The line between what constitutes a mobile phone and what makes a portable music player is very blurry these days. We've seen the iPhone and the Walkman phone, and now Samsung has released its own version of the iPod-cum-mobile phone. Measuring only 85.5 x 30 x 19.9 mm, the Samsung X838 is the size of a big stick of bubble gum. When closed, it is essentially a music player. On the front, there is a narrow screen and a circular navigation button that looks uncanningly like the iPod click wheel and behaves in a similar way. The X838 swivels open to become a handset (software automatically switches the display to phone mode). But unusually, it has only two rows of keys, instead of the standard three row layout. The new design is necessary to achieve the X838's narrow form, but does take some getting use to, especially for more complex tasks such as text messaging. The X838 comes with 1 GB of built-in memory, tri-band GSM support, Bluetooth, voice recorder and a 1.3 megapixel camera. The main drawback is that the X838's memory capacity is not expandable, since it has no card slot. This means you'll have to keep loading and reloading music if you want to change your repertoire. For HK$2,980, the X838 is a solid music player and a good standard phone crammed into a tiny package that is available in four colours. PROS: slim and lightweight, navigation wheel, 1GB of built-in memory CONS: tiny display, new button layout, no memory expansion Contact Gadget Geezer at syp_gadgets@hotmail.com
