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"Interesting Concept,Very good,but could be better." on by indiantechie
Pros: -SAMOLED Screen
-Unique Concept
-Sleek Profile
-The Usual(Which means 3G,WiFi,Bluetooth,Hotspot) basically a Full Feature SetCons: -Smaller Screen
-Ticker might be good for info but makes texting and emailing harder
-Screen size is small.
-Feels PlastickySummary: The Samsung continuum is best for the type of person who needs to be always connected. Other than that I can't see it appealing to anyone else, and no matter whom it is I can't see the second display being more than a novelty. Even the person who needs info as soon as it comes; this is an inferior system to something with push system, like a Blackberry. Other than that the display gets in the way, first of the entire screen is already .6 smaller than other GalaxyS display, but the second display gets in the way of typing on the already small screen. But other than that, if you're not looking for the screen to help you, than the Continuum is a great full featured Smartphone, with an interesting and amazing extra bonus, that no other Smartphone's have.
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"Nice Phone, with room to improve" on by Weudel
Pros: Smaller in the hand than many similarly featured phones, beautiful display, DLNA support
Cons: The Ticker needs better customization options and more compatibility to third-party apps. The Froyo update promises to open this up some. Oh, and Bing, though it is easily worked around.
Summary: The Continuum is the latest phone released in the US in Samsung's Galaxy S Series. And while it is a part of that series, it also stands alone. The Continuum has a smaller display than its brethren at 3.4?, though it maintains the 800 x 480 resolution meaning that the pixels on the Continuum are smaller than any of the other Galaxy S phones. So, while its screen is .6? smaller, the display is just as awe-inspiring as any of these Super AMOLED beasts. Graphics and video are crisp and clear, and with the 1GHz Hummingbird processor, render flawlessly.
The thing that truly makes the Continuum stand out, not only from the Galaxy S phones, but from all Android devices is the 480 x 180 Ticker display located below the standard Android function keys. The Ticker can be used to display your RSS feeds, SMS, incoming and missed calls, emails, social network feeds, music controls, and time and weather. It is a little display that keeps you informed without having to open up the main screen. While it is useful, it also has its limitations. The news items go by so fast that if you aren't looking at it when they come up, you have no chance of catching what they say. Also, the social networks sync every thirty minutes or so and when they do you get all of your feed in the matter of about a minute. While Facebook has options to limit what comes over your ticker, Twitter does not. The Twitter feed is all or nothing, though I managed to figure out a work-around for that using the RSS feed.
I find myself a bit underwhelmed by the current ticker, but Samsung has promised that the further functionality for third-party apps will come with the Android 2.2 update sometime next year. I also hold out hope that some developer will build a custom ROM that better utilizes this space. It seems like being able to add 1 x 4 widgets would be fairly simple and add greatly to the functionality.
The Continuum comes with the Swype keyboard, which is by far the best one available.
USB syncing is made easier by Samsung by identifying the device as a media player, as opposed to my Eris which just showed up as a USB stick. This minor change allows for better options in transferring directly from music software to the phone. Instead of dragging and dropping in the file system, I can transfer files directly in Banshee.
Rooting was easy, using Z4 Root from the Market. This allows, among other things, taking screenshots and removing some of the bloat that comes pre-loaded, although it may be wise to hold off on that, since any OTA update will likely look for those apps before pushing to your phone, so you may end up waiting longer for Froyo 2.2. There do not appear to be any developers brewing ROMs for this device yet, so the benefits of rooting are fairly limited.
Samsung's AllShare app provides DLNA support, allowing you to stream content from your PC to the phone or to a supported TV, using the phone as a remote control.
Overall, this is a great device and the Froyo upgrade and future custom ROMs hold nothing but promise for this unique phone. -
"Absolutely Fantastic Phone!" on by cjhunter1014
Pros: Lighter, faster, thinner than the iPhone. Gorgeous screen so bright and clear. A clear home screen with time, weather right there!. Tons of apps!
