TechKnow: Samsung Corby

http://www.cuttingthechai.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/corby_front_camera.jpg

I can’t dispute that today’s kids are much ahead in understanding and accepting technology than my tech-aware generation. My teenage niece showed me a feature on my phone that I didn’t know even existed.

The Chaiwali had gifted me a Samsung Corby Pro ahead of our wedding and I thought that the front camera can only be activated for video calls on 3G. But, as it turns out, it isn’t.

All you need to do is type *#0*# and the LCD Test panel will display on the screen. Press 8 (VGA Cam) to activate the front camera and you can use the phone now as a mirror to adjust your hair or to apply lipstick (and also to keep an eye on what’s happening behind your back).

But you cannot click photos with the front camera, for that you have to use the rear cam (if there is another trick for that, do let me know).

I didn’t find any mention of the feature on the Samsung Corby Pro (B5310) instruction manual. While people have discussed this feature online but a simple search didn’t throw up definite any results. Therefore, this post.

The *#0*# test also lets you test your Samsung Corby Pro’s RGB settings, melody, vibration, dimming, mega cam, touch, speaker, sleepmode and sensors.

While I haven’t yet posted a review of the phone. Here’s why I chose it (I did have the liberty to choose my gift):

I wanted a touch phone and also wanted it to have a physical QWERTY keypad, I wanted 3G (for the future) and WiFi (to save on data cost) in addition to the other features that we take for granted. The budget was around 15K. And Samsung Corby Pro was the only phone that met all my requirements. The phone cost my wife Rs. 11,700 (in February 2010).

I’m a satisfied user. The only major drawback that I experienced was the lack of an LED flash. The camera isn’t also too great. The music player should’ve had more options and could’ve been more user friendly.

Contrary to reports that I read on the internet, it does have an accelerometer (tilt sensor). I’ll rate the Samsung Corby Pro 4/5.

But should you buy it? If you don’t have a need for a physical keyboard, I suggest that you go for the Samsung Galaxy Spica (I5700). It is in the Rs 12K range and has the Android advantage. As far as I know the I5700 is currently the cheapest Android phone available in India.

Samsung unveiled the brand new showstopper Samsung B5310 Corby Pro after the huge success of Samsung S3650 Corby. Samsung B5310 Corby Pro is pretty attractive, as refreshing as earlier, nicely designed, slider phone. This phone will be the treat for heavy texters, as this phone comes with enhanced Querty keyboard, which facilitates easy texting. Samsung B5310 Corby Pro is 3G integrated phone; provides easy access to social websites like Orkut, Facebook and Twitter in one touch. Interestingly, it comes at affordable price and caters some of the advanced mobile features. It has unique feature namely ‘changeable cover option’, which lets you to customize with your own mobile cover.

Design

Samsung B5310 Corby Pro has retained its freshness and youthfulness in its design. This phone will be suite for those who do lot of texting and for those who do not want Smartphone complexities. This phone has a usual attractive Oval design and possess good grip. It has huge TFT screen of 2.8-inch, offers good resolution of 240 x 320 pixels and supports hopping 16 million colors. It has dimension of 105 x 56.8 x 15.7 mm and weighs 135grams, heavier in the hand. It comes in bold colors like yellow, Black and etc with a metallic body

. Large touch screen and Querty keyboard gives you the feeling of higher-end mobiles. It comes with sliding, Full-Querty keyboard. The keys aligned in a 4 row layout, enables faster and easier texting. The keys are wide enough to faster typing and additional large space hosts the frequently used keys. Querty Keyboard’ size has been considerably reduced compared to its previous version; it looks slim and great. There are three keys present on the upper slide, same as its predecessor. It has a one short cut key on the upper slider, which lets you customize the shortcut for features according to your convenience and you can access them quickly.

Samsung B5310 Corby Pro has convenient user interface. Touch sensitiveness of the screen has not been altered. Touch operation is as good as earlier; it is providing easier navigation. It lets you to choose your external panel; installing them also quick and easy. It provides features for customizing its look.

