LG KC910 Renoir

LG KC910 Renoir *****
"This looks like an absolute star to use, but is the touchscreen up to scratch?"

Is it all about the camera? Well the Renoir has an 8 megapixel beast! It's a real cam phone contender. It performs well, and if you want to focus on a particular part of the subject, you do this by touching the area of the screen you want to focus. nice touch.

But it can't be all about the camera, even if it is the main feature. This phones completely touchscreen. It can be inconsistent at times, but it's all fingers, there's no stylus. The phone doesn't need one, but tricky menus may catch you out.

Dolby and DivX come included, so your music and video will be crystal clear. You get GPS working alongside Google maps. Plus Wi'Fi and HSDPA. Others include: Bluetooth, Radio, 3G, 3 inch screen, MP3/AAC/WMA. And MicroSD compatible.

The designs an absolute winner, packed with plenty of features. But the touchscreen just can't cut it. When will there be a perfect touchscreen!

Check out the Renoir over at CNET.co.uk

LG KC550

LG KC550 *****

I can't really say i'm too impressed with this phone. It's just ugly, who designed this phone? Inside it's all pretty standard too. Of course there's the MP3, Bluetooth, Radio, 5 megapixel camera etc. But it has nothing to shout about.

Auto image rotation is included for viewing pics and videos, but that's about it i'm afraid. This slider hasn't much to offer, steer well clear, there are much better phones out there.

Press Release: Samsung Pixon

SAMSUNG PIXON: THE WORLD’S SLIMMEST 8-MEGAPIXEL FULL TOUCH PHONE
New handset allows users to capture and share unexpected moments in quality and with ease


UK – September 29th 2008: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, the UK’s second largest mobile phone manufacturer, today unveils the Samsung Pixon (M8800) – the world’s slimmest full-touch 8-megapixel camera phone.

With a 13.8mm design and a 3.2 inch full touch screen user interface, coupled with outstanding portability and beautiful design, the Samsung Pixon looks set to lead the way in camera and phone convergence. The Samsung Pixon is the second highly-anticipated 8-megapixel camera phone launch from Samsung, following the unveiling of the Samsung i8510 in August 2008.

Not only does the phone look like a camera, thanks to the 3.2 inch screen, but it also boasts a remarkable array of features more regularly seen in standalone cameras. x16 digital zoom, auto-focus, fast-shutter, face detection and geo-tagging are all part of the package, enabling users to capture and share unexpected moments with ease and without compromising on the style and size of the handset.

To ensure this functionality is achieved, the Samsung Pixon also comes with an integrated Photo Browser which allows easy photo sharing and viewing, to compliment the high quality picture capability of the 8-megapixel camera.

Mark Mitchinson, Vice President of Samsung Mobile UK and Ireland said: “Samsung is a company which constantly innovates, to improve our consumers’ experiences and to make things easier and more fun.

Now everyone will be able to ‘get their pics on’ so much more quickly and easily. For the first time you will have a camera on your phone capable of delivering the quality of image of a regular camera.

The big benefit is not just the ease with which people will now be able to capture and share camera-phone shots, but the quality of those shots when taken.”Missing those perfect moments will become a thing of the past thanks to the new Samsung Pixon which is available in the UK and Ireland from 1st November 2008.

Follow the adventure!

Samsung Tocco (F480)

Samsung Tocco *****
"Nicely designed, with some really cool features"

The Tocco turns out to be quite a nice piece of kit. I just love it's size and design, but underneath that sexy exterior, can the Tocco have us kneeling at it's almighty presence?

It's got an appropriate name, Tocco, meaning "touch" in Italian. Inside it's slim and sleek design, the interface is quite easy to use, with drag-n-drop widgets on the home screen, a really cool feature. Saves you time sifting through menu's.

Equipped with a 5 megapixel camera, you can be ensured of getting some high quality snaps. But we found the camera can struggle in low light situations, and using the flash whilst in a case can be disastrous. Camera options include image stabilisation, face detection and smile shot, meaning when the camera detects a person smiling it will take a shot.

3G, Bluetooth, MP3/AAC, microSD card slot, FM radio, MP3 player software included. Perhaps a let down is that there is no Wi-Fi, surely a mistake. Apart from that it's a neat piece of kit, The touch screen can be tricky at times, but hey this ain't no iPhone anyway, it's the Samsung Tocco. Well done.....

See some user reviews over at Stuff.tv

Nokia N96

Nokia N96 *****

Introducing the successor to the mighty N95. The N96 proves to be even more mighty, packing 16GB of internal memory. But if that's not enough for you, there's a microSDHC slot to overspill all your entertainment needs onto. Well, this is supposed to be phone dedicated to entertainment.

You have all the usual support modes on it, MP3, WMA, AAC etc. Bluetooth and Wi-Fi make an appearance, also you get a built-in DVB-H reciver for digital viewing, nice. A 5 megapixel camera seems the norm these days, although there are phones out there with 8 MP. Two LED's make up the flash, handy for those dim situations.....

Not forgetting Sat-Nav, it's 2.8" screen and that lovely glossy black finish, there's only one thing letting it down, it's a Nokia.

Read some user reviews for this phone from Stuff.tv

Samsung Omnia (SGH-i900)

Samsung Omnia - A truly all-in-one phone. *****
£Free W/Contract

Network/OS/Display
HSDPA 7.2 Mbps, EDGE/GPRS. Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional. 3.2" WQVGA TFT LCD (240 x 400)
Camera
5 Megapixel, Auto Focus, Image Stablizer, Geo-tagging, Auto-Panorama Shot, Smile Shot, WDR, Face Detection.
Video
DivX/Xvid/WMV/MP4. Video recording. Video editing: Trim Video, Audio dubbing, Live dubbing, Add Subtitle, Image capture.
Audio
FM Radio with RDS. MP3/AAC/AAC+/WMA/OGG/AMR. Bluetooth Stereo Headset.
Value added Features
3.5 Ear Jack. GPS with Navigation. TouchWiz UI. MS Office Document Viewer, Advanced PIM Apps, Push E-mail, Auto Rotation, TV Out.
Connectivity/Memory/Size/Battery
Bluetooth 2.0/USB 2.0/Wi-Fi. 8GB/16GB Flash + External Memory Slot : microSDHC (up to 16GB). 112 x 56.9 x 12.5 mm. 1440mAh battery.

Review
Well what a brilliant, feature packed phone this is. I love the design, I love the features, I love the way it all fits together. The side bar widgets drag and drop system is excellent, enabling you to select what widgets you need on the home screen. It incorporates the Samsung menu and Windows menu, which work well together.

The touch screen is quite sensitive and works well. I especially like the optical mouse cursor, that gives you an extra way of controlling the phone. Or alternatively there's the stylus for those hard to reach areas. So plenty of ways to navigate through your Samsung Omnia.

Clicking "Main Menu" from the home screen brings up all the features and apps, access to media etc. I quite like that there's an Opera browser installed for internet viewing, alongside Internet Explorer. A nice 5 mega pixel camera on the reverse takes stunning pics, for every situation. And there's many features to try out with the camera. Spend a good few days searching through the phone, alot to see. And still so much to find.

Overall, truly stunning. Forget the iPhone, the Omnia is my choice. Feature packed, future proof, elegant design. What more do you need.