Speed, speech key in new Samsung handsets

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	Speed, speech key in new Samsung handsets	By Jørgen Sundgot, Wednesday 5 January 2005

New additions to Samsung's portfolio of mobile phones offer world first speech recognition capabilities and high-speed CDMA2000 1xEV-DO data: meet the p207 and SCH-a890.

At the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Samsung is kicking off 2005 by unveiling a range of new additions to its line-up of mobile phones. Two models, the p207 and a890 were presented in detail, and the manufacturer also took advantage of the opportunity to hint at a number of upcoming products to offer advanced feature sets and high-speed data connectivity.

According to Samsung, the company expects to debut a number of 'world firsts' in 2005, with a total of 25-30 phones being introduced in the U.S. market alone. Among these we find the a890, which - in a world first - will offer speech-to-text dictation, allowing consumers to speak their message and have the phone convert the words to text; two and five Megapixel camera phones with 3X optical zoom; and a handset with a QVGA screen.

Speed will also be quintessential to Samsung, which anticipates introducing a line-up of CDMA2000 1xEV-DO compatible handsets allowing for data transfer speeds in the 500 Kbps area; and music- and video-on-demand devices that allow consumers to wirelessly stream and potentially store tunes and videos. In addition, the company also hinted of models boasting integrated Wi-Fi and BlackBerry support, as well as messaging devices with QWERTY thumbboards.

The aforementioned SCH-a890 will become Samsung's first phone for the new U.S. high-speed wireless networks based on CDMA2000 1xEV-DO technology. A clamshell design, the SCH-a890 combines Video on Demand (VOD) capabilities, a 1.3 Megapixel camera and MMS support. In addition, QuickPhrase voice recognition software will enable speaker-independent hands-free and eyes-free dialing, text messaging, menu navigation and more.

QuickPhrase lets users address a message and activate one of several pre-programmed short messages such as "Call me" or "Will call you later" by speaking those words, subsequent to which the text is included in the message.

A similar, yet more advanced technology dubbed VoiceMode will offer speech-to-text dictation functionality, allowing users to have everyday speech converted directly into text. Unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Samsung's p207 will be the first handset to hit shelves with such technology.

Based on technology from VoiceSignal Technologies, Samsaung said VoiceMode and QuickPhrase will remain industry exclusives on Samsung phones in 2005, however declined to comment further on the expected availability and pricing of the p207 and SCH-a890 models.