Samsung's slim offerings

If you're into everything slim, check out what Samsung is up to with its latest Ultra Edition II and Ultra Music mobile phone series.
The Ultra Edition II is the second generation of the company's popular slim mobile phones series and the new models are even thinner than their predecessors.
Three models were launched – the stylish slider Ultra Edition 10.9 (SGH-U600), metallic clamshell Ultra Edition 9.6 (SGH-U300) and candybar Ultra Edition 5.9 (SGH-U100).
As with previous models, the numbers denote the phone's thickness.

The SGH-U600, SGH-U300 and SGH-U100 have a 3.2-megapixel camera with 4x digital zoom and Bluetooth. They also support MP3, AAC+, and WMA audio formats, and record videos in MPEG4 format.
The quad-band SGH-U600 has a 2.2in display (262,144 colours), 60MB of built-in memory and a microSD card slot.
It has a talktime of up to 4.3 hours and a standby time of up to 275 hours.
Unlike their higher-end sibling, both the SGH-U300 and SGH-U100 only support triband (GSM900/1800/1900) networks.
Because the SGH-U300 is a clamshell phone, it has two displays – a 2.2in display on the inside and an external OLED screen (monochrome).
It has a rated talktime of up to six hours and a standby time of up to 280 hours.
The SGH-U100, which has a 1.93in screen (262,144 colours), has a rated talktime of up to 2.5 hours and a standby time of up to 185 hours.
Also, both SGH-U300 and SGH-U100 have a TV out and 70MB built-in memory.
The SGH-U600, SGH-U300 and SGH-U100 retails for RM1,399, RM1,199 and RM999 respectively.
Meanwhile, the F300, the first model in the Ultra Music series, has what Samsung calls a "dual-face" design – one side is reserved for accessing multimedia features while the other is for phone functions and messaging.
The side for accessing multimedia features has a 2.2in display (262,144 colours) with dedicated keypad and touchpad.

Samsung calls the interface Sweeping UI and you only have to sweep your finger over the touchpad to view and quickly navigate through the playlist.
On the other side you will find a small 1.4in display (65,536 colours) and the usual numeric keypad for accessing phone functions and sending text messages.
The F300 also has a digital amplifier for better bass, an FM radio, and supports the Bluetooth Stereo Music Profile (A2DP) for streaming audio to a stereo Bluetooth headset.
It can play music for 17 hours and if that is not enough, it comes with a leather casing with built-in external battery that extends the battery life to 42 hours.
The triband phone also has a 2-megapixel camera, 128MB of built-in memory and microSD slot.
It has a rated talktime of up to two hours and a standby time of up to 130 hours; the external battery extends the talktime to up to five hours and standby time to up to 330 hours.

Samsung launches ultra thin mobile music phone

Samsung Electronics, a global leader in communications and mobile phone technology, has joined the music phone race with the launch of the new Samsung F300.

The device is the world's first mobile phone to feature a double-face design housing two LCD screens embedded in the front and rear respectively.

The Samsung F300, which goes by the alias of Ultra Music, represents the convergence of basic devices with one side featuring a mobile phone and the flip side acting as a fully-fledged multimedia center providing an MP3 player, FM radio, 2.0 mega-pixel camera, a 128 mega-byte music library and voice memo recorder.

The MP3 player provides superb sound quality through the integrated speakers. Consumers can further use the music controls and 2.1 inch color screen to view their play list and music settings.

According to Steve Han, General Manager of the hand-held phone division at Samsung Gulf Electronics, the new innovative phone comes with a unique twist and design that promise to entice music and gadget lovers everywhere.

Han said: 'The F300 tends to both the professional and the free spirit in every person, with features and functions ranging from strong music capabilities, e-mail, document viewing, and Bluetooth, to Java games, TV output, MMS, and a web browser.

Part of Samsung's new Ultra series (along with the Ultra Edition II, and Ultra Messaging), the F300 measures 103.5 x 44 x 9.4 mm and weighs 77 grams, making it an ideal and convenient size to be carried around as both a phone, and a personal music player.

'The phone brings together the true elements of digital convergence. At the click of a button and a quick wrist flip, the classy and sleek mobile phone is transformed into a funky and innovative personal music library, while the mobile phone function continues to operate,' continued Han.

The music-face of the phone has a 33x42 mm screen with a resolution of 176x220 pixels, showing up to 262 thousand colors.

R&B singer, Beyonce, has previously been announced the face of F300 to promote the phone including world tour sponsorship, product endorsement and providing exclusive mobile content.

The F300 has a built-in battery which takes only two hours to recharge. The phone also comes with a hard case which acts as a backup battery in times of emergency which also gives users 210 hrs of music play time.