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Samsung's Omnia To Challenge Apple's iPhone?

Curious timing, Samsung. Of all days, Samsung chose today, June 9, to launch its flagship device for 2008, a Windows Mobile-based über-phone. We all know that Apple is set to announce the next generation of its iPhone later today. Let's take a look at the features of the Omnia and compare them with what we believe will appear on the 3G iPhone.

First, the Omnia has an interesting mish-mash for a UI. Windows Mobile 6.1 has its own user interface, but Samsung has placed its TouchWhiz UI on top of it. TouchWhiz is the second generation of Samsung's Croix user interface. It's far and away superior to its predecessor. It really is the best UI I've seen from Samsung. Little wonder, then, that Samsung chose to put it onto its biggest device of the year. Under all the fancy covering, however, is Windows Mobile 6.1. How Samsung managed to merge these two UIs to create an experience that isn't schizophrenic will be unknown until I can get my hands on it.

The iPhone's user interface is a given. It's what all other UIs strive to be (for the moment). Does TouchWhiz match it? It comes close, but it's not 100% there. Both have software keyboards for text entry.

The Omnia comes with a 3.2-inch WVGA screen. That's just short of the current generation iPhone's 3.5-inch screen. WVGA resolution means the Omnia will look nice. These two features are pretty much a wash.

Unless Apple pulls out the heavy artillery this afternoon, the Omnia's camera has it beat. It comes with a 5-megapixel camera with autofocus, as well as face and smile-detection software. This is a serious camera, folks. The current iPhone's camera tops out at 2 megapixels. There has been no talk of Apple upgrading the camera to even 3.2 megapixels, let alone 5. The Omnia will likely best the iPhone in the camera department.

Both the Omnia and the 3G iPhone will have quad-band GSM/EDGE radios. This means they can roam the world and connect to the slower 2.5G systems that are highly prevalent. The Omnia comes with support for 7.2 Mbps HSDPA. What 3G radio the iPhone will come with is unknown at this point. But the Omnia will not come in a version that supports U.S. 3G networks, at least not right away. The model released today is for Asia's 3G only. A European version will follow later this summer. Given Apple's worldwide distribution deals to sell the next version of the iPhone, the iPhone will liklely have better international 3G compatibility. In other words, the Omnia won't be a big seller in the United States until it supports U.S. 3G bands.

In terms of other features, both should come with GPS, Bluetooth, video and music playback capabilities, 8 GB or 16 GB of storage, and other essentials. These features pretty much wash one another out.

In the end, it comes down to 3G and the camera. The Omnia's camera looks like it will be more powerful, but the iPhone will have broader 3G support.

With iPhone firmware 2.0 soon to be available, both will have similar enterprise support features, though Microsoft's Windows Mobile has wider support for third-party applications and internally developed enterprise apps.

Lastly, we haven't heard price points from either company. Who knows what these devices are going to cost. If you expect to get all this for $200, keep dreaming. I'd expect both to cost $400 or more.

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