All About Symbian has posted the last part of a three part preview on the Omnia HD. In the first preview, AAS discussed the general design and hardware. In the second, they went through all parts related to the imaging (camera and HD video) side. The last part covers the software elements of the phone such as GPS, web, Touchwiz as well as overall conclusions.

This preview seems to be the longest out of all three. It goes through the individual applications to quite some depth. Some (crucial) parts were untested like GPS, but will be covered in the final review. Click through for a summary on the key points.

Key points from AAS Preview Part Three:

• GPS: AAS were unable to test the GPS applications in the preview. The Omnia HD includes a number of GPS applications including Gypsii (sharing locations with friends), GPS+, Route 66 as well as a compass (should be very useful in pedestrian mode).
• Web: Phone uses standard S60 5th Edition browser, optimised for finger touch. The increased screen size and display resolution makes navigating web pages more easily. The capacitive screen helps in this regard with only light touches needed to scroll.
• Web: Samsung has added a number of customisations to the browser including a mini thumbnail overview which shows where you are scrolling on the page. Overall performance was impressive with smooth scrolling and rendering of web pages. Full support for Flash content.
• TouchWiz is the ‘widget-based’ homescreen. These include quite a few already from an analogue clock to more rich based widgets. More widgets are expected from the partnership with Yahoo, Google and Accuweather. Provides a much flashier front end than we usually see on S60 devices.
• Other software includes a global search tool called Smart search, Dictionary, Smartreader, Quickoffice, RoadSync, Qik, Adobe PDF and Fring.
• Omnia HD uses default text entry options – you can choose between a full QWERTY keyboard, virtual alphanumeric keypad, small QWERTY keyboard and handwriting recognition. The capacitive screen makes the last two tricky to use. However the first two work well.

Conclusion

• For viewing photos and video, the Omnia HD is the best seen on a mobile device. 8MP camera and HD video recording is the best you’ll find on a mobile. The form-factor seems more like a cross between phone and PMP.
• Omnia HD faces a number of competitors, including the Apple iPhone v3, Palm Pre, HTC Touch Pro 2, and the Nokia N97. All have their own strengths and weaknesses.
• Room for improvement on the Symbian S60 5th Edition UI. The customised homescreens and other software tweaks may end up making all the difference in terms of customer perception.
• Omnia HD will be supported by several media campaigns, from traditional advertising to social media and word of mouth campaigns.
• Stands out from crowd due to cutting edge hardware (OLED screen, HD video recording and general multimedia). However, firmware support will be key given its poor track record in previous phones.

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 11th, 2009 at 5:51 PM and is filed under Applications, GPS, Hands On, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.