I think I finally found my babe: the SAMSUNG Omnia Pro B7610

After looking around of a replacement mobile set for my faithful but aged Samsung Omnia (2007), I almost settled on the arguably good but not the latest tech platform in the HTC HD2, and that was aftering feeling I had to settle for the S$997 (now promo-priced at S$879) Samsung Omnia HD. So my brother Chris - a tech-geek - says that I should away the Windows 7 mobile OS, which should be available by year-end. I don't know if Windows Mobile is worth waiting for, because with the Omnia I use, I had to bear with a great deal of problems, particularly when tapping the touchscreen to accept a call. Then, just last month, I checked the website and decided to upgrade the firmware, which included a revised version of Windows 6.1, which the Omnia uses. To my surprise, the firmware upgrade resulted in much better performance, and most importantly, after about 2.5 years of usage, the ability to reliably pull the phone out of its protective leather sleeve and answer the incoming call without a hitch. Now, finally, after two over years, I actually answer my phone calls directly off the phone. You may wonder why I did not dump the phone earlier. Firstly, because I was told it was a software problem, and secondly, the phone did cost a lot of money - even though it was less than the first version iPhone impported from the USA. While speaking to a M1 mobile phone sales promoter at Funan Centre, he did remind me that the Omnia is in fact a goood phone except for the touchscreen troubles, but that could be corrected with the firmware upgrade. I did upgrade the firmware twice before and this cursory mention motivated me to spontaneously download the latest upgrade available off the mobile support site. That aside, the question now is whether I would still be happy to hold on to this old sweatshop. She's not a beauty anymore but her size is perfect for the vest pocket and phone pocket in my shoulderbag. The downside is that she can't play any of the digital movies I have downloaded for my mobile phone, even with the DivX registration. The problem is that the phone memory is too small, and only the useless Touch Player works off the storage card memory (16GB), and the additional 2GB microSD card. So, I am reviewing all the phones right now to find my new babe. I think I found it in the newly arrived SAMSUNG Omnia Pro B7610 I had a look at just today at the phone showroom, and a chance to play with the menu and options at the M1 licensed store at B1 Plaza Singapura. Oddly enough, the distibutor shop had a model to play with, minus SIM Card, but the Samsung Showroom did not. Makes you wonder who actually manages the Samsung brand customer service and showroom in Singapore, because I get the ickie feeling after dealing with them for my Blu-Ray player and other appliances, that it's a licensed company that is authorised to act as the Samsung agent here. Complaint about the agent aside, it's really now about how reliable and good this product is. Here are the specifications: General: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, UMTS 900/2100 MHz, HSDPA 3.6Mbps Form factor: Full QWERTY side-slider Dimensions: 112.6 x 57.8 x 16.2 mm, 159g Display: 3.5" 16M color (65K effective) resistive AMOLED touchscreen of WVGA resolution OS: Windows Mobile 6.1 (upgradable to 6.5), TouchWiz 2.0 UI Memory: 1GB built-in storage, 256 MB RAM, hot-swappable microSD (up to 16GB) CPU: 800 MHz processor with dedicated graphics accelerator Camera: 5 megapixel auto-focus, with dual LED flash and VGA video at 30 fps Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP, standard microUSB port, GPS receiver with A-GPS, TV out, 3.5mm standard audio jack Misc: Accelerometer for screen auto rotate and turn-to-mute, FM radio with RDS, DivX/XviD video support, work and leisure modes Battery: 1500mAh Li-Ion battery The assorted reviews are generally good, and the only complaints may be about specific preferences. For now, the verdict is out, and this is my babe!