June 19th marked the launch of Apple’s “fastest, most powerful iPhone yet”, the iPhone 3G S. Not sure what the S stands for (I’ve came across some guesses while surfing the web, speed, sex, sucks just to name a few), but according to Apple’s official website it should be “up to 2x faster” than the old iPhone 3G and should have a digital compass that reorients the map as you change the direction you’re facing, a 3.0 megapixel camera that can also record VGA video in 30 frames per second and voice control for calling and playing music.

On the outside, the new iPhone remains true to the traditional design of Apple – minimalistic, elegant and slim. As we unfold its shell, the new smartphone from Apple reveals a few interesting improvements. First, the PCB is more compact than before, with nearly every component on the top side of the board. Second, the CPU has changed – iPhone 3G S features the ARM A8 Samsung S5PC100 processor, which runs at 600Mhz with 32KB L1 cache memory instead of 412Mhz with 16KB cache like the ARM 11 Samsung S3C6400 used in the previous model. The new iPhone 3G S also features the PowerVR SGX graphics accelerator that runs at 200Mhz.

The smartphone has a Toshiba NAND flash memory and a new combo in the wireless department: the BCM4325 from Broadcom. It also received an important upgrade to the battery, from 1150mAH to 1219mAH, and it is rumored that the iPhone 3GS’ battery life will be 15-20 percent longer than the iPhone 3G’s. A great and necessary improvement for all iPhone 3G S users.

The most important upgrade of the new Apple device is clearly its Applications Processor Core. With a clock speed of 600Mhz, 256MB DDR SDRAM and the PowerVR SGX graphics processor, the new smartphone has the muscle to manage all kinds of demanding applications and, with the help of the SGX, that includes some serious gaming. The longer battery life also supports this idea and the iPhone 3G S might turn out to be quite a powerful mobile device.

Inside the iPhone 3G S: [Link]

Measuring just 8.5-mm thin, you’re looking at what Samsung claims to be the slimmest CMOS camera module of its kind. The 8 megapixel module is expected to supplant the 5 megapixel job found in todays top-end cameraphones sometime in the second half of the year. Fortunately, this isn’t just a case of megapixel marketing as the module also features anti-shake, a 1-cm macro, and face tracking technology. It also packs a smile shutter feature to snap that picture just as soon as a smile, or vinegar, is detected.

The world’s first ultra-thin 8.5mm camera module by Samsung: [Via]

“The U600 is the slimmest slide phone ever, measuring an astonishing 10.9mm thickness. Yet it’s a high-spec phone featuring a 3 megapixel camera with flash and autofocus, and a fully-featured music player with expandable memory to replace your MP3 player. The only thing that may put some people off is the touch sensitive buttons – but sometimes you have to suffer a little to look good! A better buy might be the Samsung G600. Available in black, red, pink and blue”

And here is some Samsung U600 owner reviews gathered from the internet :

1. Great phone, very thin which is great and like the touch keys and camera quality is great a must buy phone for everyone. Has to be given and outstanding 5 stars.
2. didn’t like this phone – kept it for two days then exchanged it! battery is pretty rubbish, camera really good, but not worth keeping just for that. the key pad is way over senstive. i’ve been using samsung phones for years – defo not impressed with their latest, not as user friendly as past handsets.
   
