User:Sguan2/article notes Samsung Behold

Samsung Behold SGH-T919

Manufacturer	Samsung
Compatible networks	GSM 850 / 900 /1800 / 1900 / UMTS 1700 / 2100
Availability by region	November 7, 2008
Successor	Samsung Memoir SGH-T929
Form factor	Candybar / PDA
Dimensions	105 X 53 X 13 mm
Mass	113 g
Memory	180 MB internal
Removable storage	microSD/TransFlash
Battery	1000 mAh Li-Ion
Display	240 X 400 pixels (3.0 inches) Touchscreen
Rear camera	5.0 megapixel
Connectivity	Full HTML Browser, Bluetooth 2.0, USB
Data inputs	Virtual QWERTY touchpad

The Samsung Behold SGH-T919 is a touch-screen, 3G candybar style mobile phone introduced by Samsung late in the year of 2008. The Behold is among one of the first Samsung mobile phones released to be touch-screen along with the Samsung Omnia, the Samsung Instinct, the Samsung Eternity, and the Samsung Tocco. The Samsung Behold is the "American" release of Samsung Omnia which is only sold in Europe and Asia so the features and design of both of these phones are similar. Some of the Behold's biggest competitors are the Apple iPhone (AT&T), Google G1 phone (T-Mobile), LG Dare (Verizon), Samsung Instinct (Sprint), and Samsung Eternity (AT&T). It is currently available only to customers of T-Mobile.

Design

The Samsung Behold is a candybar style mobile phone with a touch screen that resembles the Omnia and Dare with a touch of the Instinct mixed in it. The Behold weighs around 4 ounces (115 grams), lighter than Apple iPhone and its dimensions are 105 X 53 X 13 mm, having a smaller form factor than the other Samsung mobile phones with similar designs. The Samsung Behold has a comfortable and durable feeling to it partly due to the stainless steel plating it for the battery cover on the back of the phone. It is a slim mobile phone so it can be placed anywhere for the mobile phone user's convenience. Also for the user's convenience, the Samsung Behold has an accelerator built into it that allows the screen on the Behold to switch between portrait and landscape modes. The alphanumeric touch keypad in the portrait mode turns into a full QWERTY keyboard with a separate keyboard for numbers, symbols, and punctuations in the landscape mode. In addition to the automatic accelerator on the Samsung Behold, the 240 X 400 pixels on the touch-screen allows for a clearer and brighter picture which is a plus when it comes to a touch-screen mobile phone.

Interface

The interface on the Samsung Behold is called TouchWiz which is upgraded from the one that was on the Samsung Omnia. With TouchWiz, the Behold will have better features like "flashy 3D effects, new gesture controls, better integration of photos and contacts, and more haptic feedback."

Criticisms

Overall, Ginny Mies of PC World concluded that the Samsung Behold "is a well-designed touch-screen phone with an impressive feature set" however many reviewers state that there are a few "flaws" that they notice when using this mobile phone. Contributor Wireless and Mobile News states that the biggest drawback of the Samsung Behold compared to one of its major competitors, the Apple iPhone, is the lack of Wi-Fi on this touch-screen phone. The Samsung Behold's "target [audiences] [are] 21 to 35 year [olds]" who are looking for a mobile phone that could do nearly everything, including being able to use Wi-Fi to log onto nearby available wireless networks. The browser that comes with the Behold is not as sophisticated as the Apple iPhone's safari and with larger websites, it only allows the user to see only a portion of the website. In the email function on the Behold, the user can only choose from the 13 different email providers given and cannot add their own onto it. Some users may find that the QWERTY keyboard is bit small but after a while, users may be able to get used to it.

With the TouchWiz interface that the Samsung Behold has, it allows for little personalization options for the home screen such as the limited wallpapers options and no screen savers but it does allow for using a photo that is taken with the camera on the Samsung Behold as the wallpaper. Also, the Behold's phonebook only allows the user to search for contacts' names through first names which could be a hassle.

As for the Samsung Behold's camera, while photos taken outdoors seem to be clear and vibrant, reviewers feel photos taken indoors turn out to be "fuzzy with colors being on the dull side when taking shots from far distances." There is a flash on the Behold's camera but it is only useful when taking photos at a closer range (around three feet). As for the video application, users were dissatisfied with the quality of the footage taken because the highest quality of the videos could only be 320 X 240. Users felt that there were very few options for the video application and that the sound the videos produced were very low and users had to listen very closely to hear the sound.

Minor dislikes of the Samsung Behold that will vary with differing tastes are the simple design of the music player, for users who wish to use the Samsung Behold as a business handy phone, it does not allow for Microsoft Office documents to be opened nor does it allow PDF files to load, lacking a standard headphone jack

Developments

Since the Samsung Behold has been introduced in November 2008, Electronista claims on March 12, 2009, " Samsung...have represented exactly one quarter of all touchscreen phones shipped in 2008."

With around 10 million different Samsung phones produced this year, Electronista has concluded that the Samsung Behold (the American release of the Samsung Tocco) is the most well-liked model making up 5 million of the 10 million produced while the Instinct, the Samsung Omnia, Omnia, the Pixon made up the rest of the 5 million phones produced.

While Samsung is responsible for 25% of all touch-screen shipped in the year 2008, the Apple iPhone represents 33.3%, approximately one third of all touch-screen shipped in the year 2008. Other touch-screen competitors include LG, HTC, and Palm that make up for the rest of the touch-screen shipments.