Samsung M8800 "Bresson" Preview

Expected Q4 2008
19th September 2008, updated 26th September 2008
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We don't know very much about the Samsung Bresson M8800 except for a sneak preview from UK retailer Phones4U, combined with a fairly minimalist product page and some independent confirmation that a model M8800 really does exist.

The key features on the M8800 are that it has an 8 megapixel camera with autofocus (perhaps similar to the Samsung i8510), a 3.2" touchscreen display in 16 million colours, GPS and HSDPA data. Phones4U say that the M8800 is capable of full HDTV quality viewing, which would most likely imply an 800 x 480 pixel (WVGA) widescreen display, similar in resolution to the 3.8" display on the HTC Touch HD, but quite a lot smaller. [Update: official specs from Samsung say that it is only 240 x 400 pixels]

There's not much to go on in terms of looks, except that the M8800 is more compact than the Nokia N96. Samsung already make the widescreen Omnia, F700 and F490 devices which are a little larger than the N96, so imagine one of those with a smaller surround, and that might just be the right sort of look. The Samsung Bresson is just 15.5mm thick.

Google search and maps, CNN news and sport and Accuweather reports are integrated into the M8800's software. CNN would be an odd choice for the UK market though, so we don't know if this will change when it comes into production. The M8800's model number indicates that this is not a smartphone, sso don't expect to be able to add much in the way of software, however Phones4U compare the M8800's user experience to that of the iPhone.

The large screen is well suited to multimedia playback, and Phones4U indicate that some effort has gone into improving the overall multimedia experience.

There's no mention of WiFi or geotagging, but that doesn't mean that the M8800 doesn't have them. We would expect to see at least one of these in a handset like this. Nor is there any word on pricing or availability, but the fact that Phones4U have been permitted to talk about the M8800 at all indicates that there is perhaps an exclusive arrangement at launch.

As for "Bresson", Phones4U indicate that it could be named after French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson, but perhaps it could be French cinematographer Robert Bresson. Perhaps this mystery and many others will be cleared up when Samsung officially announce the M8800 in the very near future.

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