Samsung's Omnia found in the unforgiving wilds of a Verizon store

by Chris Ziegler posted Nov 21st 2008 at 3:10PM

They're apparently not for sale yet -- stores don't even know what the pricing situation is -- but Verizon has starting shipping Samsung Omnias to at least some of its stores. For anyone not needing the global...um, "globalness" of the Saga or the QWERTY-ness of the upcoming Touch Pro, the Omnia certainly makes for an interesting option -- espeically in light of the TouchWiz support and the 5-megapixel cam. With units in stores now, it can't be long until we can actually buy these, can it?

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

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

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

cl347bv @ Nov 21st 2008 3:26PM

i have 5 comin to me, and a dummy

ooooooooohhhhhhhhhh yyyyyyyyeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh

Neutral

MosquitoControl @ Nov 21st 2008 4:04PM

Did Verizon strip WiFi out of this one?

If not then maybe this can keep me from moving to AT&T and getting the Bold or iPhone.

Neutral

sip @ Nov 21st 2008 4:40PM

I think it's very possible they kept wifi on it, since they did with the touch pro. I'm sure they will make you get a data plan though.

Neutral

MosquitoControl @ Nov 21st 2008 4:05PM

Alright, looks like scanning "relevant posts" would have answered my question.

Still, Verizon will likely price me out of the market for this one, anyway...

Neutral

Amir @ Nov 21st 2008 4:23PM

Lets watch how Verizon messes this phone up too.

Just ported to Att and am very happy !

Rollover rules !

Gps you know will be locked to VZnav

Neutral

striggity @ Nov 21st 2008 4:34PM

I wanna kno more about this phone. It looks sexy, and w/ the mixed reviews over the Storm, I may need to open my options up in regards to my touch screen desires.

Highly Ranked

mphayvanh @ Nov 21st 2008 6:25PM

Your wish is my command:
http://www.phonearena.com/htmls/Samsung-OMNIA-Review-review-r_1981.html

This, of course, assumes Verizon did not mess with the hardware.

Also, Google--meet Striggity. Hi, nice to meet you. I do searches. Really?! Wow, neat stuff. :)

Neutral

striggity @ Nov 21st 2008 6:37PM

thanks, man.

Neutral

Andrew Rahimi @ Nov 21st 2008 4:46PM

lame... why does verizon have to replace the original awesome packaging with this crappy stuff?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQlzX7EyIwU

Neutral

KE4QPF @ Nov 22nd 2008 9:06AM

Who cares about the damn pacakging? It only adds to the price of the unit overall. I'd be happy to take the damn thing in a paper bag if they'd make a price drop to save on the ink, cardboard, plastic, and other miscellaneous B.S. They should also make it so that the owner's manual is a .PDF instead of a 1,000 page book that consumes half a forest and most people won't even read, then they throw it out in a landfill. It is the packaging and brand name that inflates the cost of these devices. Once the "WOW" factor of the box and innards is over, in the trash they go. If people could see past this, then maybe we'll have a better price point and cleaner places to live in. Once I get my Omnia, the box and other crapola will be secondary to why I made the purchase in the first place... THE FRIGGIN' PHONE INSIDE OF IT ALL!!!

Neutral

Derek @ Nov 21st 2008 8:03PM

Played with one today when I was at the VZW store. The Samsung rep was there and he let me play with it. The screen is nice and TouchWiz is really cool, tons of options to put on the home screen. Built-in accelerometer worked well. When you turned the phone, the picture would do a nice animation instead of just showing up in landscape or portrait mode. The track pad for the mouse worked pretty well, too. Overall, really nice phone. People are gonna like it when it comes out, WM runs well.

Highly Ranked

The D Train @ Nov 21st 2008 7:56PM

Ok pricing came out, 319.99 before 70$ mail in rebate, wifi is enabled. Here are the feature specs. Keep in mind they usually dont give us this much.

