One More Thing.
Amazon finally have the B7610 in stock (Germany)
I placed my order on June 29th 2009. Today I quickly checked Amazon and finally, it’s in stock.
Funily enough, Amazon appear to have dropped it and it’s only available through one of their 3rd party shops. As we move towards Mobile World Congress and a new range of high-end smartphones, the B7610 appears to be fading. My wife is still super happy with hers B7610 but then again, it was free for her!
Moving on from My Omnia Pro
Unfortunately, due to other, more important work (I launched Carrypad.com and there’s a new baby on the way!) i’m going to have to stop work on MyOmniaPro. I’ve also stopped using my Omnia Pro too so as a non-user, I don’t feel I can continue with the website anyway. It’s a shame because the readers here were a fantastic bunch and very interactive. If there’s one thing I love about running a niche website, it’s the focused readers!
Why am I not using the Omnia Pro? There are a number of reasons:
- Windows Mobile 6.5 was a let-down. Not, bad; just a disappointment. I was happy to forgive the WM6.1 issues related to user interface, connectivity (wifi/3G priorities) and the poor email app but when 6.5 didn’t really improve anything much, I lost some interest.
- I played with the Motorola Milestone (EU version of Droid) and it highlighted the now relatively ‘weak’ processing platform on the Omnia Pro B7610. Cortex A8-based CPU’s are a must if you’re looking for a smartphone in 2010.
- The Milestone also highlighted how, as a very heavy Google services user, Android should be my only OS choice. The integration is way beyond anything I’ve experienced before.
- My wife needed a new phone. Her previous HTC Trinity was becoming unstable and the Omnia Pro fitted in perfectly. My wife is 100% happy and impressed with the OP and is using it extensively.
Have I bought a new phone? No! I’m back with the Nokia N82. I’m using an Archos 5 Android device at home and am taking my UMPC or netbook with me for productivity work. The N82 camera was another reason that I couldn’t settle with the Omnia Pro. Most of my phone images are at evening or indoor events. The Xenon flash is unbeatable for that and quite seriously, it’s a lock-in feature for me. I won’t take another phone until I can better the N82 camera experience. I’ve been looking at the Sony Ericsson Satio but I’m just not sure about that resistive touchscreen for day-to-day use. We’ll see!
I’ll be continuing the subject of high-end, productive and web-enabled phones, tablets and MIDs on Carrypad. Hope to see you over there.
I would love to see the MyOmniaPro blog continue so if any of you Omnia Pro fans out there want to continue the blog, I’m happy to continue to host and manage it. Let me know and we can talk.
Finally, apologies to all of you that were waiting for the full review. That’s not going to happen now.
PocketNow Review of the Omnia Pro B7610
Tracking back through a Twitter search today I came across an interesting price drop in the UK. The Omnia Pro is now selling for 329 pounds including taxes which is excellent value for a 3.5” AMOLED WVGA smartphone with 5mp cam and 720×480 video recording. I also found a link to a full review from PocketNow which is worth checking out.
More images over at PocketNow
720×480 video test on WM6.5 B7610
Here’s a brief look at the video recording quality on my upgraded Omnia Pro (now running WM6.5)
The quality is surprisingly good for a smartphone. 2mbps H.264 means you can send it direct to YouTube without having to re-compress it too.
The video should play in HQ by default but remember its a video converted by YouTube. The original file is available at Blip.TV in the ‘files and links’ section on the right.
What do you think?
WM6.5 arrives for Dutch Omnia QWERTY Customers. Testing in progress…
I’m sure there are other countries that either have, or are soon to get the free WM6.5 upgrade but seeing as my own device is a stock, unbranded, Dutch B7610 (known as Omnia Qwerty in Holland) it’s my cue to download and upgrade.
For Dutch customers only (bricking your device is a distinct possibility if you try this with a branded or hacked device) here’s the link for the upgrade manual and upgrade software. Make sure you have plenty of battery in your PC and phone before you upgrade. Unfortauntely, this only works on Windows desktop OS. XP recommended. Linux and Mac users are out of luck.
http://software.mbzrsolutions.nl/omniaupgrade.html
Again, don’t try this unless you have a stock, unbranded phone from Holland.
I’ve downloaded the recommended version of ‘New PC Studio’ , the upgrade has been detected and I’m upgrading now.
Check back for updates.
19:53. Upgrade worked OK. Now switching from Dutch to English…I noted that the original Samsung three-screen start menu is now gone. It uses the default WM6.5 start menu now.
20:06. Switched to English OK. Confirmed that video recording is now 720×480. A nice upgrade!
20:25. Email program improved. Touch scrolling on directories and individual emails.
20:26. I prefer the Windows start menu to the old Samsung one. Its quicker.
20:30. Cant find a way to reduce font size for email yet. Seems that the WM6.5 settings are well hidden buy the Samsung settings.
20:35. I’m stunned at how little has changed between WM6.1 and 6.5 in general.
20:35. Lock screen uses default windows 6.5 lock. Quicker than Samsung.
20:57. Device completely locked (solid) after using the lock button. Soft-reset needed.
21:00Rearranging items on the start screen takes forever. You have to move them to the top and then shuffle everything else up until you get it to the rigth position. This can’t be right.
21:01 Nothing seems to be faster or slower in general.
21:05 The podcast directory is still terribly limited and some podcasts found by search arent accepted as valid podcasts. Acast on Android is a million times better than this.
OK. Stopping testing for a while. In summary, it’s a bit of an anti-climax. Nice to have the new video recording resolution and a better email UI but clearly WM6.5 is mainly a marketing trick.
I’ll start my full review now. Should be up in about a week as I have a few other devices to review for Carrypad and UMPCPortal here.
Thanks Raposa, for the tip.
UK Omnia Pro B7610 with WM6.5: Unboxing Video
While Holland may have been first country to get the 6.1 version of the Omnia Pro B7610, it’s certainly not the first to get the WM6.5 version. This good quality, 15-minute unboxing video from Tracy and Matts blog shows the UK device in all its glory.
Praise goes to the 4-row QWERTY keyboard. ‘Very generous’ and the bright AMOLED screen. ‘Display, awesome’ says Matt. The design looks exactly the same all-round so rumors of a capacative screen and other differences were, unfortunately, wrong.
Quick Camera Test: Motorola Droid, Samsung Omnia Pro, Nokia N900
I had an hour or two with the Motorola Droid / Milestone today and managed to take a few (just a few) pics with the cameras on each one. The images don’t tell the whole story of course (my thoughts on testing phone cameras here) but it might help you to at least see that there’s not much difference in the image quality between the three. I’ve included some thoughts too.
Above: N900. With flash on right.
Samsung Omnia Pro Information
I track the Samsung Omnia Pro (and similar devices) over at the UMPCPortal product database. Click through to get the full specifications along with videos, images and links to other Omnia-Pro content on the net.
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