CES 2007

Samsung BD-P1200

(Credit: Samsung)

Samsung was the first to roll out a Blu-ray player last year, and now they're the first company to roll out a standard form-factor player with HDMI 1.3. The new BD-P1200 offers many of the same features as last year's BD-P1000: 1080p playback; DVD upconversion to 720p, 1080i, and 1080p; and a stylish design. The BD-P1200's HDMI output is also compatible with the consumer electronics control (CEC) format, which should enable compatible products to send commands between each other--for instance, a CEC-compatible TV could send commands to the BD-P1200 and tell it to turn on and start playing a disc.

HDMI 1.3 is definitely the main selling point, and it should allow for encoded Dolby Digital TrueHD and DTS HD Master soundtracks to be sent to a compatible receiver--such as the cutting-edge Sherwood Newcastle R-972 and R-872 we saw at CES. We emphasize should because there's a lot of confusion over next-gen high resolution soundtracks--we've contacted both manufacturers as well as Dolby and DTS several times and received conflicting reports about the audio capabilities of several Blu-ray and HD-DVD players.

Samsung says the BD-P1200 will sell for $800 and will be released in March. Anyone in the market for a Blu-ray player should remember that the PS3--if you can find it--can be bought for $500, and that LG's Super Multi Blue Player will get you both Blu-ray and HD-DVD compatibility for $400 more ($1,200) than the Samsung costs.

Samsung SPH-c417

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Samsung grabs a piece of the donut, so to speak, with its sponsorship of the Simpsons movie that's set to debut later this year. The company has taken three of its phones and styled them in Simpsons yellow while adding the movie's logo to the front flap.

The Samsung Sync (SGH-a707), the SPH-c417, and the SPH-m610 were chosen as Simpsons special edition phones, and we can only hope that "D'oh!" is available as a ring tone. Stay tuned for availability.

Samsung Sync

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Samsung SPH-m610

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Samsung SGH-X830

(Credit: CNET UK)

At CES Samsung showed off a quirky cell phone that takes "thin" to a whole level. It's not thin from the side like the Motorola Razr, but rather it's exceptionally slim when measured across its front face. The GSM Samsung SGH-X830 measures about an inch wide and sports a swivel form factor in a gallery of colors, including black, green, red and blue. Features are impressive for such a small phone. Inside is a 2-megapixel camera, a digital music player, multiformat video support, 1GB of flash memory, stereo Bluetooth, a 65,536-color display and USB 2.0 support. And no, it won't be widely available in the United States.

Samsung SGH-P310

(Credit: Samsung)

When we reviewed the Samsung SGH-P300 last year, we thought it had a perverse appeal. Though it looked like a grade school calculator, its credit card-like dimensions were unique and frankly, pretty cool. Also, its feature set was generous for the phone's size. Now, at CES this year, Samsung is showing the P300's successor that was introduced in the fall, the Samsung SGH-P310.

Fortunately, Samsung managed to make the design a bit more attractive with a black color scheme and a redesigned keypad. We also like the circular-shaped navigation toggle, which beats the square control on the P300 hands down. Features improved as well with a 2-megapixel camera (compared with a 1.3 shooter on the P300), Bluetooth 2.0, and a MicroSD card slot. Other offerings include a speakerphone, a music player, a document viewer, tri-band (GSM 900/1800/1900) world phone support with EDGE, and a bright 262,000-color display. And it all comes in a handy leather folder, like its predecessor. The U.S. market it lagging in widespread availability, of course, but you can get it for around $300.

Samsung Ultra Video

(Credit: Samsung)

Everyone's heard about the Samsung Ultra Music, but Samsung also chose CES for the U.S. unveiling of its new Ultra Video as well. The Ultra Video looks like the Ultra Music, but it features a unique and sexy swivel design that allows you to balance the phone on a table for easy viewing. Also called the F500, the GSM Ultra Video made its first debut last month at an electronics show in Hong Kong. But don't get too excited. It's not even out in Asia yet, so a U.S. arrival should take a few eons.

Samsung SGH-T329

(Credit: Kent German/CNET Networks)

At CES, Samsung is showing an updated model to its earlier SGH-T319 models. The new Samsung SGH-T329 offers much of the same feature set including a VGA camera, a 65,000-color display, a speakerphone, USB cable support and Bluetooth, but fortunately it improves on its predecessor's dull design. The flip phone sports soothing, rounded edges, a gray and silver color scheme, and a vertically oriented external display. The carrier is T-Mobile, but we've no word on pricing or availability yet.

(Credit: Samsung)

Google Search, Google Maps and Gmail will come bundled on some Samsung phones, both companies announced Monday at CES. The software will be bundled on phones starting in "early 2007," with Samsung already including Google software on its new ultra-slim HSDPA-ready phone, the Ultra Edition 13.8 (Z720).

The Z720 is fitting as the first Samsung cell phone to come bundled with Google Search, Google Maps and Gmail. That's because the slim slider is a 3G, HSDPA-ready phone, meaning you can connect with the Internet using cell phone signal towers. In addition to WLAN capability, the phone also has a 2.1-inch screen, a 3-megapixel camera, a media player and Bluetooth.

This is not the first time the phone manufacturer and behemoth search company have partnered for mobile. In November, Samsung's GPS-enabled Helio came bundled with Google Maps.

Samsung SCH-U740

(Credit: Samsung)

After its previous attempt at a dual-hinged flip phone fizzled, Samsung tried again with its new SCH-U740. Similar to the D307, the U740 features a full QWERTY keyboard (thankfully with better navigation controls this time) and can switch from portrait to landscape mode to quickly compose text messages and e-mails. But unlike the D307, the U740 ditches silver for a unique black and champagne color scheme and this time, the carrier will be Verizon Wireless instead of Cingular.

Though it's not a real smart phone since it doesn't run a third-party operating system, it still should offer a set of worker bee-friendly features, including Bluetooth, a MicroSD card slot, a speakerphone, and EV-DO support for Verizon's V Cast multimedia service. And in an improvement over the D307, the U710 is set to offer a 1.4-megapixel camera with video recording and playback.

Samsung SGH-A727

(Credit: Samsung)

Samsung's obsession with being thin is almost becoming unhealthy. Its new SGH-A727 measures just 0.35 inch thick, which (for the moment at least) makes it one of the slimmest cell phones round. Designed like the Samsung SGH-T519 (or the SGH-X820 depending on your preference), the SGH-A727 is meant for the fashion conscious consumer who still wants to have some fun. Its features include quad-band world phone support, compatibility with HSDPA networks (think Cingular), a 262,000-color display, a 1.3-megapixel camera, a digital music player, Bluetooth 2.0, a speakerphone, and a MicroSD card slot. We don't have the exact information on pricing and availability at this time, but we could see it by the summer with a carrier.