Samsung Wave 578
At the moment, four out of every five handsets we cover have one thing in common.. they are running Android. So sometimes it is nice to be presented with something a little different, and in the case of the Samsung Wave 578 the phone runs Samsung's own Bada OS.
We can't imagine that anyone has ever woken up in the morning and decided to go out and specifically buy a phone running Bada, but Samsung shifted 5 million Wave handsets last year running the OS.. so they must be doing something right. From a consumer point of view, these are attractive, capable and inexpensive touchscreen phones from a name they trust, and that seems to be doing the job.
The Wave 578 isn't exactly an exciting phone, but it's a pleasingly compact smartphone coming in at just under 100 grams. There's a 3.2" 240 x 400 pixel capacitive TFT display, a 3.2 megapixel camera on the back plus a 0.3 camera on the front for video calling, support for 3.5G data and WiFi
Like most Samsung phones, it has a good music player with all the functions you'd expect plus an FM radio and a 3.5mm audio socket. Music and other material can be stored on a microSD card (up to 16GB) or in the 100MB of internal memory.
The Samsung Wave 578 can play and record video - playback is just about adequate on this Wave's screen, but the QVGA video capture resolution is a bit poor. However, Samsung phones are usually pretty good when it comes to stills photos, and we assume that the Wave 578 will make the best of the rather basic camera.
One unusual feature with the 578 is the inclusion of NFC technology which can allow contact less payments. Manufacturers seem to be gearing up for this in a big way for 2011, although previous efforts have fallen a bit flat. As far as we can tell, the Wave 578 doesn't have GPS (where the similar Wave 525 does) so perhaps the NFC circuitry sits where the GPS receiver used to be.
Bada isn't exactly the operating system on everyone's lips at the moment, but the similar Wave 525 currently has about 1750 apps available for it. Social networking support is built in, as is a web browser, email client and all the usual features.
Pricing is not known, but you can currently buy the similar Wave 525 for about €150, so the Wave 578 looks like good value. The 578 should be available in Europe from May and June onwards with other markets to follow.
At the moment, four out of every five handsets we cover have one thing in common.. they are running Android. So sometimes it is nice to be presented with something a little different, and in the case of the Samsung Wave 578 the phone runs Samsung's own Bada OS.
We can't imagine that anyone has ever woken up in the morning and decided to go out and specifically buy a phone running Bada, but Samsung shifted 5 million Wave handsets last year running the OS.. so they must be doing something right. From a consumer point of view, these are attractive, capable and inexpensive touchscreen phones from a name they trust, and that seems to be doing the job.
The Wave 578 isn't exactly an exciting phone, but it's a pleasingly compact smartphone coming in at just under 100 grams. There's a 3.2" 240 x 400 pixel capacitive TFT display, a 3.2 megapixel camera on the back plus a 0.3 camera on the front for video calling, support for 3.5G data and WiFi
Like most Samsung phones, it has a good music player with all the functions you'd expect plus an FM radio and a 3.5mm audio socket. Music and other material can be stored on a microSD card (up to 16GB) or in the 100MB of internal memory.
The Samsung Wave 578 can play and record video - playback is just about adequate on this Wave's screen, but the QVGA video capture resolution is a bit poor. However, Samsung phones are usually pretty good when it comes to stills photos, and we assume that the Wave 578 will make the best of the rather basic camera.One unusual feature with the 578 is the inclusion of NFC technology which can allow contact less payments. Manufacturers seem to be gearing up for this in a big way for 2011, although previous efforts have fallen a bit flat. As far as we can tell, the Wave 578 doesn't have GPS (where the similar Wave 525 does) so perhaps the NFC circuitry sits where the GPS receiver used to be.
Bada isn't exactly the operating system on everyone's lips at the moment, but the similar Wave 525 currently has about 1750 apps available for it. Social networking support is built in, as is a web browser, email client and all the usual features.
Pricing is not known, but you can currently buy the similar Wave 525 for about €150, so the Wave 578 looks like good value. The 578 should be available in Europe from May and June onwards with other markets to follow.
