Samsung Announced GALAXY Beam at MWC 2012

Samsung announced an interesting phone for this season, an Android Gingerbread 2.3 (too bad not on Ice Cream Sandwich) with in-built Samsung GALAXY Beam smartphone. Our Kristofer Brozio covered both GALAXY Beam and Galaxy Tab 2.0 here:

There are good number of phones that are either in-built pico-projectors installed or as an add-on to the phone. These made the phones either bulky or not operable easily. LG eXpo (Windows Mobile 6.5) phone was superior phone with projector of its time. But this phone is much lighter and thinner than LG eXpo. Samsung made this easy with the integration of the phone inside the projector. Samsung Mobile Press Release specs and features says that phone measures only 0.49 inches with a projector of 15 lumens, and on the average most of the current pico-projectors are about 12 lumens on the average. The projector displays whatever is on the display and its gyroscope adjusts the image from portrait to landscape mode even if the phone is in portrait mode.

JK Shin, President of IT & Mobile Communications Division at Samsung Electronics said “GALAXY Beam provides mobile freedom, enabling a unique shared experience around digital content for everyone—anywhere and instantly—from a smartphone as slim and portable as any on the market” and “GALAXY Beam is a device borne out of Samsung’s insight and innovation, demonstrating Samsung’s commitment to providing extraordinary experiences for consumers with products that let them express and fulfill themselves.”

Samsung Mobile Press Release says “GALAXY Beam lets users spontaneously share photos, videos or other digital media with family or friends by beaming content stored on the device directly onto walls, ceilings or improvised flat surfaces, so that everyone can share the fun without the need to huddle around smartphone or pad-sized screens. GALAXY Beam’s ultra-bright 15 lumens projector allows users to freely share life’s memorable moments instantly and in crisp clarity, even in outdoor environments.”

Projector is capable of projecting the images or the phone screen up to 50” size. The phone including the projector comes in a size of  just 12.5mm thick  with  ergonomic and elegant design. The phone runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread with 1.0 GHz dual-core processor and  4” (480×800) TFT capacitive touch.  The phone comes with 8GB of internal memory and 2000mAh batter to support display and projector features.  The phone is capable of HD (720p@30fps) recording and playback with 5 MP camera on rear and 1.3 camera for Video calling on the front. The tech specs from Samsung Mobile site:

Network: HSPA 14.4/5.76 Mbps 850/900/1900/2100 & EDGE/GPRS 850/900/1800/1900

OS: Android 2.3 (Gingerbread)

Display: 4.0” 480×800 (WVGA) TFT

Processor: 1.0GHz Dual-Core Processor

Camera: 5MP AF ＋ 1.3MP / Flash

Video: MPEG4, H.263, H.264, WMV, DivX

Recording/Playback: 720p@30fps

Audio: MP3, AAC, AAC＋, eAAC＋, WMA0fps

Connectivity: BT 3.0＋HS, 802.11 b/g/n 2.4GHz, MicroUSB, USB 2.0, 3.5mm Ear Jack

PC Applications: Samsung Kies 2.0

Memory: 6GB RAM ＋ 8GB Internal Memory, MicroSD slot (up to 32GB)

Dimension: 64.2 x 124 x 12.5mm, 145.3 g

Battery: 2000 mAh

It is interesting to note that the specs didn’t list SAMOLED display or bigger screened phone like Note or Galaxy S II or higher. And the phone is not running on LTE. Also Samsung went with 720p instead of full HD 1080p recording and play. Samsung said that the phone will be available for sale during second half of this year. Wouldn’t that make this phone two generations old by the time it is released, because Google already announced Android 5.0 and Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) is current making Gingerbread one generation old already.

Source: Samsung Mobile Galaxy Beam Press Release.