Samsung has released a very cool trick video, shot solely on the Samsung Omnia HD (i8910 HD). The video is of a man filming himself in a mirror using the Omnia HD. However, halfway through he briefly covers over the phone’s rear-mounted camera lens – blocking your view – and the device just disappears.

Pretty mediocre magic, you might say? Well, after he removes his hand the man is, somehow, able to continue shooting the video as though he were using an invisible Omnia HD. Samsung has promised that the movie was shot in one take and without any editing or computing effects being applied afterwards. So how was it done? Check it out for yourself after the break and let us know if you work it out! Read the rest of this entry »

Yippee! Finally, we have someone else who has had a look at the OmniaHD. We were posting so many impressions on the Omnia HD from All About Symbian (AAS) that some have mistakenly thought we were an affiliate site! Anyway, phoneArena have managed to get hands-on with a prototype unit and came away impressed. They believe the device may raise the ball-game for phones at this level and could put some of its rivals in hot water.

From reading their preview, there were a few things that stick out. Firstly, it seems that the unit they played with did not have a camera lens cover (I have attached a large picture after the break that puts this beyond doubt). Now I know that AAS said that the final retail unit will not feature a lens cover, but I’m still secretly hoping Samsung change their minds. For such a high-end imaging device and for the cost involved, I would not want to see dust getting into the lens.

Secondly, it looks like that back of the phone will be glossy plastic. So unfortunately it will probably be a fingerprint magnet. Like AAS, phoneArena were very impressed with the video playback (especially on that 3.7-inch screen) with it playing a number of plays smoothly and without problems. This is one area of the phone that has me very excited. I detest converting my video files so to play these files natively on the Omnia HD would be ideal.

On the video recording side they found that it did skip and stutter when recording in HD. The same thing happened with AAS, so I’m hoping this will be fixed in the final release. The software for the 8MP camera was found to be fast and easy to use. The preview also has some sample videos and photos (including 360 degree flash) of the device which are worth checking out. I have attached the summary points from the preview after the break (including their thoughts on the software side). Read the rest of this entry »

All About Symbian has posted the second part of a three part preview on the Omnia HD. In the first preview, AAS discussed the general design and hardware. This time round, AAS is taking us through all parts related to the imaging (camera and HD video) and multimedia side. The last part of the preview, published shortly, will cover the other software elements of the phone.

Overall, they found that it was one of the best camera phones on the market. Whilst the HD video recording provides the wow factor for the phone, there still seems to be some issues with audio sync and frame rate dropping. Hopefully, these will be fixed in time for the retail release. The Sharepix service application sounds like it could be a killer app for the phone. It allows videos to be directly uploaded to YouTube straight from the phone as well as other web services. All of this combined with a versatile music and audio software package, makes it one of the best multimedia devices on a Samsung S60 phone.

If you are interested in the phone then we recommend you have a read for yourself. It is a very thorough piece and also includes some sample photos and videos. We have posted the key points of this second preview after the break for the time constrained amongst you. Read the rest of this entry »

A new video of the Omnia HD in action has appeared in which shows just how fast and responsive the user interface really is. However, whilst watching it I noticed something that’s quite interesting. It appears that the Omnia HD camera will support WDR (Wide Dynamic Range). If one normally points the camera towards a window the background image can look washed out during the daytime. WDR resolves this issue by clearing it up. Certainly should be interesting to see how this feature works in practice. Full video (in French) after the break.

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