Camera shortcut button and USB port are placed on the right side of the phone. While a volume rocker is present on the left side of the phone. Camera shortcut provides the easy and quick access to camera. USB port has plastic covering which avoids the dust particles to pierce into the port.

Multimedia

The Samsung B5310 Corby Pro equipped with enhanced music player that supports most of the audio formats like WMA, MP3 and AAC; it also supports MP3 & polyphonic ringtones. There is a video player, supports MPEG4, 3GPP, WMV, H.264 and H.263 Video Formats. it has a RDS feature based FM radio. It is equipped 3.2 megapixel Camera, offers high resolution. You can capture both pictures and videos in great detail. Camera has advanced features like editing options, Autofocus, video editor, 3.3X zoom with smile detection, Photo editor. It also features document editor and PDF viewer.It has usual built-in applications like Calculator, PC studio, Organizer and Calendar. It is preloaded with Java games like Cricket and Sunoco. You can download more games if you want and can be installed them in the phone.

The Samsung B5310 Corby is secured with Mobile tracker, you can track the phone, in case if lose the phone. It has a Hinglish SMS features as well, it recognizes both English and Hindi words.It provides support for 3.5mm audio jack and a microSD card slot (extendible up to 8GB). It has internal memory of hopping 100MB. You can store thousands of data, pictures, music and video in its external microSD.

Connectivity

The Samsung B5310 Corby supports Quadband (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) GSM and GPRS/EDGE class 10, so that you can connect to outer world easily.It supports 3G HSDA, Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, Wi-fi and USB as well. It syncs with other computers quiet easily and quickly.

It comes with faster web browser. It also supports WAP 2.0, XHTML and HTML, which lets you to connected to world wide web(WWW).It also features GPS with Assisted-GPS features , you can avail and install map softwares like Google maps, Sat Nav navigation.It has built-in application for social networking websites like Orkut, Facebook and Twitter, enables you to share the things quickly. Accessing them is also quiet convenient and faster.

Battery

The Samsung B5310 Corby is powered with Li-ion 960 mAh Standard Battery, which good battery life. It offers battery life of 10.5 hours on talktime and 600 hours on standby.

Conclusion

The Samsung B5310 Corby is good touch, slider and pretty attractive phone. It comes with Full Querty keyboard; keyboard has been nicely designed, so satisfying the needs of heavy texters. It serves the need of both young and business people. User interface comes at its best. It is preloaded with many features like GSM, GPS, Bluetooth, Wi –fi, Touch screen, huge storage capabilities, music options and much more; takes the phone to a new level. It lives up to its standards as expected from Corby and is a value for money.The Samsung B5310 Corby is priced at $350 or Rs. 13600, relatively low when compared to other phones in same category.

Colourful & Ergonomic Design

Diagonal colour contrast on the side offers dynamic visual interest. Its streamlined shape is compact and ergonomic, fitting perfectly in your hand. Samsung Corby^PRO features a 2.8” QVGA full touch screen and easy-to-use slide out QWERTY keypad.

Conversational Message

Conversational messaging presents your messages in a real view format, like a real conversation, treating SMS like Instant Messages. All messages with one contact are organized together, creating a linear conversation.

Music Entertainment

3.5mm ear-jack lets you use your favourite earphones. You can store large multimedia files on 120MB internal memory and external memory - MicroSD (up to 16GB).

Native Application

Widgets enable one-click easy access to useful applications. Native applications offer seamless connections to popular applications including Facebook and MySpace.

Buddy List in phonebook

Instead of dialling from the standard contact list, put your favourite friends in the Samsung Corby^PRO buddy list, and allows you to upload your favourite pictures. Track messages and call histories with your buddies via this list.

Multi IM

Multi IM consolidates all your instant messaging services in one application. It facilitates text, voice messages and pictures with contacts from various services.