Cons: Battery life could be better, but I am using it constantly!
Summary: This phone is simply fantastic! I was going in to get an iPhone but saw the screen on this and that was it! It has a faster processor than an iPhone, thinner, and lighter too! Apps everywhere in the Android Market. Everything I have ever seen an iPhone do this phone does. The screen is 2.5Xs better (read brighter, cleaner, more resolution) than the iPhone. I really wanted to get the iPhone but the Continuum was too cool to pass up on. The battery life could be better, but that maybe because I am playing with it ALL day long. With the charger at my desk we do fine. The scrolling ticker at the bottom is also awesome and a must have. In addition, I love that weather and a scrolling news ticker are now buttons for easy access on the main screen. My wife is worried that I love my phone more than her. Hmmmmmm. It is close I won't lie. I love this phone!
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"easy to use, beautiful display, smaller size" on by lpt2569
Pros: easy to use, navigation is straightforward, display is bright and clear, smaller/sleek design, ticker is interesting.
Cons: lack of latest Android OS update, battery life not great, but that is nothing new, and should be expected these days.
Summary: Great Android device, especially for anyone coming from a BlackBerry or other OS. Samsung's TouchWiz User Interface makes navigating through the device's functions and screens very easy. Screen/display is very bright and crisp, video looks great, text on websites/emails/texts is sharp. Call quality is fine, not great, not bad (BB call quality is better, IMO). Web browsing is easy and fast. There are great apps available to add some fun or different functionality, whatever your flavor choice might be. I have had mine for about a month, and I love that I can't stop messing around with it, trying to find new things I can do and/or the phone can do. And I love that it's slightly smaller than most Android Phones...the thin profile and sleek design are definitely a plus for slipping it in your coat or jeans pocket. Camera seems ok for snapshots, nothing fancy or high-end of course. As a music player/MP3 devise it's pretty good. The stock Music Player works fine, and can be controlled from the Ticker Display while you surf the web or text or play a game or whatever. Speaking of the Ticker, it's pretty cool for getting news feed updates, social networking updates (Twitter/Facebook, etc.), and text/email/call notifications. Hopefully the Android OS updates roll out to Samsung phones soon so the device can blossom to it's full potential, and maybe the ticker can be customized to each user's personal tastes with widgets/apps/notifications, whatever they want. I am very happy with this phone, and highly recommend it. It's not the latest/greatest Android, and it's not the most powerful with the biggest screen and huge potential if/when rooted or any of those things, but out of the box, it's pretty darn cool and sleek and more than capable of doing everything I want a phone to do these days. I have spent time with iPhones and other Android Devices (HTC Incredible, Droid X and Droid 2 Global, plus Samsung Fascinate, which I almost got instead of this, but the size is just too big for my taste), and out of the box, this device stacks up to all of them in my opinion in almost every category as far as functionality and features. Add a 16GB or 32GB memory card, and you have a very powerful mini-computer with tons of space for almost anything you want to throw on it. If you are looking for a media (i.e. video/gaming) device, the smaller screen is not optimal, I would look at the Droid X or the Samsung Fascinate, or wait for some of the newer devices coming out from HTC and Motorola.
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"Fast w/Good Battery Life - What more can you ask for?" on by nicki2377
Pros: Beautiful Screen
Fast
Ticker is useful for conserving battery + keeping informedCons: Lots of Verizon/Bing Bloatware
Summary: I have used a smartphone for about 5 years now - and this phone is elegant and still easy to use. I didn't want a huge screen, I have small hands and want to be able to slip a phone into my pocket. (The screen is only .6" less than the Fascinate, btw). I do hope that some third party software devs take notice of the ticker and utilize it. I am hoping for a Froyo upgrade, but it runs really well on 2.1. I feel like the battery life is surprisingly good. I have been able to go 10+ hours without charging with more than moderate usage. Obviously, YMMV.
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