It is nice to have a built-in camera in the smartphone again. The BlackBerry 8800, which I have used recently, does not have one, but the Samsung BlackJack that I am using now comes with a 1.3 mega pixel camera. It also comes with video recording capabilities if you’re interested in fully capturing the moment and documenting what is happening.
I made my first call today, and I charged the battery. The blackjack came with two battery packs. One being the regular size battery and the other being an extended battery. If you use the extended battery, which is slightly thicker than the regular one, you need to use a different back cover which is also provided.
Here is the extended battery:
And here is the extended battery with the cover:
For now, I am going to use the regular battery (and therefore keep the device thin and elegant) but if necessary, I will switch to the extended battery later.
The Samsung BlackJack is a music phone
Another feature I tried today is the streaming music. The BlackJack is a 3G phone (with upload speeds of 400 to 700 kbps, and download speeds of up START HERE) which makes it the perfect music and video phone, especially when coupled with the Cingular Video and Cingular Music services. These services however cost extra. I started the 30 day free trial today to check out Internet radio and will soon explore the related costs. Remember however, that the 3G networks are not yet available everywhere. So far, in my area within San Francisco, I only got to experience the 3G signal a few brief moments. You can check out the coverage in your area by going to www.cingular.com and searching for the 3G coverage maps. Here is what the map of the San Francisco area looks like at this point in time:
Where is the headset?
The Samsung BlackJack didn’t come with one. So I decided to order the Motorola S9 Bluetooth stereo headset (picture on the left). Having gotten used to the stereo headset that came with the T-Mobile Dash, I wanted to continue with a stereo headset. I felt that the Stereo headset transformed the phone experience into a more pleasant one. I am hoping that the Bluetooth stereo headset will take this experience even further.
And don’t forget the cables!
Once again (similar to what I mentioned when I was using the Treo smartphones, Cingular 3125, and the Nokia E62 in the early days of the 81-day-experiment), the Samsung BlackJack comes with proprietary cables. So don’t leave home without them!
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