Samsung Releases 'Innov8' Multi-Megapixel Smartphone (TechWeb)
By Marin PerezInformationWeek Thu Jul 24, 1:35 PM ET
Samsung announced Thursday an 8-megapixel smartphone that's packed with business and entertainment features.
The i8510, or the Innov8, uses the Symbian v9.3 operating system, and is the company's first 8-megapixel camera phone. It comes with autofocus features, face recognition, image stabilizer, and flash. Users can edit and personalize the pictures with on-board software.
The camera can also be used to record video at 30 frames per second, and there's also a secondary camera to make video calls.
For mobile professionals, the Innov8 offers multiple ways to connect. It's HSDPA-compatible, so users can get a maximum downlink speed of 7.2 Mbps. There's also integrated Wi-Fi for high-speed connection, and an EDGE connection.
The smartphone can receive push e-mail, has an HTML browser, and is Bluetooth-capable. The 2.8-inch LCD screen has an accelerometer sensor, and it can be navigated with a 4-way navigation key and an optical mouse. Samsung did not elaborate on how the optical mouse would be implemented.
The Innov8 has an integrated GPS that can be used to geo-tag photos, as well as utilize cellular data for assisted-GPS services. Samsung's handset will come with 8 or 16 GB of memory on-board, and that can be expanded up to 8 GB via the microSD slot.
On the multimedia side, the Innov8 has a host of options. The handset, which has a standard headphone jack, can play multiple audio formats, and it has a built-in FM radio. The video player is capable of playing many codecs, including DivX.
The smartphone measures in at 4.2 by 2.1 by .7 inches. The Innov8 will be launched in Europe in August, and then rolled out to other markets, the company didn't release pricing information.