A Galaxy seizing the planet

Samsung, one of the two largest South Korean electronics powerhouses, has become a mobile phone producer to be reckoned with. From time to time, Samsung creates products that grab our attention — and our wallets. Testifying to its growing strength in the smartphone industry, the Aug. 5 edition of The Korea Times reported Samsung will open its twelfth R&D center in Bangladesh next year, focused on software development in response to surging market demand for upgraded smartphone technology.

The latest company flagship phone is the Galaxy S i19000, which was introduced during the CTIA 2010 event in the US. This particular line of smartphone has several slightly different variations of the same product. As CNet said last month, they come under different names, depending on where the product is purchased and the operating service. For example, AT&T subscribers in the US will be offered the Samsung Captivate Galaxy S, while other names include Fascinate, Vibrant and Epic.

The Galaxy S i19000 smartphone has reportedly been selling very well. According to Yoo-young Kim, managing director of Samsung Electronics Indonesia, his company sold around a half million units in one month.

www.samsung.co.id

One of the most attractive Galaxy S features is the use of Android as its operating system (OS). Many consumer may not yet be as familiar with the Android OS as they are with Symbian or BlackBerry, but this Google-made OS is steadily gaining ground. According to market research firm NPD Group, Android phones accounted for 33 percent of all smartphones sold in the US in the second quarter of this year. In comparison,  BlackBerry accounted for 28 percent and Apple OS X drew just 22 percent, despite the groundswell of consumer excitement over iPhones. In Indonesia there are a number of Android phones already on the market, including Motorola Milestone, Acer Liquid e and a variety of popular HTC smartphones.

The current Galaxy S comes equipped with Android 2.1, but can be easily upgraded to Android 2.2, aka, Froyo. When the Android 2.2 is installed, Galaxy S users will be supported by Microsoft Exchange, among other features. The Exchange support, for example, will enable users to remotely wipe out all user data if the smartphone is stolen.

Perhaps even more useful is Galaxy’s capability to set up a WiFi hotspot that can be shared with seven other devices. Samsung is working on technology, hopefully available by the end of this year, that will enable the smartphone to access a wireless broadband connection though 3G WCDMA or High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) when a Galaxy user is operating at a location that does not have a WLAN.

Other highlights of the Galaxy S include linkage to Samsung Apps, which offers a wide range of applications additional to those already available at Android Market. One favorite application is Gramedia’s English-Indonesian dictionary.  While the range of applications may not be as broad as the products available at App Store, the number of Android applications is growing at a rapid pace.

The handset itself is impressive. It is quite thin, only 9.9 mm at its top. It has a 4 inch Super Active Matrix Organic LED (AMOLED) screen, the same as the LG BL40 Chocolate 4-inch screen. The screen is bright and easy to read outdoors.

There is also a new input method that Samsung calls Swype. With this feature, instead of tapping each individual character, the user can simply drag a fingertip over the virtual keyboard and the smartphone will predict the choice of words you wish to enter.

Galaxy users do not need to open SMS or email applications before creating messages. Messages can be swyped and sent out as an SMS or email message, or stored as a note.

The Galaxy S is driven by Samsung’s own 1 GHz processor, making it quite responsive to touch, unlike some of the earlier touchscreen phones that responded far more slowly.

There are, unfortunately, some design shortcomings. There is no hardware button for taking pictures.

Users must tap an icon on the screen to snap a photo. The casing is made of glossy plastic, including the rather flimsy battery cover. There is no flash for the camera, although it is a 5-mega-pixel. The unit does not come with a lens cover. There is no hardware keypad, however, both Samsung and Telkomsel believe that consumers are moving from the QWERTY keypad to onscreen keyboard.

Samsung is working together with Telkomsel in offering this smartphone to Indonesian consumers. The price of a Galaxy S i19000, bundled with the operator’s Simpati service, is Rp 6.499.000 (US$727.89), which includes up to 500 megabytes of data for six months.