November 9, 2010

The Samsung Continuum isn’t as typical as they come with its secondary ticker-like display and Grip Sensor tech

by Shayne Rana

Samsung’s much awaited Continuum Android mobile handset has finally made it to the surface in an official capacity at a recent event the company held in New York. Verizon has already scooped up the new smartphone. So far we know that the Continuum is going to be running on Android 2.1, but don’t get annoyed as 2.2 + is fully supported since the device is pretty much a variant in terms of looks and a few features here and there, to the now famous Galaxy S. The Continuum has a little 1.8-inch ticker-like display (480 x 96 pixels) display below the Android touch sensitive keys that shows you updates like messages, missed calls etc. Sort of like the Status Bar only at the bottom. Capacitive sensors placed at the bottom of either side will activate the display and Samsung is calling this technology “grip sensor”.

Here’s what puzzles me, in the specs department the Continuum is supposed to support 3G Hotspot functionality which is what Froyo does anyways. So presumably this is an alternate application. Samsung’s gone with a 3.4-inch Super AMOLED display on the handset, 5 megapixel autofocus camera with 720p video capture capability and they’re throwing in an 8GB microSD card. There’s no word on Froyo or Gingerbread updates. Since it’s due out on November 11th perhaps, with any luck, we’ll get it with Gingerbread straight out of the box. Here’s hoping. The Continuum is priced at $199 with a new contract and a $100 mail-in rebate.
[Ubergizmo]