who can forget the moment on January 2007 MacWorld where Steve Jobs’ KeyNote Address announced the venerable iPhone, to an astonishing crowd with “Ah~s” and “WoWs” . meanwhile, LG Electronics in sheer desire to flash their technology in a cocoon of an Italian Designer Brand, released ‘Prada Phone’ on May 2007 . early adopters snatched it as it was the only choice in South Korea then, for iPhone was foreign news . then iPhone debut June 2007 to a line of awaiting fans States-side who made news World-Wide .

 

December 2007 saw the follow-up of ‘Prada Phone’ in the form of LG-SH210 ‘Beauty Phone’ (bLogged here on March 24th 2008 ) but due to its clumsiness both design-and-operation (in comparison to iPhone) it wasn’t until April 2008 when SamSung belatedly came out with their (more sleek design & fluid operation) version in AnyCall SCH-W420 ‘Haptic Phone’ that Korea took whole-heartily onto Touch-Screen Bar-Type Phones . and now nearing Valentines Day 2009 as SamSung releases their 4th version, I now group-up the transcending (OK, OK, it’s evolution) models . still, not many people have them mainly due to its unfaltering price tag, where normally it would crumble after few months of release .

 

  1. all models here are of SamSung’s AnyCall Brand, for SKT Carrier with few KTF Carrier models with an extra ‘0’ digit at the end of the model number, with minor changes .
  2. model name is accompanied by their ‘nickname’ use extensively on ads and marketing then used by early adopters and the young to code them in conversation . while some nicks catch-on better than others, (such as one of the former generation of thin, sliding phones named “Mini-Skirt” Phone : a magic coordination of machine, ad theme, modeling character and the moment when you finally hold it and attempt to slide it to realize it was all~ true . oh and LG’s “Chocolate” Phone stuck too) it is whether you memorize all the nicks that divide trendy packs from others . look them up yourself to judge if the meaning justify the content of their respective device .
  3. price is near official retail price, about the same as exchanging phones within the same Carrier . these are the 2 most expensive options so no one really purchase on this plan though the others such as : [A] partial payment support from the device manufacturer, [B] one or even two-year contracts, [C] Carrier-Migration (when you change Carriers) the lesser-known, elusive practice of [D] ‘Aging’ can save a mile on your wallet .

 

SCH-W420 ‘Haptic Phone’ introduced April 2008 currently W400,000

  • 2,000,000 Pixels / 3.2″ WVGA LCD / DMB TV / Micro SD / BlueTooth 2.0 / Full Browsing / MBank / Mobile TMoney / posh sliding black leather case / Global Video Phone
  • SCH-W4200 for KTF lacks MBank

 

SCH-W550 ‘Haptic 2’ introduced September 2008 currently W600,000

  • 5,000,000 Pixels / 3.2″ WQVGA TFT Touch LCD / DMB TV / Micro SD / BlueTooth 2.0 / Full Browsing / MBank / Mobile TMoney / 3820MB Memory / patterned backside to reduce scratch
  • unpacking user review at http://xenix.kr/1162
  • SCH-W555 is 16GB Limited Edition
  • SCH-W5500 for KTF uses KBank instead of MBank

 

SCH-W490 ‘Omnia Phone’introduced November 2008 currently W750,000

  • 5,000,000 Pixels / 3.3″ WVGA TFT LCD (export models 3.2″) / Satelite DMB TV / Micro SD /BlueTooth 2.0 / Full Browsing / TMap Navi / Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional with WiFi / 20pin connector as new standard
  • SCH-W495 is 16GB Limited Edition

SCH-W740 expected to debut February 4th .. oh delayed another week, for over W900,000 (or save some more to rather buy HyunDai Automobile’s popular subcompact ‘Morning’ – perfect for riding-out the hard times)

  • 8,000,000 Pixels / 3.3″ 262K Color WVGA TFT Touch LCD / Zenon Flash / Micro SD /

 

and just when you thought SamSung had it, gruesome year of 2008 closed with news of iPhone finally making into Korea . oh, meanwhile Koreans have been consoling their weary souls with iTouch (the iPhone WITHOUT the Phone duh – huh ? ), where 2nd Generation iTouch has been out since September 2008 .