Andy (HyperX) has been doing some wonderful work on i8910 HD modified firmware. In his latest efforts he has been able to run 62 applications simultaneously, quite a feat! The latest build also has a staggering 194MB on boot. He is using the HX-V4-Speed-SE firmware. Check out the video of it in action after the cut. Read the rest of this entry »

Skyfire has launched version 1.5 of its mobile browser for Symbian S50 5th Edition handsets (including the Samsung i8910 Omnia HD). The update brings full support for high-resolution screens, a new UI and finger-friendly scrolling (including kinetic scrolling). You can download the Skyfire browser here. Check out a video of it in action after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

A big i8910 HD firmware update is expected to land during this month. The new update will offer faster web browsing, an improved graphics engine as well as kinetic scrolling. Anphase, the same person who wrote that 25 page quality control report, recently met with Samsung to talk about his issues and came back impressed with the company’s willingness to talk.

Samsung offered him a test unit with a preview of the new firmware on it. He’s documented his findings in a 10-minute video, which we’ve attached after the break. Read the rest of this entry »

Spotify has finally released its app for Symbian S60 handsets, including our beloved Samsung i8910 Omnia HD. Similar to the Android app, the S60 client supports an offline mode that caches tracks onto the phone’s memory for those times when you don’t have a signal.

Before you rush of to download it, remember it will only work if you are already have a Spotify Premium subscription, which costs £9.99 per month. Check out a couple of quick preview videos after the cut. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve been having a good play around with the Opera Mobile 10 Beta, that was released for Symbian handsets earlier this week. I’ve posted my video impressions after the jump and overall it makes a big difference to the overall i8910 experience. Let’s be honest the default browser on the handset isn’t the best, and Opera improves on it in a number of areas.

It adds tabbed browsing, speed dials, Opera Turbo (for low bandwidth use) and generally a full desktop experience on the handset. One nice bonus, is that it also adds kinetic scrolling too. If you want to play around with the settings type ‘Opera:Config’ into the browser and you’ll get a wealth of options.

It’s not all rosy though, there’s no flash support on the browser, no sound/tactile feedback and the keyboard can be a bit tricky to use. However, you can use the default keyboard by changing the settings (see the video for the tip). It’s been reported that it can be a bit of a battery eater but it’s too early for me to judge this. Check out our video after the break. Read the rest of this entry »

Opera has a released the beta of Opera Mobile 10 for Symbian/S60 handsets today. Samsung i8910 Omnia HD owners will happy to know that this includes support for S60 5th Edition. It looks like an exciting release with Speed Dial, tabbed browsing and a password manager. I’m especially looking forward to the first two, which should make the browsing experience more pleasurable (& hopefully) faster.

Opera claims that this beta is twice as fast as the previous version targeted to Symbian handsets. Opera has also included Opera Turbo, the company’s server-side compression technology that should help performance in weaker 3G areas.

I’ve not had a chance to download it myself yet, but will be giving it a whirl shortly. The beta is free to download to your computer from here or directly to your mobile phone by typing the following: http://m.opera.com/mobile/. If you are looking for more information on the beta, click here for the developer’s introduction to the Opera Mobile 10 beta. Check out a video of the beta in action after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

Kinetic scrolling remains atop of most wish lists in terms of how one would improve the Samsung i8910 Omnia HD. Seeing how well it is implemented in the Gravity twitter application makes me yearn for this functionality even more.

Good news though, for those willing to upgrade to the latest Chinese firmware (I8910UZCII1), you will be treated to kinetic scrolling in the browser. This is because it uses the newest version of the Nokia WebKit browser (7.1.13841). Check out a video of this in action after the jump and also note that the browser also offers an auto-fullscreen mode. Let’s hope this makes it to other regional updates as soon as possible. Read the rest of this entry »

Nearly a week after Samsung released the Russian XEII1 firmware update, the company has released a new XXII1 update for Italian handsets. The similarities between both code names is not a coincidence – from what I can tell this new update (dated 7th September) is near enough identical to the Russian firmware.

I upgraded to this new firmware from IG2 yesterday and am enjoying it so far. You end up with a new 3D Task Switcher (a carousel showing opening apps) – it’s certainly not needed, but it sure looks fancy. There is also a Grid View of open apps if you prefer it to remain simple.

Other changes include a new zoom icon for the browser. You can also now zoom in/out of pictures in MediaBrowser. It’s good to know that the frustrating stop bug in the browser has also been fixed. The dial pad also sports ‘abc’, ‘def’ lettering on numbers now too.

From what I can tell, the update has made no change to the frame rate of HD video recording (you still get AAC audio though). There is also no App Store icon, despite the store launching shortly (Monday 14th September). A quick video tour of the new firmware is attached after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

A new Samsung i8910 HD firmware update is now out for Hong Kong & Russian models. The XEII1 has some quite interesting additions including a new 3D TaskSwitcher. We’ve attached a video of this in action after the break and appears to work very smoothly.