3. the U900 is a great phone and i cant find any faults with it what so ever. everybody who says that is a bad phone is either just stupid or are stuck in the past and cant get used to todays technology!!! since i had my first samsung (D500) i have never had any other make of phone as i find samsungs very easy 2 use, stylish and modern. i would recomend this phone to everybody
4. Brilliant phone. Ive had it just over a week and i love it! I was originally going to go for an E900 but im so glad i went for the U600. Smooth, ultra slim slider (you wont believe how thin it is until you see it), sleek design and really excellent functions. Yes the battery life is not as good as other phones but that might be because you can’t put it down!! Touch sensitive keys are great but i think are better suited to women rather than men (sorry guys!!)I loved the motorola that i had before this and was worried about the change-over but i had nothing to worry about, i’ll definitely stay with Samsung for my next phone. Dont listen to the bad reviews – buy this phone, you’ll not regret it.
5. I’ve had this phone for a week now and I’m going to exchange it for either an N73 or k810i. The U600 main bad points are: 1. Terrible battery life. I need to charge it every day. Same usage on a K800 and I charged it every 3 days. 2. Texting is a nightmare. The predictive text software is awful. When given a list of possible words sometimes you have to scroll up, other times you have to scroll down. Why? 3. The touch sensitive buttons are great in theory but are not practical. Quite a number of times I’ve accidentally dialled someone while reading their text. Then you’ve got to quickly unlock the keypad and hang-up before the call is connected. This is beginning to become a real pain. ********** DO NOT BUY THE U600 **********
6. Just received my U600 and am pleased at the improvements Samsung have made to my previous phone the E900. At last on a Samsung, you can now use your own sounds for message alert, the ringer now supports vibrate and melody at the same time, messages are automatically saved and you now have a choice of clocks – which means you can go without the standard Samsung clock bar which is a permanent feature on earlier phones your mates may still have. For those – who I see from existing reviews – are gettting used to the touch-sensitive keys and moaning about inadvertently ringing numbers can I offer a workround which I used successfully on my E900 and which works on this phone. Simply go to your Call log and delete all ‘Recent Contacts’. Next time you brush over the phone key you will simply get a dialogue box on screen saying ‘Call log empty’. Note this does not affect your Missed Calls, Dialled Calls, Received Calls or Sent Messages – these are all still there in their own section to be accessed at any time you need them. I have added Call Log to ‘My Menu’ so you can easily jump to it and delete.Voila!
7. Very sturdy, the inside mech is metal. The slight wobble is not a weakness just movement in the metal track. Music player on mine does not see the 1gb mem card .. so no tunes will load – maybe I’m doing something wrong! can see then from the file app, but will only play 1 at a time, can’t mark multiple tracks … WHY? Everything else at this early stage looks pretty good to me – This one might last me a while, and believe me I’ve had a few!!!!!
8. Bought this phone from dialaphone to replace my beloved d500. The u600 is amazing! Everything is familiar from older samsung models, but can’t believe how thin it is. Camera is much much better than the d500, especially video recording. Screnn is amazing. I was worried about the touch sensitive keys, but tehr fine – don’t know what the fuss is about. I want to give this 6 out of 5!!!
9. Got this phone last week, have just got use to the sensitive touch and it works brilliantly. The photos taken with the 3.2mgp is sharp and clear. Battery can last me for 3 days if bluetooth not turn on. All symbols can be found are easily found by holding the # key. Software response is quick. Design is classy and elegant, with fantastic finishing. Samsung U600 is still the best compared to SE W880i, K550i, N95, N73, X820.
10. well well well.am i happy or what,got this phone today after swapping it from nokia 7390,i agonised for ages about swapping to this as i went off samsungs for a while.now they have sorted quite a few things out on their phones they have lured me back.i dont know what everyone is moaning about the touch sensitive keys,mine are perfect no jumping around all over the place like e900,equivalent to using the d900.the camera is very good with nice and clear picture quality,also no delay on shutter like some peoples complaints(i think it sounds like a faulty one)excellent sound quality and the main thing to me that converted me back is the fact you can now use your own tones for message alerts,not just the default dodgy ones.the battery has been quite good,lasted ages andi been messing round on it loads.Its slim,light and sexy and possibly gonna be a fave of mine.so buy it NOW !!!!!!

If you want my personal opinion, il give it to you again, There is only one bad thing to say about this phone: as usual Samsung fits it phones with not so good batteries as other phone manufacturers. So there is a down side, small battery life but that’s all.

    The process was called self-aligned double patterning technology (SaDPT). By using the process described above, Samsung can produce 128 GB NAND memory card. Consequently, the price for memory cards will drop, which is a good thing for the consumers. Also, the high storage cards could replace the traditional hard disks being more efficient. But we have to wait till the technology will be released, maybe in 2009.

When you slide your phone up, enter this code: *#4777*8665# This will appear on the screen like this: *#4777*—– . Then, a secret menu will appear on your screen. Go to the option GPRS Detach and click it. Next you will have to wait some time, about 3-4 seconds and get the message: GPRS Detach confirm.

Your stand-by time has increased with 20% now!. GPRS detach will also remove the small blue background G on your screen which some people don’t like it. I also advice you to drain the battery completely before charging the first 3 times you charge. There’s no real proof that this will improve your battery life but there are rumors.(do not drain lipo batteries because you’ll harm them doing this.)

Another option is to buy a better battery; the standard battery had only 690mAH while this battery provides 1000mAh so it will increase the stand by time +- 30%. Yet another thing you can do is set the display brightness to the minimum, so the screen will consume less energy. And don’t leave Bluetooth activated, it’s very power consuming!

You should also check the Samsung SGH U600 Tips article.

