Sony's Biggest Fear Is Not Matsushita, but Samsung
 

press release

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Samsung Electronics Unveils Camcorder Phone Capable of Recording Up to 2 Hours' of Video Streams

-- Product can record and edit video.

-- Music will play with at the touch of an external button, without folding open the phone.

-- The phone also works as a remote controller used to operate a TV or DVD player.

-- Phone supports such multimedia functions as VOD, ring tone downloads and screen image downloads.

-- 64-but polyphonic ring tone support and 310,000-pixel camera are built into this EV-DO camcorder phone.

A cellular phone is now available that lets you listen to music, record video and even control certain electronic products. Samsung's new SCH-V410 camcorder phone, capable of storing up to two hours' of video streams, is due to be related on the market next week.

A music player button is installed on the outside of the unit, allowing the user to listen to downloaded music files in stereo without having to first open the phone. Music-related functions include Stop, Skip, and Repeat, and Random Play.

The SCH-V410 can store up to 30 downloaded songs with an average size of 3MB. It works as a remote controller that can change channels or adjust volume on a TV, DVD player, VCR, karaoke machine or set-top box.

The 310,000-pixel camera comes with a backlight compensation function that greatly enhances performance, ensuring clear images in places where light and dark contrasts are severe. A strobe light is also built in, which is handy under low-light conditions.

The unit is loaded with multimedia features, starting with support for video on demand services. The Live Screen function displays video streams in the screen saver, and the Live Bell function plays high-fidelity music as a ring tone. The data transmission is fast and downloads can be reserved for times when connection fees are at their lowest.

The main screen is a 262,000-color TFT-LCD and an external 16-gray scale OLED screen is included on this cdma2000 1x EV-DO camcorder phone model.

Samsung Electronics is also planning to come out with a PCS version (SPH-V4300) camcorder phone capable of storing up to 2 hours of video at a time. The SCH-V410 will retail for under 700,000 Korean.

Could be, but don't over look Hitachi and Sharp---"Sharp Products for sharp minds." Sharp's 1985/6 ad campaign. I seem to recall. :-))

Lookie here for the Sharp VL-Z800U discussion:
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...threadid=24079

This little 1-chip beaut even comes with real widescreen, and not a 1/6" CCD but a 1/4" incher. The great thing about it is that it's great bang for the buck. Yup. Even Pokey & Co's taking a serious look at it. Wanna be a film-maker on the cheap? Look no further. The Sharp VL-Z800U is here---or at least it is in Japan. :-))