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Apr. 6, 2009

Samsung has unveiled its mew Omnia smartphone and said it will make it available in Canada beginning April 30.

The Omnia is a Windows Mobile device with EVDO and WiFi connectivity. The new handset is already available in the U.S., Europe and Asia, said Paul Brannen, general manager of Samsung Canada’s wireless terminals division.

"The Omnia is aimed at both consumers and businesses," said Ronald Hulse, v.p. of sales and marketing at Samsung Canada’s IT division. Omnia in Latin means "everything".

So far, pricing wasn't announced but Samsung did say the device will be offered by Telus Mobility and Bell Mobility, which both said it will be available soon and will cost $129 on a 3-year contract. Other models with a few more features will cost a bit more.

Samsung has about a 32 percent share of the Canadian market for the traditional mobile phone market, according to market research by IDC Canada. The company’s software analyst, Kevin Restivo, said the “converged” device market is dominated by Research in Motion with a 70 per cent market share and Apple, whose iPhones command 15 per cent of the market.

Windows Mobile devices have less than a 11.3 per cent market share.

Brannen added “what we’ve tried to do is build everything into the Omnia to allow users to customize it to their personal preferences and personal needs. One of the unique things about Windows Mobile that really gets overlooked in the marketplace is the ability to actually edit Word documents and also edit Excel files. You can also use Omnia to connect to a projector and show PowerPoint presentations."

He also added that mobile device shipments rose 16 per cent last year, but that IDC is predicting only a four per cent growth rate for 2009.

"In Canada, if you’re using a smart phone it’s typically powered by one of those three operating systems,” Restivo said. During a presentation at the Omnia launch at Microsoft Canada’s Toronto office, Restivo said of the 10.5 million mobile devices shipped to the channel last year, 7.8 million were “traditional mobile phones,” which IDC defines as devices “without a high level operating system.”

Various research also indicates that the top three considerations for buyers are: size and weight; design and appearance; and overall battery life.

“That tells me the mobile phone industry is still in a nascent state,” Restivo said. “We’re still in the early phase, at least in Canada.”

“If you’re concerned about your job or how you’re going to make your next mortgage payment or rent, you’re going to hesitate before you buy a handset,” he said. “We asked consumers if they were going to buy a smart phone or handset within the next 12 months and the answer was overwhelmingly no.”

However, Restivo suggested the survey result is not necessarily a reliable method of forecasting the future.

Others disagree. “What people say and what people do are actually two very different things but it is a measurement and does show some kind of direction in some way.”

Brannen noted the Omnia touchscreen has a Qwerty keyboard with a sensor built in so users can tell when they have hit a key. The “TouchWiz” feature lets users customize their wireless devices. For example, Brannen said he likes sports, so he has an icon on the side that he can touch which lets him go to The Sports Network Web site. He also has it set up so he can check the weather.

IDC predicts that, in the long term, smartphones will account for the lion’s share of growth in mobile phones, not just in Canada but globally as well.

The new Samsung Omnia allows users to compress photos and upload them to sites such as Facebook and Flickr while they are taking phone calls at the same time. It also features Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, plus a video camera with video editing software.

Samsung says the battery provides up to six hours of talk time and up to 400 hours of standby time.

It weighs less than 126 grams and is only 112 mm high by 56.9 mm wide by 12.5 mm deep.

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Source: Samsung.