I’m going to show you some tips for Samsung SGH-U600 which I gathered from the internet.Here is a list of tricks (you probably don’t know this trick’s but they are cool):

Flashlight: When you slide up your phone try pushing the up/down volume button at the side for about 1-2 seconds, this will activate the led light normally used for the camera. Now you can find your key’s
When the mp3 player is minimized, you can control it by using your navigation buttons in the main screen:
Long hold the right navigation button will bring up the next track in your playlist.
Long hold the down navigation button will stop the mp3 player.
Long hold the left navigation button will bring up the previous track in your playlist.
Long hold the center navigation button (the I (internet)) button will pause the track.

Samsung SGH U600 tips: Special codes

• *#0228# This code will allow you to check the battery status of your Mobile by pushing down 2 times!
• *#1234# This code will allow you to check your firmware version!
• *#4777*8665# This code brings you in a special menu where you can detach your gprs to improve your battery life!
• *#0842# This code will test the vibration function of your mobile
• *#9998*4678255# This code will allow you to install java games on your U600 mobile

Samsung SGH U600 tips: Some Known firmware bugs

• Mp3 player doesn’t play the last 3 seconds of an mp3 file
• The alarm doesn’t work in silent mode
• While typing a message when mp3 player is on, the Add word function doesn’t work properly.
• When receiving a file via Bluetooth, there is no option to store it to the memory card so the size is limited to the phone memory
• When there are movies in the my video’s section of the phone memory and you try to play a movie full screen from your memory card, the phone just switches to camera mode. That’s very strange!

These bugs are present in firmware: U600XXGD2

As well as making it thinner, Samsung have shaved a couple of millimeters off the width of the phone, which is a very good thing, because flat wide phones are not as ergonomic as conventionally-sized phones. And if you thinking about weight the Samsung U600 is 10 g lighter than the D900, making it an extremely lightweight phone. Another important aspect of the u600 is the touch sensitive external buttons (the ones you see when the slide is closed).Looking at the other features, the camera is Samsung’s best yet, and it comes with a high-resolution 3.2 megapixel resolution, LED flash, autofocus, incorporates CCD-shift image stabilization and digital zoom.

The only bad thing about the camera is the delay from pressing the button to the actual picture being taken which is about 2 seconds, I guess that is caused by the stabilization sensor, so it makes it hard to catch fast moving objects. There’s also a good quality video camera. The display is high resolution (240 x 320 pixels) with 262,144 colors and is excellent. The music player supports a wide range of formats – MP3, ACC, ACC+ and e-AAC+ – and has very good sound reproduction. You can use the stereo headset supplied by Samsung or a wireless Bluetooth headset. You can also listen to music through the built-in loudspeaker which features a Bang & Olufsen digital power amplifier.

The battery is less powerful than the D900′s, but Samsung claim that battery performance has actually been improved due to a new technology called OPUS (Optimized Power Usage Solution).My battery life is about 4-5 day’s, I achieved this by doing some settings , which I will explain in a later post. User memory is about 60 Mbytes so if you like to store more songs on your phone you will have to add a Micro SD card. The max memory card possible for this phone is a 2 Gbyte card, with storage for around 500 songs.

A PC data link kit is included in the sales package, for transferring music from a PC. The messaging on Samsung U600 is cool looking and it includes support for email attachments and a document viewer for viewing MS Office, PDF and HTML files. The available EDGE connection is nice for fast downloads.

Other features that I would like to point out is , the quad band operating frequency, wireless photo printing with PicBridge compatible printers and the TV-Out connector for viewing your photos and videos directly on a TV. To finish this review, The Samsung U600 is a lightweight, ultra-slim, sexy-slider phone, that’s what made me buy it.

Here is some pictures i took with the phone , so you can see the quality:

Next is a list of specifications :

• 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus, flash and 4x digital zoom
• Video camera (MPEG4 format)
• Display: TFT, 262,144 colours, 240 x 320 pixels
• Music player (MP3, ACC, ACC+, e-AAC+ formats) with digital power amp
• Messaging: SMS, MMS, email (POP3, SMTP, IMAP4, SSL, TLS)
• Document viewer for MS Office, PDF and HTML files
• Mobile printing via Bluetooth (PicBridge�)
• Java games
• Memory: 60 Mbytes plus MicroSD memory card slot (expandable to 2 Gbytes)
• Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0, TV-Out
• WAP 2.0, GPRS Class 10, EDGE
• Quad band
• Size: 103 x 49 x 11 mm
• Weight: 81g
• Talktime: 4 hours
• Battery standby: 270 hours

If you would like to learn some Samsung SGH U600 tips you should read this article of mine.