Branding overkill: Verizon's Omnia, Saga, Touch Pro, and Renown all pictured

by Chris Ziegler posted Oct 27th 2008 at 4:12AM

In case it wasn't already clear that the wireless industry was heading into a dark, cold winter of ridiculous product names, we present to you Verizon's latest batch: the Omnia, Saga, and Renown from Samsung, and the Touch Pro from HTC. Granted, the Touch Pro isn't ridiculous, and the Omnia we're sorta used to at this point, but as for these other two, we're not so sure. As we've mentioned, the Saga appears to be the go-to-market name for the rumored i770, and phoneArena now sports a nice, clear picture of exactly what the blue QWERTY WinMo phone with global roaming is going to look like. The u810 Renown will be the other piece in Verizon's global roaming puzzle, a flip with a 2-megapixel cam that had been previously pegged for a late-September release but has been pushed back for unknown reasons. The CDMA variant of the Omnia -- the i910 -- just popped onto our radar a couple weeks ago, and we now have official-looking photography of Verizon's WinMo-equipped jewel with a 5-megapixel camera, and 8GB of internal storage with microSD expansion. Finally, we suspect that throngs of Verizon loyalists are going to be thrilled to see a photo of a Big Red-branded Touch Pro, a phone that had been rumored to be coming to The Network for several months now with very little proof to show for it. All four of these monsters are currently slated for November, and with the holidays just around the corner, we bet Verizon would just love to hold to that plan.

Filed under: Handsets, HTC, Samsung, Verizon Wireless, Windows Mobile, GSM, EDGE, EV-DO, CDMA

Tags: omnia, verizon, verizon wireless, VerizonWireless, vzw

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

Rollins @ Oct 27th 2008 9:04AM

Before this, I really didn't give a damn about the Touch Pro.

Something about the Verizon branding makes me want it more. Actually, I was pleasantly surprised that it looks like Verizon didn't do much to its looks.

I guess it's the fact I'll actually be able to get one. :)

Neutral

HuskerAv @ Oct 27th 2008 9:59AM

Is there any word or confirmation on VZW's changes/cannibalization of the Touch Pro? Would love to stick with Big Red, but if the changes that have been discussed over the last few months have come to pass I may have to seriously consider going with Sprint or AT&T.

Neutral

Brian @ Oct 27th 2008 11:35AM

you do not want to get the touch pro for verizon they have hacked and slashed it so much the specs suck they even took out the accellerometer. wait til they allow other cdma phones on their network or just hack the sprint one or something

Neutral

Rollins @ Oct 27th 2008 11:37AM

@Brian

This is assuming that a paper put out by Sprint around August is correct. Not the most reliable source in the world.

That said, it appears that I'll have plenty of other options if that ends up being the case.

Highly Ranked

A-lo @ Oct 27th 2008 9:50AM

Please let these new phones arrive quickly. The duct tape on my LG VX7000 is losing its effectiveness...

Neutral

MFfan310 @ Oct 27th 2008 10:23AM

As for the Omnia... it's a sweet-looking phone. Looking forward to getting either that or the Storm... my RAZR is getting long in the tooth, and even though my contract is up, I'd rather wait for a decent phone than get one of the current devices from VZW (and no, switching carriers is not an option... AT&T coverage sucks, Sprint drops calls like crazy, T-Mo doesn't have 3G yet, and Centennial is a joke).

But doesn't the jeweler Bvlgari make a popular perfume called "Omnia"? My first thought when I saw the name was that perfume and its derivatives like Omnia Crystalline, Omnia Amethyste, and Omnia Jade. Is this the Verizon Wireless store or Sephora we're talking about here?

Neutral

amw1972 @ Oct 27th 2008 12:00PM

Ok...Omnia....CDMA...ummm....where is Sprint's Omnia?!?! :(

Neutral

Hasgoth @ Oct 27th 2008 1:20PM

phonearena.com lists the omnia without WiFi. Of course their information is "preliminary" and "subject to change", so I hope they're wrong.

Personally, if the Omnia from Verizon comes with everything it has over seas except WiFi, I'm still gonna buy it.

Neutral

The D Train @ Oct 27th 2008 5:27PM

It doesnt have wifi I played with it on friday. What it does have, and this is unecessary, you can have 4 different clocks open on the desktop at one time. Great job samsung. It is win mo 6.1 but doesnt feel like it, does need a stylus for a lot of navigation. The camera on it is pretty rad, can take a picture in landscape simply by taking the first picture then moving the phone and it takes the pictures for you. it also does not have a 3.5mm jack which is a bummer with that 8 gigs of internal and expandable up to 32gigs later on.

the phone was better in the touch screen department than others but still showed some slow down, the icons are extremely cartoony in my opinon, but considering I dont have a good point and shoot camera, I dont like the camera on my iphone, and have been looking for something even remotely good enough for me to open a concession account here at VZW again Im probably gonna pick one up run it for a couple weeks write a review and if I like it keep it, otherwise I'll just return the phone.

Neutral

The D Train @ Oct 27th 2008 5:28PM

Neutral

Paul @ Dec 9th 2008 2:52PM

Verizon locks the GPS on the Samsung Omnia....if you like this phone go with another vendor.

Neutral

daniel larusso @ Jan 14th 2009 1:58AM

Ive had the VZ Omnia for almost two weeks now a bit laggy touchscreen is good typing in landscape is better than i thought win mo 6 i knew what i was getting. thanks to vz for wifi!

Neutral

Gevork @ Jan 15th 2009 9:44PM

I bought my Omnia about 4 months ago unlocked from UK and using it currently with Tmobile. I love that phone and in my opinion its even better then iphone, it worth every single penny and more. once you buy it you will never think of getting another device.