Samsung has revealed its first smartphone to run Windows Phone 7.5 (a.k.a. Mango), in the form of the Omnia W. Powered by a 1.4GHz CPU, the Omnia W boasts a 3.7-inch WVGA (800 x 480) Super AMOLED display and will likely compete with the recently announced Mango-based HTC Radar.
The Samsung Omnia W is actually quite similarly spec'd to the HTC Radar, apart from its slightly larger 3.8-inch screen and a lower clocked 1GHz CPU. Utilizing 512MB of RAM, the Omnia W offers 8GB of built-in storage. Its 5-megapixel rear-facing camera comes equipped with autofocus, LED flash and 720p video recording. There's also a front-facing VGA camera. Connectivity options include HSPA, GPS, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, DLNA and Bluetooth 2.1 support.
The Omnia W comes equipped with the following software:
Marketplace Hub - free and paid apps
People Hub - Windows Live, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin built-in
Picture Hub
Music & Video Hub - Zune Experience
Game Hub - Xbox Live
Office Hub - Microsoft Office
Samsung's Apps - Now, RSS Times, Video Call (3G), Photo Studio, Mini Diary, All Share (DNLA), Fun Shot, Wireless Manager
Windows Live Skydrive (free 25GB of online-based storage)
Tile-based Metro UX / IE9 mobile
Bing Maps
Samsung's new smartphone will be rolled out by the end of October in Italy, and soon after will be available worldwide. While the press release does not mention pricing, according to Computerworld the Omnia W will be priced at EUR310 (US$418) before taxes.
The Windows Phone platform is still far behind Android, Symbian, iOS and RIM (Blackberry) in terms of sales. According to Gartner, in Q2 2011 there were only 1.7 million Windows Phone-based devices sold to end users, while during the same period 46.7 million Android-based units were sold. Even Samsung's bada OS managed to outsell Windows Phone. New releases, however, including those of HTC, Samsung, and - above all - Nokia may change this trend.
