Samsung OmniaHD drops Omnia name
So now say hello to the i8910 HD... boring!
We should probably thank Samsung for at least keeping us all entertained as it has decided that the newly launched OmniaHD handset will be re-badged as the i8910 HD.
We don't really understand why either, especially as when it was announced at Mobile World Congress there were huge billboards with the OmniaHD branding splashed everywhere.
TechRadar made a quick call to the bods over at Samsung, who were understandably very evasive over the decision, only stating that it was to do with business decisions in certain markets, which is about as insightful as telling us it was part of a global backhaul project to streamline offset company earnings.
What is bizarre is that the phone has likely got a huge amount of marketing materials already printed and ready to go bearing the OmniaHD name, so the naming reversal must be for a pretty important reason.
WinMo - yes or no?
Other websites are claiming that the decision is down to the fact the OmniaHD (sorry, i8910HD) runs on Samsung's own OS, and the original Omnia, which hasn't quite taken off as the Korean firm might have hoped, runs Windows Mobile, and those WinMo fans are outraged that there's some confusion between the two operating systems.
It seems far more likely that there's been some clash at the top level that means there's a desire to keep the Omnia brand name for more 'business-oriented' handsets, where while the i8910HD is a tip-top handset, it doesn't quite have the grunt of today's more powerful email-centric phones.
Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.
We'll watch this one with interest, especially if Samsung decides to come clean about the decision, so keep checking back to find out the latest.
Via Mobile Crunch
Gareth has been part of the consumer technology world in a career spanning three decades. He started life as a staff writer on the fledgling TechRadar, and has grew with the site (primarily as phones, tablets and wearables editor) until becoming Global Editor in Chief in 2018. Gareth has written over 4,000 articles for TechRadar, has contributed expert insight to a number of other publications, chaired panels on zeitgeist technologies, presented at the Gadget Show Live as well as representing the brand on TV and radio for multiple channels including Sky, BBC, ITV and Al-Jazeera. Passionate about fitness, he can bore anyone rigid about stress management, sleep tracking, heart rate variance as well as bemoaning something about the latest iPhone, Galaxy or OLED TV.