Kids have all the fun

MANILA, Philippines - I have always believed that if we look at the world with the eyes of a child life will always be happy.    Think about it. There is nothing that a child cannot do if he or she sets his or her mind to it. Kids have fun because they make life fun. Almost everything is an adventure waiting to happen or a game waiting to be played.

And, when it comes to gadgets and technology, kids are always the first to learn something new. I think it is because they are not ruled by trying to be smart or pretending to know how everything works. Rather, their techie worlds are ruled by experimentation. And that is when all the fun begins.

I have not met a child who does not know or will not try to use a new gadget at least once. Toys to play with are the attitude they seem to take with them when faced with a new gadget.

“I can do that,” said my 10-year-old niece Greta. “I am an expert when it comes to cell phones.”

I handed the Samsung Corby (3650) to Greta and gave her a few minutes to figure it out. I was amazed at how quickly Greta got the hang of the phone.

For all the kids who have been waiting for a cell phone which they could connect with, the Samsung 3650, better known by its cute name Corby, is the phone for them.

No, I am not in the habit of recommending that every kid have a cell phone — but if a kid is planning to get a phone then the Corby is one cute gadget that should not be overlooked.

It seems that this yellow unit that I had the chance to test had been created with kids in mind. Be they 10 year olds or 46-year-old kids like me. 

Really, gone are the days when kids wanted to hang in the mall with their friends on a daily basis.

“Tita Kathy, I can see my friend on Facebook,” says Greta. “Look how easy it was for me to fix the Corby to my liking.”

I was told that the Corby is being marketed for the young people (and the young techies seem to get younger every day) who want to stay connected, all the time, any time. Greta told me that on school days her mom doesn’t let her go to her friends’ homes so she has to be happy with keeping them updated about what’s happening in her life through Facebook.

“Facebook?” I ask.

“Yes,” says Greta. “I update my status each time my mood changes.”

I took the Corby from Greta and noticed that the cell phone is also loaded with other social networking applications like Twitter and Myspace.

“Take it easy,” I tell Greta. “All the connecting comes with a charge to me.”

Greta and I get down to more serious business. We start to personalize the Corby.

Greta takes a shot of herself and then sets her photo as the wallpaper on the cell phone. She takes about four shots on the two-megapixel camera until she is happy with the photo she sees on screen.

“I like to make funny faces,” added Greta. “It makes my phone different.”

We go through the various themes included in the Corby. I like the one that looks like cartoons. Greta agrees with me, but she adds that a cell phone is boring if we just use the themes included in it.

Greta gets her micro SD memory card where she keeps all her fave ringtones. She sends the ringtones from her other cell phone via Bluetooth to the Corby and then sets the Corby on the profile that she likes.

Wallpaper ready, ringtones set and Facebook and YM connections made, Greta is happy with how she has so quickly set up the Corby.

“I just love the color,” said Greta. “Bright yellow. I love bright and happy colors.” 

The Corby is a touchscreen cell phone so Greta makes sure that her hands are clean before she reaches out to perform another function on the cell phone.

Not Just Cute

While Greta is busy texting away on the Corby I pick up the manual and read what else this cute cell phone can do. I find out that some of the main features of this phone are QVGA display of 2.8-inch, MP3 player, Bluetooth 2.1, stereo FM radio and GSM/EDGE connectivity.

I really like the widget-ready user interface, which is very user friendly. I tested the widgets on the left side of the cell phone screen — and I had loads of fun just opening each one of them and finding out how much more I could do with the Corby beyond calling and texting.

The device is built on Samsung’s finger-friendly TouchWiz user interface. TouchWiz should look sharp on the Corby’s 2.8-inch QVGA touch-screen display. Users can download new widgets for the user interface through Samsung’s online store with the phone’s GSM/EDGE data connectivity. Corby users can also upload content, like photos and videos created with the Corby’s 2.0-megapixel camera, to YouTube, Flickr, Picasa, and even Photobucket. Music collections can be saved onto microSD cards.

“Are you done with the manual?” Greta asks. “You don’t really need to go there, you know. All you have to do is handle the Corby and you will love it.”

Ahhh, the young. They never cease to amaze old folks like me. They never seem to have time to read the manual (but then again, how many of us really do), but they really know how all these techie gadgets work.

It is no wonder then that Samsung has set its sight on the young and the young-at-heart. It seems that the Corby is a cell phone that promises to reshape the way touch-screen phones are designed and perhaps to attract more people to use these touch-screen cuties.

The Corby, a full touch-screen phone, is really a looker with its stylish and distinctive curved design, which contrasts with the typical rectangular form-factor of other touch-screen phones. 

The young are in control — and they know exactly what they want. The Corby is a significant expansion for Samsung, which re-emphasizes Samsung’s “Touch for every lifestyle” strategy.

“We know exactly what we want when it comes to cell phones,” says Greta. “And the Corby is one of the ‘exactly what I want’ cell phones.”

Hello? Kids rule — they really do.