1xEVDO - Rev. A capable
256 MB Flash/128MB RAM with 8GB of additional On-board Memory

5.0 Megapixel Camera w/Flash
Accelerometer

ActiveSync
Advanced Touch Screen with Customizable Widgets

Alarm Clock
All-Digital, 1X/EV-DO (800/1900 MHz)

Bar Style Design
Bluetooth - Stereo

Bluetooth Enabled for Wireless Headset Support
Bluetooth Printing

Bluetooth Profiles Supported: Headset, Hands-free, Object Push for vCard & vCal, Phone Book Access
BroadbandAccess Connect

BroadbandAccess Connect Capable
Business Card Reader

CDMA 1900/800 MHz & GSM 900/1800 MHz
Calculator

Calculator with Converter
Calendar

Caller ID - Picture
Camera

Dedicated Camera/Video Key
Display - Color

Display: 3.2", 240 x 400 pixel; 64k color TFT
E-mail & Web for Smartphone

Embedded Ringtones
Embedded Ringtones, Vibrating Alerts & Silent

FM Transmitter
HTML Web Browser

Hearing Aid Compatibility:M4
High-speed USB Connection

MP3 Capable
Messaging - Text

Microsoft Media Player
Microsoft Pocket Excel

Microsoft Pocket PowerPoint
Microsoft Pocket Word

NationalAccess Connect
OTA Capable

Opera Mobile browser
Optical Mouse Navigation

Phone book with up to 1,000 Entries with multiple contacts
Polyphonic Ring Tones

Removable Memory - MicroSD
Requires Data Feature/Plan

Rev A Capable
SAR: Head - 1.31 w/kg; Body - 1.11 w/kg

Smart Converter
Speakerphone

TTY compatible
TV Out Viewer

Tethered Modem Support
Up to 16GB MicroSD Optional Removable Memory

VZ Navigator capable
VZAccess Manager

VZAppZone
Vibra Call

Video Editor
Virtual, All-Touch QWERTY Keyboard

Visual Voice Mail
Voice Commands

Voice Dialing
Voicemail

WiFi
Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional

Windows Mobile Device Center
Windows Vista compatible

Wireless Sync
World Clock

Neutral

Tom @ Nov 21st 2008 11:21PM

Do you know whether a $30/45 data plan is required for it?? Or is pay-as-you-go an option??

Neutral

The D Train @ Nov 22nd 2008 12:18PM

Because of the new plans that came out on the 16th of november it would require a data plan yes. ALL pda's sold on or after that date. Wether an old device or not, our billing system will automatically apply that plan onto the account. Now if you had the device on the account prior to the 16th of november then you are grandfathered in.

Neutral

juliply @ Nov 22nd 2008 8:40PM

Is the $319.99 with a 2 year contract?

Neutral

MosquitoControl @ Nov 22nd 2008 2:35AM

The screen is low res, relatively. That's the downer.

Still, I may jump for this. Pricing sucks, wish it was $50, but I think I'll go with this over the Storm, so long as I can input easily without a stylus.

Neutral

alltouchdiamondcom @ Nov 22nd 2008 6:57AM

This phone has been released in Europe and Asian for over 6 months now... I have no idea why US is so late in the game, see http://www.Samsung-Omnia.org there are already 3000 people owns a samsung omnia so we can get some tricks and tips from them???

Anyone know if this phone might be better than the BlackBerry Storm? I am thinking about waiting for the omnia.

Neutral

KE4QPF @ Nov 22nd 2008 9:13AM

It is pretty obvious. Although we consume a lot of wireless products, we do not even come close to what is used in Asia and Europe. Also, due to our cellular systems using various bands of CDMA, GSM, iDEN, TDMA, AMPS (I think that story's over now), there's more of a PITA to build a U.S. model. Then, each carrier wants their own crap thown into the home deck, application and subsidy locks, GPS mods, their own brand on the faceplate, etc., etc., etc. This is not to mention the carrier holding onto the unit for dear life while they do their own R&D, the FCC clearances taking forever due to their own testing standards, and more and more B.S. It truly makes you wonder how we even get a phone in our hands. Although many other countries have carriers that also do this, the U.S. does tend to drag its feet more as everyone fears a release and return, such as what happened with the Sammy Glyde.

Neutral