Other additions include an improved keyboard with increased spacing between keys. The browser stop bug has also been fixed. We have attached a changelog after the break that includes a number of other changes. Sounds like some worthwhile additions and we look forward to this being rolled in other regions soon. Read the rest of this entry »

Finding a decent case for the Samsung i8910 Omnia HD can be a tough task. As one of the tallest phones around, the last thing you need is extra bulk. There are a number of very good cases around, but I was looking for something that provided solid protection if the handset fell, in a minimalist design.

The guys over at MobileFun sent over the ToughGuard Shell case to review, which seemed to answer that criteria. The case is well designed, it hardly weighs anything but provides durable protection against knocks & scrapes. It comes in two parts (front & back) with a matte finish so you don’t need to worry about fingerprint marks. It is made out of tough polycarbonate, so it should last a long time.

Once fitted onto your phone, you have access to all of the camera features and all of the ports. There was no problem in gaining access to ports with flaps either. The manufacturers have provided enough room for easy access to all parts of your phone. It can be a bit tricky to remove once on, but that shows how strong it is.

Overall it’s thoroughly recommended. You can purchase it from MobileFun for £9.95 + p&p. Mobile Fun is one of the largest UK retailers dedicated to mobile phone accessories. They deliver across Europe too. Check out our hands-on video after the break. Read the rest of this entry »

We only recently upgraded our i8910 Omnia HD to the newer IG2 firmware. We didn’t upgrade as soon as we got the handset as we wanted to find out about the limitations of the current firmware before moving on. One of these limitations was AMR audio when recording video. The newer IG2 firmware upgrades this to AAC audio with a higher sampling rate.

To determine what the real-world difference might be, we shot a couple of videos using near-enough identical shooting conditions. We used one of my child’s toys, the singing lobster, to try and show off any improvements using IG2. You can check out both 30-second videos below , to hear the difference. Read the rest of this entry »

As an Omnia HD Ambassador, we have been tasked with a couple of missions to showcase various aspects of the handset. The first mission was entitled “A kaleidoscope of colours”. As you can probably guess, this particular task involved creating a video that contrasts the “colours in ordinary life and looks at the significance of colour”.

The criteria was quite open, which left me a bit stumped as to what idea to choose. I ruled out parks/beaches early on as I felt that most people would be thinking along the same lines. As a father of two young kids, my inspiration hit me pretty quickly.

I decided to use some of my kids toys. Most of them have quite bright and bold colours, which I thought would be perfect for a short video. I also submitted another video that simply follows a bright, colourful parrot wondering around its cage. You can see both of these attempts after the break. It’s by no means perfect, but hopefully gets the message across.

We should highlight that the videos were recorded in high-definition (1280 x 720) using I8910XXIF7 firmware. This is the firmware that shipped with the handset and uses AMR audio. As you can probably tell it doesn’t sound great at all. We will be upgrading to the newer ‘IG2’ shortly, but wanted to find out the limitations of the older firmware first! You’ll also probably notice dropped frames in the video, most noticeable when panning. Hopefully, this is something Samsung will be able to iron out in future firmware releases. Read the rest of this entry »

Okay, so I know that a lot of you have the Samsung i8910 Omnia HD already and I know that many of you have seen quite a few i8910 unboxing videos too, but I couldn’t resist throwing mine into the ring too! We put together a quick video that shows us unboxing the handset and we’ve also included some pictures of the whole thing too.

The i8910 HD we were sent was the Italian version, so the box included a European plug and Italian manuals, but this is not too much of an issue. I was a bit upset not to find the key-ring phone stand in the box, this was included in the Orange UK boxes. Initial impressions of the phone are very positive and it’s certainly not as tall as we’d come to believe. We’re still at the very early stages of playing around with the handset, so expect some more useful updates going forward. In the mean time check out our unboxing video and pictures after the break. Read the rest of this entry »

Our UK readers will probably have heard of Tim Lovejoy, who used to present Soccer AM and now is the anchorman for the Channelbee website. He recently went hands-on with the Samsung i8910 Omnia HD and you can watch his humorous tour of the phone here.

Channelbee is also giving you the chance to win the Samsung i8910 HD. All you have to do is create some original video content and upload your video onto the Channelbee website. The best one walks away with an i8910 handset. You’d better get cracking though as the closing date is Monday morning!

When the Samsung i8910 Omnia HD was originally released, it was due to come in two SKUs, one with 8GB of internal storage and another with 16GB. Whilst the phone has seen its sim-free release across parts of Europe and on contract in the UK through Orange, the only version that has appeared is the 8GB. This was starting to beg the question whether the 16GB version was even still on the agenda.

However, it appears that the 16GB SKU is very much of part of Samsung’s plans and has been released across Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden, and Denmark). It seems that you will ONLY find the 16GB SKU in these countries, as the 8GB version is not being sold. The cost is 6,695 Norwegian Kroner at Komplett, which is shipping right now and translates to around £635, €750 or $1,050. Click through for an unboxing video of the 16GB i8910 Omnia HD.

Update: The 16GB version has also hit the Netherlands, where the 8GB is already sold. Maybe we will start to see this SKU appear in more regions after all. Thanks Quindor!
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