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Phone of the People - A View on the Samsung Genio
10 Nov 2009
If you can cast your mind back a decade or so, you may remember a mobile handset that revolutionised the industry at the time. The handset in question was the Nokia 3210. Although archaic by today's standards, when it was launched in 1999 the 3210 offered enough new features, including an internal antennae and predictive texting, to be technically impressive. But what made the 3210 popular enough to sell over 160 million units went beyond technical capabilities. It was the interchangeable covers, the customisable ringtones and the advertising aimed at the youth market that turned it into a mobile legend. It was also the first phone to truly embrace mobile gaming, making a classic out of Snake.
Jump forwards ten years and mobile phones have improved beyond recognition and the number of manufacturers involved has also increased exponentially. But there may be one new phone that has all of the traits that made the 3210 so popular all those years ago. What follows is the argument supporting the Samsung Genio as a new phone of the people. There is, if you look for it, quite a bit of evidence to support the Samsung Genio as a latter day 3210.
The first item for your consideration is the TV advert. It features the backing track from that androgynous pop starlet La Roux's hit single 'Bulletproof'. This reeks of 80s nostalgia with beeps and synths and more than anything else has proven to be incredibly popular amongst a young audience. The Samsung Genio, like the 3210 before it, is tapping into the profitable youth audience, especially with its pre-Christmas release and low price. It makes the advert for the 3210, which involved a couple swapping their interchangeable covers over a washing line, look rather stuffy, but then the world was a lot more innocent a decade ago.
Emphasis in all of the accompanying literature and promotional material is placed firmly on the funky styling of the Samsung Genio. This comes down to the interchangeable 'Fashion Jackets', which those without a sense of fun will insist on calling 'battery covers'. This too is a trait borrowed from the 3210 and something that not many other manufacturers have tried of late. What this will mean is that users will be able not only to choose which fashion jacket they want to use, but also customise their own creations. It will also allow third party companies to produce fashion jackets for the Samsung Genio. Expect to see market stalls up and down the country selling a huge range of unofficial jackets as soon as the Genio takes off.
If you needed further proof that the Samsung Genio is going to wing its way into satchels and backpacks then you need look no further than its built-in dictionary. The Genio website explicitly states that this is included in order to improve the user's vocabulary. It provides explanations and translations of words from eight different languages. This phone could be the modern language teacher's worst nightmare, but a rather good revision guide. Now all they have to do is figure out a way of stopping teenagers smuggling the Samsung Genio into exams.
In terms of social networking the Samsung Genio is about as well-stocked as a phone in its price range can be. In fact, with support for Facebook, Twitter and MySpace via pre-installed apps, it is one of the lowest cost unified social networking phones on the market. Social networking has completely changed the way in which teenagers and young adults interact, almost to the same extent as text messaging did 10 years ago. As such the Samsung Genio is ready to embrace these changes and allow the new generation to define their own culture independent of the restrictions of the past.
The one area in which the Samsung Genio does not quite measure up to more expensive touch screen handsets is in the applications department. While it comes with nearly 30 widgets and apps pre-loaded, with another 75 available to download, this pales in comparison with the contents of Apple's App Store or the Android Market. It also means that developers will find it hard to promote their applications on the Genio because of the younger target audience. The 3210 brought free mobile ringtones to the masses and it is a pity that the Samsung Genio cannot offer up something equally customisable and liberating.
That being said, the Samsung Genio does at least have a decent array of built in software to compliment its 2 megapixel camera. Whilst some basic camera phones allow you to take pictures and nothing else, the Genio has built in face and smile detection, as well as the ability for users to upload their photos directly to their favourite social networking sites, including Flikr. On top of that, the Genio also allows you to upload any videos you record directly to YouTube. You can therefore instantly share any special moments or goofy incidents with the world at large, something that the youth of yesteryear would have given their right arm to have been able to do.
It is important to remember that the Samsung Genio is not a revolutionary handset. The market for phones amongst young people is already well established and to be truly revolutionary nowadays manufacturers must put in vast amounts of cash and charge a premium for top of the line phones. However, it has no pretentions to power, instead focusing on what mobile use should be about when you are young; namely fun and friendship.
