi, and Bluetooth.
The GT-B7330 Messenger was again said to include GPS functionality, download data at up to 7.2Mbps, and offer Microsoft's Office Mobile software. The device supports dual-band (850/1900MHz) GSM and WCDMA, according to Bell Canada.
U.S. Cellular's SCH-i225 Exec (above left), meanwhile, appeared extremely similar to the Code i220 (above right) the Chicago-based carrier released in June 2009. Just as on that model, purchasers will find a 2.4-inch screen with 320 x 230 resolution, 128MB of RAM and 128MB of flash (plus a microSD slot accepting up to 32GB), a two megapixel camera, and 800/1900MHz CDMA compatibility.
Again, the device's processor was not specified. However, the SCH-i225 Exec includes autonomous GPS and Bluetooth 2.0, according to U.S. Cellular.
Further information
According to Samsung, the Omnia Pro 4 and Omnia Pro 5 are currently on display at the CommunicAsia show in Singapore. The Pro 4 will be available from July in European Countries, CIS and South Eastern Asia, and the Omnia Pro 5 will be available from August in SEA, MEA regions, India and Latin America, the company adds.
