Samsung i607 BlackJack
The new Samsung BlackJack i607, recently announced by Cingular, offers both Cingular Music and Cingular Video support.
Other features include:
* 1.3 megapixel phone
* GSM with EDGE/UMTS/HSDPA
* QVGA display
* Bluetooth 2.0
Via EngadgetMobile.
Samsung i607 (Samsung Blackjack) Reviews
PhoneScoop reviews the Samsung Blackjack and writes, “One of Cingular’s most unique media applications is the music ID system, which is a well designed little program that lets you hold your BlackJack up to the stereo while a song is playing, and will try to tell you what song it is. As long as you are not trying to ID a repetitive electronic track, the system is surprisingly fast and accurate. Once a song is identified, the application stores the artist, album and track in a list for you. The new SYNC A707 has the same application.”
Infosync reviews the Samsung SGH-i607 BlackJack and writes, “The Blackjack does a better job handling multimedia than most Windows Mobile smartphones. Cingular Video is available on the BlackJack, as is the new Cingular Music app (which lets you transfer tunes from Yahoo and Napster’s respective subscription services to the phone’s microSD card). Stereo Bluetooth sounds good, though our phone had trouble recognizing our wireless Samsung headset. Though streaming video looks great, it fills only a tiny portion of the screen, and leaves us craving some video that truly leverages the speed of HSDPA. Streaming audio channels, courtesy of XM, are robust and clear. Samsung includes a convenient RSS reader and a Java app for playing Java games, also a rarity on Windows Mobile devices. The Web browser, Intenet Explorer, left us craving the Picsel Web browser, which we adored on Samsung’s IP-830w but is absent here. Internet Explorer did a poor job handling page layout, even on Cingular’s own internal pages. ”
PCMag reviews the Samsung SGH-i607 and writes about the phone’s music player: “The BlackJack also makes a dandy music player, as it supports protected and subscription WMA music from stores like Urge, Napster, and Yahoo!, and plays music over Bluetooth wireless headphones. You can sync music over from Windows Media Player, put it on a MicroSD memory card, or drag and drop tracks using mass storage mode, where the connected BlackJack appears as a hard drive on your desktop. I was annoyed to see there’s no adapter for the oddball headset jack to use wired headsets other than Samsung’s included, very poor-quality earbuds. (I’ve heard such an adapter is coming in the future.) Video in Windows Media Player seemed occasionally jerky, but I’m glad that it plays in full screen, unlike on the Motorola Q.”
MobileTechReview reviews the Samsung BlackJack SGH-i607 and writes, “Samsung includes their “My Stuff” application which is a front end for the standard MS Pictures and Videos application with some added functionality (it can browse notes and open them by calling up the Samsung notepad application). A Java VM is also included as is a link to get Good’s push email application (requires Good’s service). As with many recent smartphones, the Java VM will drive you batty if you install and run unsigned applications like Google Maps (the app will ask permission about 6 times when you launch and run the Google Maps applet, one for each connection it makes to the Net). As a substitute, try the wonderful, free Map for PDA application which is a standalone .NET 2.0 application that uses Google Map data rather than a Jave applet.”
GadgetNutz reviews the Samsung BlackJack and writes about the phone’s media capabilities: “I encountered two issues, however with regards to Media playback that are noteworthy: 1. SlingPlayer Mobile did not function correctly on the Blackjack – But Sling Media and Samsung are working on a fix. 2. There is no headphone jack – no mini jack – no full sized jack. Rather, the proprietary port for charging is also a proprietary port for headphones. In my opinion, this is a huge mistake on Samsung’s part. Why not just give us a jack so we can plug in our MP3 headphones and be happy. What the Blackjack can do, however, is support A2DP Bluetooth Stereo playback. That means that you can listen to your XM, videos or MP3’s wirelessly in stereo.”
DigitalTrends reviews the Samsung BlackJack and writes, “And everyone doesn’t want to bother with Bluetooth, stereo or not. But instead of a standard 2.5mm headphone jack for those who favor physical connections, Blackjack is equipped with a proprietary plug and, even more annoying, no earphone is included in the box. In fact, there’s isn’t even a mono earphone available. If you want wired conversation, you have to buy the $39.99 Music Bundle, which includes stereo earbuds. A data cable is included, thankfully, along with an extra battery and a handy separate charger, but a belt clip is extra.”
MobileBurn reviews the Samsung SGH-i607 BlackJack and writes, “As is the case with all Windows Mobile devices, the Samsung BlackJack comes equipped with Windows Media Player to handle the playback of music and video files. I am not a fan of WMP, though, due to its reliance on Windows Media Player on the desktop, something I don’t use at all. Without desktop support, there is no way to create playlists on the BlackJack, and the WMP’s library update function does a fairly poor job of recognizing what music files belong together. The only way I find the app useful for music is when I select a directory full of songs with the library’s Open File function. But with that said, the playback experience is good once you get the desired tracks queued up.”
CNET reviews the Samsung BlackJack and writes, “On the bright side, the Web browsing and multimedia experience on the BlackJack was awesome. Web sites loaded quickly as did streaming media. Music playback through the phone’s speakers was good, although audio sounded blown out when we turned the volume to its highest setting. Video looked spectacular on the BlackJack’s gorgeous screen, even though there was the expected pixilation.”
Newsfactor reviews the Samsung BlackJack and writes, “I had a problem with the BlackJack’s circular, four-way directional toggle, which is located in the middle of the phone between the call and end-call buttons. As I was browsing the Internet, I would accidentally hit the end-call button, sending me back to the home screen. Fortunately, the BlackJack has a thumbwheel on the right side that allows for more efficient browsing and navigation. … The 3G network gives users the ability not only to surf the Web but to access Cingular’s video and music services.”
PDAStreet reviews the Samsung BlackJack and writes, ” You’ll also get Cingular Music and Cingular Video applications that let you enjoy your locally stored tracks (get a microSD card, if you’re going to do this, as the phone only offers 64 MB RAM and 128 MB ROM) or take advantage of the high-speed network. If you live in an area with 3G access, you’ll appreciate how quickly streaming audio and video loads. In our testing, clips began almost immediately, just like on a home broadband network. Keep in mind that most of the streaming options require an extra fee.”