If you can cast your mind back a decade or so, you may remember a mobile handset that revolutionised the industry at the time. The handset in question was the Nokia 3210. Although archaic by today's standards, when it was launched in 1999 the 3210 offered enough new features, including an internal antennae and predictive texting, to be technically impressive. But what made the 3210 popular enough to sell over 160 million units went beyond technical capabilities. It was the interchangeable covers, the customisable ringtones and the advertising aimed at the youth market that turned it into a mobile legend. It was also the first phone to truly embrace mobile gaming, making a classic out of Snake.
Jump forwards ten years and mobile phones have improved beyond recognition and the number of manufacturers involved has also increased exponentially. But there may be one new phone that has all of the traits that made the 3210 so popular all those years ago. What follows is the argument supporting the Samsung Genio as a new phone of the people. There is, if you look for it, quite a bit of evidence to support the Samsung Genio as a latter day 3210.
The first item for your consideration is the TV advert. It features the backing track from that androgynous pop starlet La Roux's hit single 'Bulletproof'. This reeks of 80s nostalgia with beeps and synths and more than anything else has proven to be incredibly popular amongst a young audience. The Samsung Genio, like the 3210 before it, is tapping into the profitable youth audience, especially with its pre-Christmas release and low price. It makes the advert for the 3210, which involved a couple swapping their interchangeable covers over a washing line, look rather stuffy, but then the world was a lot more innocent a decade ago.
Emphasis in all of the accompanying literature and promotional material is placed firmly on the funky styling of the Samsung Genio. This comes down to the interchangeable 'Fashion Jackets', which those without a sense of fun will insist on calling 'battery covers'. This too is a trait borrowed from the 3210 and something that not many other manufacturers have tried of late. What this will mean is that users will be able not only to choose which fashion jacket they want to use, but also customise their own creations. It will also allow third party companies to produce fashion jackets for the Samsung Genio. Expect to see market stalls up and down the country selling a huge range of unofficial jackets as soon as the Genio takes off.
If you needed further proof that the Samsung Genio is going to wing its way into satchels and backpacks then you need look no further than its built-in dictionary. The Genio website explicitly states that this is included in order to improve the user's vocabulary. It provides explanations and translations of words from eight different languages. This phone could be the modern language teacher's worst nightmare, but a rather good revision guide. Now all they have to do is figure out a way of stopping teenagers smuggling the Samsung Genio into exams.
In terms of social networking the Samsung Genio is about as well-stocked as a phone in its price range can be. In fact, with support for Facebook, Twitter and MySpace via pre-installed apps, it is one of the lowest cost unified social networking phones on the market. Social networking has completely changed the way in which teenagers and young adults interact, almost to the same extent as text messaging did 10 years ago. As such the Samsung Genio is ready to embrace these changes and allow the new generation to define their own culture independent of the restrictions of the past.
The one area in which the Samsung Genio does not quite measure up to more expensive touch screen handsets is in the applications department. While it comes with nearly 30 widgets and apps pre-loaded, with another 75 available to download, this pales in comparison with the contents of Apple's App Store or the Android Market. It also means that developers will find it hard to promote their applications on the Genio because of the younger target audience. The 3210 brought free mobile ringtones to the masses and it is a pity that the Samsung Genio cannot offer up something equally customisable and liberating.
That being said, the Samsung Genio does at least have a decent array of built in software to compliment its 2 megapixel camera. Whilst some basic camera phones allow you to take pictures and nothing else, the Genio has built in face and smile detection, as well as the ability for users to upload their photos directly to their favourite social networking sites, including Flikr. On top of that, the Genio also allows you to upload any videos you record directly to YouTube. You can therefore instantly share any special moments or goofy incidents with the world at large, something that the youth of yesteryear would have given their right arm to have been able to do.
It is important to remember that the Samsung Genio is not a revolutionary handset. The market for phones amongst young people is already well established and to be truly revolutionary nowadays manufacturers must put in vast amounts of cash and charge a premium for top of the line phones. However, it has no pretentions to power, instead focusing on what mobile use should be about when you are young; namely fun and friendship.
