Quietly, amidst the multiple HTC Touch Pro 2 releases, Samsung refreshed its Omnia line with a slew of new Windows Mobile devices. The Samsung Omnia II is a black-slab, touchscreen device hone that sports a 5-megapixel camera and a hefty 8 gigabytes of storage memory. Verizon picked it up late last year.

Our initial impression has been positive. Our main concern was the customization that Samsung has installed on the Omnia II. Not only does the Omnia II have Samsung's TouchWiz user interface, Samsung also also tweaked the interior Windows Mobile screens and menus.

Follow the break to see if this customization makes or breaks the Omnia II.

Read the rest of this entry »

Good news for those of you looking to snag some of the latest Samsung goodness but were afraid you'd be left off the Windows Mobile 6.5 train. Samsung announced this morning that the Omnia line will, indeed, be receiving official updates to WinMo 6.5 "later this year."

In other news, Samsung officially announced the B7330 and said it would launch in October with Windows Mobile 6.5.

Now we just need some U.S. carriers to show some love.

Korea NewsWire via Giz

Whoopsie. It appears Samsung just spilled a few more beans as to the existence of the Omnia II on Verizon.

We'd already seen an inventory sheet from Best Buy showing the phone on the Big V. The Boy Genius Report now says the Aug. 23 date listed there is an in-stock date and not an actual launch date. But BGR also has spied the Omnia II on Samsung's Web site. And at the time of this writing, the site now lists "We apologize but we are currently doing maintenance. Please try back in a few minutes."

"Maintenance," as we all know, is code for "All right. ... Who screwed the pooch?"

So, look for the Omnia II any time now, most likely.

Update: OK, so the peanut gallery, er, folks in the comments are saying this page actually had been up for a few days. And to that we respond thusly.

That's right, folks. For a limited time only (we presume) you can get the HTC Touch Pro and Touch Diamond, as well as the Samsung Omnia, for the low, low price of $99. As you well know, all three of those phones are on their way out, so the discount isn't unexpected.

(The Samsung Saga is still at $199, btw, the SMT5800 is $99 the Ozone and Q9m are $49, and the original HTC Touch is $9.99.)

That all comes along with a 2-year contract. So if you don't mind signing away 730 days of your cellular life for phones that while good, aren't the latest and greatest, head on over to Verizon.

Thanks, Elliot, and everyone else who sent this in.

So after a bit of a false start yesterday, the ROM update that will unlock the GPS on the Verizon Samsung Omnia is finally live. Head on over and get it, and let us know in the comments how it works. (And if any of you brave Windows 7 users want to try out the Vista version of the update tool and let us know how it works, that would be cool, too.)

Thanks again, cplush!

We're gonna pat ourselves on the back here a little bit and pretend that it was our open letter and persistent persistence that finally got Verizon to open up the GPS on the HTC Touch Pro and Samsung Saga – and, finally, the Samsung Omnia.

Note that the update page is up, but the download link isn't yet live. But here's what's getting updated:

• The latest Microsoft AKU Update 1.5.1.
• Enhanced zoom for Internet Explorer.
• Slight UI Modifications.
• Various additional improvements to improve handset function.
• Open Standalone LBS Supported and Performance Enhanced (This may Support 3rd Party Applications).
• VZ Access Manager Supports Bluetooth Connection (SPP).
• Correction of memory shortage issues.

OK, so it probably had nothing to do with us. That's cool. And it's the Saga, Touch Pro and Omnia owners who are the real winners here. Thanks for finally getting it done, Verizon. (And thanks, cplush, for the tip!)

Now, Verizon, about that Marketplace thing ...

Update: Rut-ro. Sure enough, the link got pulled. Keep an eye out folks.

Dear Verizon,

So here we are, halfway through the year and many moons removed from our open letter imploring you to unlock the GPS on your Windows Mobile phones. And in December 2008, you promised to do so in the first half of the year for the Samsung Omnia and Saga, and the HTC Touch Pro. And we rejoiced.

We're now a little past the midpoint of 2009, and indeed the Saga and Touch Pro have had their GPS chips released from the shackles of VZ Navigator, free to get turn-by-turn directions from the likes of Google Maps and Bing, among others. And for that, you have our thanks. While we're not quite ready to overlook you locking customers into (and having to pay for) VZ Navigator in the first place, it still means a lot in this crazy smartphone game when a company promises to do something and then follows through. So, thanks.

But while two out of three ain't bad, the job's not done. We can talk all night, but that ain't getting us nowhere. It's time to get the Omnia unlocked.  No more hacks. No more unofficial ROMs. Let's get that done so we can all turn our focus to some of the great new phones you have coming down the pike and go back to being one big, happy smartphone family.

We're still watching.

Love,

The WMExperts Team

One of the things missing from the announcement of Samsung's new Omnia line was actual specs. So, we're taking care of that after the break.

Samsung UK [via wmpoweruser and MoDaCo]

Read the rest of this entry »

Well, well, well. What have we here? This odd little phone from Samsung (that'd be for the cube button at the bottom) snuck up on us and could well be the next in the Omnia line. First, the deets, from Lithuanian site Mobili Linija [via]:

• Windows Mobile 6.1
• Quad-band EDGE, 2100MHz HSDPA.
• 3.7-inch AMOLED touchscreen (!) at 480x800 pixels
• Qualcomm MSM6290 processor
• Bluetooth 2.0
• WiFi b/g
• aGPS
• 1500mAh battery
• MicroSD card
• 8.1MP camera with flash, VGA video at 30fps.

Now, the odd (but cool) stuff: Phone Area also says this handset has also appeared with the Cubic37 codename. Pair that with the cube button at the bottom of the phone, and it's getting pretty likely that it could sport Samsung's rumored 3D cube UI.

Obviously this isn't something we'd see here with only the 2100MHz 3G band. But it's defintely something we'll an eye out for more on it in the future.

It's the Sunday rumor mill here in Windows Mobile land, and on today's plate is the Samsung Omnia Pro (cue HTC's lawyers), brought to us by hdblog.it. [via coolsmartphone]

While highly unofficial – and the rendering you see above is of hdblog's "own creation and does not reflect the real shape" (and putting your blog on the phone's shell kinda gives that away) – the rumor surrounds an 800x480 AMOLED touchscreen, 5MP camera with stabilizer and flash, and a 624MHz processor. No word on RAM and ROM sizes.

Supposedly the Ominia Pro will become more official this summer and cost about 500 Euros. A launch with Windows Mobile 6.1 is mentioned, with an upgrade to WM6.5 to come.

That said, folks, here's a little tip from your friends at WMExperts: When you're sitting in your basement Photoshoping together a Frankenphone for the Internets, remember to slap on the Windows flag button if you're going to even mention Windows Mobile 6.5, m'kay?