Barcelona --Samsung wants you to be a DJ. Among the many new phones announced at the Mobile world Congress come two music-mixing handsets, both called "Beat". The M6710 is more of a compromise, the kind of phone a web designer might use when he DJs part time at the weekends -- it has just one wheel with which to scratch tunes, but has a rather useful slide-out number pad.
The hardcore Beat is the M7600 (above) which has the same 2.6" screen, 3MP camera and stereo speakers as its brother, but adds fake surround sound, GPS and an extra "wheel" for music control.
I tried this out. The speakers could be heard (just) above the din of the MWC show floor, and the touch screen controls easy to use. Hit the "scratch" mode and you can move you fingers on the tiny on-screen circle to move the needle in the groove.
That, at least, is the theory. In practice there is a tiny but noticeable delay between finger and sound, and the "scratch" sounds seem to be lame sound FX laid over the top. Of course, this is nothing more than a gimmick, sure to get boring after around five minutes. I was sick of it after 30 seconds, but I'm a cynical gadget blogger.
Press release [Samsung]
