Serene (phone)
Encyclopedia
Serene is a mobile phone
produced as a joint venture
between Samsung Electronics
and Bang & Olufsen
. It was released in the last quarter of 2005 in Europe. It is available in select stores throughout the world and costs $1275 (~€1000).
Bang and Olufsen and Samsung have created a successor to the Serene, dubbed the Serenata. It features a slide out speaker and has a heavy focus on the music functions of the handset.
. The partnership has drawn on the design strengths of Bang & Olufsen and Samsung's mobile phone technology enabling Bang & Olufsen to re-enter the mobile phone market after an absence of several years and Samsung to expand into premium mobile phones.
It is not the first time that Bang & Olufsen has worked with other companies to produce mobile phones. Notably the BeoCom 9800 was produced with Philips
and the BeoCom 9500 was produced in partnership with Ericsson
.
and, although the phone can facilitate voice calls, text messages, multimedia messages and take pictures, its camera
is only 0.3 megapixels and common, often expected, features of many common phones, such as games are not present.
hinge
. The hinges have an internal power assist motor to help open the phone completely. One half features a circular keypad with an iPod
-style scroll wheel, and the other features a liquid crystal display
. The handset was designed so that for standard use the screen is at the bottom of the phone, and the keypad is on the half that flips out. This was for two reasons: It stops the phone from getting greasy when you talk, and it also improves the weight balance while holding the phone. The handset also inverts so you can hold the phone up the other way if you so wished.
There are some major design flaws in the Serene. The camera is located on the side of the phone on one of the hinges which makes taking photos hard. In addition, you must use a special screwdriver to access the battery compartment.
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
produced as a joint venture
Joint venture
A joint venture is a business agreement in which parties agree to develop, for a finite time, a new entity and new assets by contributing equity. They exercise control over the enterprise and consequently share revenues, expenses and assets...
between Samsung Electronics
Samsung Electronics
Samsung Electronics is a South Korean multinational electronics and information technology company headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul...
and Bang & Olufsen
Bang & Olufsen
Bang & Olufsen is a Danish company that designs and manufactures audio products, television sets and telephones. It was founded in 1925 by Peter Bang and Svend Olufsen, whose first significant product was a radio that worked with alternating current, when most radios were run from batteries...
. It was released in the last quarter of 2005 in Europe. It is available in select stores throughout the world and costs $1275 (~€1000).
Bang and Olufsen and Samsung have created a successor to the Serene, dubbed the Serenata. It features a slide out speaker and has a heavy focus on the music functions of the handset.
The joint venture
Bang & Olufsen and Samsung formed the joint venture with the aim of competing in the high end mobile phone market, primarily competing with several handsets from NokiaNokia
Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications corporation that is headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo, a city neighbouring Finland's capital Helsinki...
. The partnership has drawn on the design strengths of Bang & Olufsen and Samsung's mobile phone technology enabling Bang & Olufsen to re-enter the mobile phone market after an absence of several years and Samsung to expand into premium mobile phones.
It is not the first time that Bang & Olufsen has worked with other companies to produce mobile phones. Notably the BeoCom 9800 was produced with Philips
Philips
Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. , more commonly known as Philips, is a multinational Dutch electronics company....
and the BeoCom 9500 was produced in partnership with Ericsson
Ericsson
Ericsson , one of Sweden's largest companies, is a provider of telecommunication and data communication systems, and related services, covering a range of technologies, including especially mobile networks...
.
Handset Aims
Like most Bang & Olufsen products, the phone is industrially simplistic. The concept of the phone was brought down to pure communicationCommunication
Communication is the activity of conveying meaningful information. Communication requires a sender, a message, and an intended recipient, although the receiver need not be present or aware of the sender's intent to communicate at the time of communication; thus communication can occur across vast...
and, although the phone can facilitate voice calls, text messages, multimedia messages and take pictures, its camera
Camera
A camera is a device that records and stores images. These images may be still photographs or moving images such as videos or movies. The term camera comes from the camera obscura , an early mechanism for projecting images...
is only 0.3 megapixels and common, often expected, features of many common phones, such as games are not present.
Handset Design
The phone consists of two halves on an aluminiumAluminium
Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....
hinge
Hinge
A hinge is a type of bearing that connects two solid objects, typically allowing only a limited angle of rotation between them. Two objects connected by an ideal hinge rotate relative to each other about a fixed axis of rotation. Hinges may be made of flexible material or of moving components...
. The hinges have an internal power assist motor to help open the phone completely. One half features a circular keypad with an iPod
IPod
iPod is a line of portable media players created and marketed by Apple Inc. The product line-up currently consists of the hard drive-based iPod Classic, the touchscreen iPod Touch, the compact iPod Nano, and the ultra-compact iPod Shuffle...
-style scroll wheel, and the other features a liquid crystal display
Liquid crystal display
A liquid crystal display is a flat panel display, electronic visual display, or video display that uses the light modulating properties of liquid crystals . LCs do not emit light directly....
. The handset was designed so that for standard use the screen is at the bottom of the phone, and the keypad is on the half that flips out. This was for two reasons: It stops the phone from getting greasy when you talk, and it also improves the weight balance while holding the phone. The handset also inverts so you can hold the phone up the other way if you so wished.
There are some major design flaws in the Serene. The camera is located on the side of the phone on one of the hinges which makes taking photos hard. In addition, you must use a special screwdriver to access the battery compartment.
Technical specifications
| Form factor | Clamshell / Transformer |
| GSM frequencies | 900/1800/1900 MHz |
| GPRS | Yes |
| Screen | TFT, 256K colours, 320x240 pixels |
| Camera | 0.3 Megapixels |
| Multimedia Messaging | Yes |
| Built-in memory | 31 MB |
| Java | No |
| Memory card slot | No |
| Bluetooth | Yes |
| Infrared | No |
| Data cable support | Yes |
| Browser | 1.2.1 |
| Yes | |
| Music player | No |
| Radio | No |
| Video Player | No |
| Polyphonic tones | Yes, 64 chords |
| Mp3 ringtones | Unknown |
| Battery | Li-Ion 800 mAh |
| Talk time | Up to 3 h 30 min |
| Standby time | Up to 225 h |
| Weight | 115 g |
| Dimensions | 64.7x69.7x23.9 millimeters |
| Availability | Q4/2005 |