Samsung shows 7 megapixel camera phone outside Korea

Samsung Electronics took its “mine’s-bigger-than-yours” game outside Korea this week when it showed its seven-megapixel camera phone, the SCH-V770 at CommunicAsia in Singapore. Perhaps the most encouraging sign was that Samsung has released official “portrait shots” of the SCH-V770 which we first wrote up from Korea in March.

It’s an indication that we may soon see the awesome converged device in other markets, and Samsung's Kitae Lee concurred when he said, "We are focusing on our latest technology that demonstrates the innovation of Samsung, and gives visitors a crystal-ball industry view of what they can expect in the future from the world's leading telecommunications company.”

Mobile Convergence was the theme of Samsung’s participation at CommunicAsia this year and it was showcasing its latest solutions and technologies including the multimedia slim phone, SCH-V740 and a wide variety of feature-rich mobile handsets to demonstrate multimedia functions such as gaming, music and video recording and playback, mobile printing, and HDD storage. Visitors also saw Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB) capabilities through Samsung’s Satellite DMB, Terrestrial DMB and DVB-H phones. The V770 offers the same level of picture-taking sophistication that a 7 megapixel digital camera does. The camera functions have been upgraded to include a 3x optical zoom and 5x digital zoom with a 1/1.8” CCD. It also supports auto focus and a flash unit that performs optimally for 7 megapixel photographs.

The V770 is designed to enable attachable wide-angle and tele-conversion lenses, the first ever on a mobile phone. The lens can boost the power of the onboard optical zoom to 4.7 times. Moreover, the V770 comes with manual functions of a digital camera never seen on a mobile phone before. The user can manually adjust focus, focal length (7.8-23.4mm), shutter speed (from 15 seconds to 1/2000th of a second) and AEL(Auto exposure lock). It also enables manual control of exposure using Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, and fully manual options

The V770 comes with multimedia features such as audio quality that befits its superior camera performance. The company has built in its “Digital Power Amp” function, with higher audio signal amplification and greater audio output, to deliver outstanding sound quality.

The TFD-LCD(Thin Film Diode-Liquid Crystal Display) on the V770 boasts QVGA resolution, the highest possible for a display of its size. It can reproduce 16 million colors, virtually any color found in nature, earning it the “True Color” appellation. Moving pictures can be recorded in QVGA resolution at 15-30 frames per second. Other standard features include video on demand (VOD), music on demand (MOD). It also offers 32MB (MMCmicro) in addition to its internal memory. The mobile phone supports a TV-out function where users can connect their phones to view still or motion pictures.

The V770 comes with a design reminiscent of a real digital camera. The front is designed as a bar-type mobile phone, while the back side is used as the digital camera.

Other advanced functions in the V770 include an MP3 player, business card reader, and 64 polyphonic sound.

According to President & CEO Kitae Lee of the Samsung Electronics, “Our development of a 7 megapixel camera phone will set a new standard in phone industry. I would like to see our technological advances contribute to the growth of the convergence in mobile phone industry and create a more convenient way of life.”

President Lee adds, “It’s very important to lead the trends continuously introducing innovative new products and we will continue to commit ourselves in developing distinctive products for our consumers.”