Samsung is back in business with the launch of yet another edition of their captivating Corby series, in India. Following the initial success of the funky yet smart Samsung Corby, the electronics juggernaut has launched a new pair of Corby devices - CorbyPlus B3410 and CorbyPro B5310, known by their more colorful street names, the plus and the pro. Samsung's target market is quite clearly the young urban population owing to the stylish sleek looks of the handsets, to their very reasonable price ranges. This pair is also expected to be a big hit, following on the lines of the standard Corby which was previously launched. The common features in both the phones include full QWERTY keypads and QVGA touchscreen displays, providing access to social networking sites via Samsung’s TouchWiz UI. Lets study the gadgets in detail.
CorbyPro B5310:
Within the lifestyle-focused Corby series of phones from Samsung, the PRO is the one clad in the most serious-looking attire. Apparently aimed at the young professionals market, the PRO is a touchscreen device that also packs a slide-out Qwerty keyboard.
Of course, in doing this, the Corby PRO places itself in direct competition with a handful of pretty strong devices, like the HTC G1 and the new Motorola Dext. However, the PRO uses Samsung’s proprietary Touchwiz OS rather than Android, as used in those phones.
Although less flexible, the PRO still lets you customise your three home screens fairly comprehensively, giving you up to 100 different widgets to choose from including obvious choices like clocks and Twitter feeds.
Having tested the relatively low-end Corby, I was impressed with the responsiveness of the PRO’s navigation between these screens. There was no real lag, and unlike some other slide-out Qwerty phones, the PRO switched between landscape and portrait aspect ratios very quickly as the keyboard was slid in and out. Home screen layouts are automatically reconfigured too. The PRO gets an extra step up the feature list ladder from the Corby and TXT on the photographic, equipped with a 3.2-mega pixel camera instead of the mere 2-mega-pixel examples seen on those two.
This is the problem for the Corby PRO - while there’s nothing inherently wrong with the phone, it’s got stiff competition. The further you tread up the Corby range, the less influence its colorful backplate aesthetics will have. After all, how cheap can a touchscreen phone with a full Qwerty be?
This may well prove to be the sticking point for this top end Corby model. If it manages to undercut its rivals, the PRO may well be a smash. If its price is level-pegging with phones like the Motorola Dext, I can’t imagine the Corby’s colorful interchangeable back-plates will be enough to guarantee that many purchases.
Features:
* 4.13 x 2.24 x 0.62 inches dimensions
* 240 x 320 pixels resolution
* Weight : 135g
* 16M QVGA touchscreen display
* 3 MP camera with digital zoom
* 100MB ofextendable memory
* Li – Ion, 960 mAh battery with 8.33 hours (500 mins) of Talk time
* 500 hours (21 days) of Stand-by time.
* FM Radio with RDS
* 3.5mm headset jack
* Music player
* Quad-band GSM
* 3.5G support data download speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps
* GPS
* Bluetooth
* WiFi (802.11b/802.11g)
* USB
* Price : 13,900 INR ($299)
CorbyPlus B3410:
Hybrid Design and Easy UI:
The hybrid Touch & QWERTY form factor offers optimal versatility and ease of use. You can text friends and family with total ease and convenience using ergonomically designed slide out QWERTY keypad. With finger-friendly Touch Wiz users can effortlessly navigate through their favorite features. Online widgets give you instant access to all your favorite online contents with just a quick touch of the icon.
Perfect Texting and Email:
You will appreciate the ease with which you can do email, SMS and MMS. With B3410’s threaded message box, users’ messages are more organized and fun to read, an especially useful tool for socially active young people. The QWERTY keypad makes typing messages especially convenient, a must for high-volume texters.
Comprehensive SNS and IM Support:
With connection support for SNS, IM and Bluetooth, you can keep up to date with family and friends with maximum convenience. Whether sharing photos, sending a quick note, or just chatting about the day’s events, B3410 lets you do it all with speed and ease.
Versatile Music Player:
You will enjoy listening to your favorite songs on the go with built-in music player. You will be impressed with the ease with which you can record favorite songs from FM radio just by pressing the shortcut key.
Handy 2MP Camera:
You will delight in capturing life’s moments with the embedded 2MP camera and video recorder. You will particularly appreciate the creative options provided by the camera’s special modes and features. With direct saving to the micro SD Card, saving and sharing pictures is as convenient as ever.
Features:
* 2.6 inch (240×320 pixels)
* Weight : 113.7gm
* 262K QVGA TFT touchscreen display
* 2 MP Camera with 4x Digital Zoom
* FM Radio with recording capability
* 3.5mm headset jack
* 960 mAh battery, up to 12 hours of Talk time
* Music Player
* Bluetooth v2.1
* Quad Band GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, GPRS/WAP
* DNSe
* 20MB internal memory, Micro SD card slot (up to 8GB) expandable memory
* Price :10,050 INR ($216)
Independent of the technical jargon and the critical analysis, I'd like to add that on a personal note I feel that the Samsung Corby is an excellent handset for its price. I can say this with surety given my incredible three month experience with the device. I was the first of many to purchase the handset and have no regrets so far. This mobile is sheer value for money and I'm sure its two younger cousins will be just as good. Cheers!
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