While the Samsung P940 has not yet been released, it looks as though it will be a useful addition to the Samsung stable and further enhance their reputation in the market place. While the phone has all of the traditional functionality that you would expect form a market leader, it also has a TV receiver inbuilt enabling the user to watch TV on the move. While the number of channels actually producing TV footage for the mobile market is relatively small, this is an area which will be exploited to the full in the short to medium term.
While some of the specifications are still a little hazy (eg no dimensions or batter power confirmed as yet) it will be released in the traditional clam shell design, with a slightly enlarged screen for better viewing. Covering the HSDPA, GSM 900, GSM 1800 and GSM 1900 networks, it will allow seamless worldwide roaming which is becoming more and more important, especially for today's business market.
When the clam shell is closed you are able to view income messages and calls via the basic external display screen which offer 80 x 64 pixel resolution with 65,000 color combinations. The larger internal screen is 2.15 inches in diameter and offers an improved 240 x 320 pixel focus, supporting 256,000 color combinations. While the color combinations could be higher to further improve TV viewing especially, we await release of the phone to confirm the situation. Interestingly the top half of the handset also rotates so that the larger screen can be viewed horizontally or vertically.
The Samsung P940 supports a number of connectivity functions including, GPRS transfer, EDGE software, 3G data transfer (HSDPA 1.8Mbps), Bluetooth and USB connector, although for some reason Wilan, Infrared and HSCDS are not covered. There are also the standard messaging systems such as SMS, MMS and email not to mention the WAP browser for constant internet access.
It looks that Samsung have taken note of consumer opinion and they have included a new improved 2 megapixel camera, offering 1600 x 1200 pixel resolution, with is perfect support for both the video and TV functions. The Samsung P940 also houses an MP3 player and additional music offerings, not to mention a variety of inbuilt JAVA games to assist with those long journeys.When taking account of the above functionality as well as the standard inbuilt personal organizer, the market place is awaiting the introduction of the phone with great interest.
Perfect for the mobile business person as well as person use, the phone is set to do well, joining the small band of TV enabled handsets on the market.