Giorgio Armani - Samsung Mobile
Discontinued 25th
September 2007
Nothing goes out of fashion as quickly
as high fashion, and the clumsily named Giorgio Armani-Samsung
Mobile demonstrates this.
In this case, the trend-setter was Apple with the
iPhone.
It certainly wasn't the first touch screen device on
the market, but it definitely caught the public
imagination with its minimalist design and slick interface.
Suddenly we saw a rash of devices from other manufacturers
who revealed that they too had touchscreen mobiles.
First was the LG
PRADA, followed by the HTC
Touch, Samsung
F520, Neonode
N2 and a whole rash of things from Chinese manufacturers
we've never heard of.
So, this latest fashion-following phone is the Giorgio
Armani-Samsung Mobile which we'll abbreviate for
the time being to "GASM". Functionally very
similar to the LG PRADA, the GASM is an 85 gram touchscreen
device with a 2.6" 320x240 pixel display in 262,000
colours. There's a 3.2 megapixel camera with flash on
the back, microSD expandable memory and stereo
Bluetooth. The GASM's multimedia player can cope with
MP3, WMA, AAC, MPEG4 and H.263 files. One interesting
feature is the "VibeTone" haptic feedback
which gives tactile feedback when you touch the display (similar
to the RAZR2).
From what we can see of the interface, it does seem
to be designed to be easy to use with a finger.
This
is not a 3G device, nor does it have WiFi. It does
support EDGE data in addition to GPRS, so if you have
access to an EDGE network then it might be a bit less
miserable to use when web surfing. It's a tri-band 900/1800/1900
GSM device, so don't expect to see it in the US.
It's a very compact phone, measuring 88 x 55 x 10.5
mm which is the same footprint as a credit card. The
small size is perhaps the GASM's saving grace - it's
much smaller than most of the competition and only the
tiny Neonode
N2 beats it in terms of size. This should at least
give the GASM some "wow factor". Samsung currently
have a good reputation when it comes to build quality,
so expect the GASM to be a well made device.
Samsung's absurd self puffery in its press release
says that "it is anticipated that the Giorgio
Armani - Samsung mobile phone will quickly achieve an
iconic status". We seriously doubt that. But
if you're looking for an impressively compact touchscreen
phone and you can live with its limitations, then the
GASM should be available from November 2007 in certain
retailers and Armani stores. No price was available
at the time of going to press.
|
Giorgio
Armani - Samsung Mobile
|
Available:
|
Q4
2007
|
Network:
|
GSM
900/1800/1900
|
Data:
|
GPRS
+ EDGE
|
Screen:
|
240x320
pixels, 262k colours
|
Camera:
|
3.2
megapixels
|
Size:
|
Credit-card
sized 88 x 55 x 11mm
/ 85 grams
|
Bluetooth:
|
Yes
|
Memory
card:
|
microSD
|
Infra-red:
|
No
|
Polyphonic:
|
Yes
|
Java:
|
Yes
|
Battery
life:
|
Not
specified
|
|
|