We’re claiming several ‘firsts’ with the Samsung i8910HD which is now available in Orange’s UK stores. In terms of technology it’s the first mobile phone capable of capturing HD video, and then displaying it on the world’s biggest AMOLED phone screen (3.7 inches, 360 by 640px).
It seems appropriate to say something on the Symbian Blog because the i8910HD comes at a time when, thanks to the Foundation, the way we work together has in many ways changed.
‘First Among Equals’ (also the title Jeffrey Archer’s book, but that shouldn’t count against us) seems an apt title for this post: this is the first Symbian touch device to be released since the formation of the Symbian Foundation, but it certainly won’t be the last. In the neutral and constructive context enabled by the Symbian Foundation, Forum Nokia and Sony Ericsson Developer World are our collaborators. However in the market-place they are our competitors, also producing Symbian devices and seeking innovation for them.
So how does this work?
The i8910HD is a great case-study in manufacturer differentiation from a common platform. As David Wood mentioned a post or two ago, our device is very different from the latest Nokia or Sony Ericsson 5th Edition devices. Conversely, if you look at the i8910HD with the other phones in Samsung’s lineup (Tocco, Pixon, Omnia, etc.), they are all instantly recognisable as members of the same family.
The differences between the i8910HD and its competitors are not just cosmetic. The i8910HD differentiates itself with the underlying OMAP3 hardware platform, which includes support for OpenGL ES 2.0 hardware acceleration, and with APIs such as NaviSensor, which provides backward compatibility with previous Symbian phones from Samsung like the i8510 Innov8. Then there are Home Screen WRT widgets, which provide a migration path for standard S60 widgets to a range of Samsung devices. Watch this space!
Of course device differentiation is not without its challenges, but this is the frontier where the mobile industry drives innovation, while constantly trying to avoid the most offensive f-word of all: fragmentation. There, we said it! Ok, that’s too big a topic to address here, so let’s look at some practical solutions.
The i8910HD is packed with a host of powerful options: Qt, Python, Ruby and the previously mentioned standard S60 widgets. All these run out-of-the box without change on the i8910HD, but if you want to go deeper, you can.
So, while at Samsung Mobile Innovator we recognise that you have choice, and that we are only one of many channels for developers to deploy apps and services, we believe our proposition to develop on the i8910HD to be compelling. Why not visit innovator.samsungmobile.com to find out more? If you’re not already a member of our program, it’s free to join, and membership gives you access to the i8910HD DevPack.
The DevPack includes:
- An SDK plug-in with access to Samsung’s custom APIs
- A fully-featured emulator
- Example programs.
Currently this DevPack is in Alpha release, but stay tuned as further features continue to be made available.
