The Samsung i8910 gets kinetic scrolling (in Web at least)

Published by Stuart Clark at 18:58 UTC, September 28th 2009

The latest Chinese i8910UZCII1 firmware for the Samsung i8910 (Omnia HD) adds kinetic scrolling to the built-in S60 web browser and takes the browser build number up to 7.2.13841. However, the Chinese firmware contains some other issues which break compatibility with European languages, Samsung's PC Suite and some other application. So how can this help you? ... read on to find out.

Although the Samsung i8910 and the Nokia 5800 / N97 run essentially the same software, the way those companies build and distribute firmware packages is somewhat different. With the advent of publicly available full firmware files for the i8910, it didn't take long for some talented people to work out how to dis-assemble, alter, tweak, enhance and re-package those firmware files.

The result is a growing and thriving modding community for the i8910, enabling some excellent modified firmwares for the phone. The latest of these modified firmwares has been based around the Chinese ZCII1 core firmware and gives kinetic scrolling in an English based firmware.

While it's not illegal to re-flash the firmware on your i8910 with one of these modded firmwares, it will, technically, invalidate your warranty. Therefore, we're not going to post any links to the firmwares themselves; but we will say that all this information can easily be found via a quick Google search. And while we're on the subject, specific mention should me made of Hyperx, Sev7en and SymbiX as being three of the most prolific and well-known modders within this growing community.

It should be noted that it's not yet possible to modify all parts of the Samsung firmwares, so bugs which exist in the original firmware files can sometimes not be fixed by the modders. One such example is a bug in this latest browser build which breaks compatibility with WRT widgets.

However, this early release gives us a good indication of where Samsung is headed with their official firmwares, meaning we should be able to expect an Italian or other generic "official" firmware to be released sometime soon with the same kinetic browser additions. And if Samsung fix the core WRT bug in that release, the possibilities for the modding community are almost endless.

The attached video below, (15MB) shows the new browser in action. Click on the image to download...

 


 

Filed: Home > News > The Samsung i8910 gets kinetic scrolling (in Web at least)

Platforms: S60 5th Edition

Categories: Software

News Discussion

Unregistered
Advent? Full firmware files for Nokia devices have been easily available since the very beginning of S60.

So, you won't link back to the source of this story? That's just stupid. If you're not going to credit the source, don't publish the article. There are people who work hard for the i8910 community getting these firmware files and then uploading them for the use of the public, yet you come along and leech off them without even having the decency to give them credit where it's due.

Shameful.
stuclark
The "source" is myself, but I take your point about crediting those who've created the modded firmwares, so I will put their usernames in the article.
UKJeeper
OUCH! This web page seems to be autodownloading the embedded movie. Fortunately i'm on wifi at home browsing on my omnia. Hopefully no-one is tryng to view the page over a payg 3g data plan. A 15mb+ web page?!?!?!
stuclark
It was... sorry! It's fixed now :)
rvirga
Samsung Italia hasn't announced any upcoming firmware upgrades. However, given the riots that broke out on Facebook last time they announced an upgrade, it wouldn't surprise me if they'd opt for a stealth release this time.
malerocks
Surprised that there are no rants here abt kinetic scrolling not available for the rest of the phone apps.

You can usually find it in loads for Nokia phones.
Unregistered
No. The source is not yourself. You did not get the Chinese firmware yourself, it was uploaded by someone else.

The source of this story is the person who originally posted the Chinese firmware on the internet, who, guess what, is not you.
FaizDaDon
@ Unregistered

Seriously dude, whats crawled up your butt? The author of this article has given credit where its due..... ease of will ya?
Tenkom
Alot of useless posts here. Not one of them actually says anything about how the new firmware works. At least I can report that the browser has improved ALOT. Much slicker scrolling, though still noticeably less smooth in landscape and still not "iphone smooth". Much faster page loading. My early testing shows it's neck and neck with the 3gs. Usually finishing 1-2 seconds behind. And sometimes even faster! Couple that with flash support and higher screen resolution and suddenly the winner is not so clear.(though I still give the 3gs the edge due to safari being a much smarter browser as a whole, e.g. Tabbed browsing etc.). But I haven't found alot of other significant changes tho. Will keep looking.
stuclark
Quote:
Originally Posted by Unregistered View Post
No. The source is not yourself. You did not get the Chinese firmware yourself, it was uploaded by someone else.

The source of this story is the person who originally posted the Chinese firmware on the internet, who, guess what, is not you.
So, is the source you???

Seriously... your comments aren't adding anything to the discussion. If you want to raise a question / point then I'll gladly answer it, but I can't answer what I don't know. (NO, I don't know which person originally, first, before any arguing over seconds / minutes, posted the Chinese firmware which is only the base firmware for this article to the internet.

This article covers a hacked / modded / cooked firmware just as much, if not more than the original Chinese firmware from which it was derived. The screenshot is of that modded firmware. I have named the author of that firmware, and if you want to know where HE first released that firmware, do a quick Google search. I assure you, the answer will come up...
jonnybruha
I've also been using this firmware for about a week now and I have to say, it is the reason I decided to keep the phone. The browser is as fast as the N97's (which is the fastest I've used that loads all page content, unlike the other touchscreen device I don't have to mention), but the experience better overall on the larger, glass, capacitive AMOLED. This firmware also fixed a lot of other smaller issues including Garmin interrupting music playing in the background with every notification and there's now a Data Transfer app that allows you to pull the user data from a previous S60 device (of any brand). At this rate, I wouldn't be surprised if Samsung was right behind Nokia with another firmware of their own that brings kinetic scrolling to the rest of the OS.
richardyates
As a long term user of this site, I have thought for ages that its time to stop "unregistered" comments. Its very easy to sling mud and behave like a ****wit if no-one can track you. If unregistered is that bothered, he/she can go away and behave like a moron elsewhere
Unregistered
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