I can’t dispute that today’s kids are much ahead in understanding and accepting technology than my tech-aware generation. My teenage niece showed me a feature on my phone that I didn’t know even existed.
The Chaiwali had gifted me a Samsung Corby Pro ahead of our wedding and I thought that the front camera can only be activated for video calls on 3G. But, as it turns out, it isn’t.
All you need to do is type *#0*# and the LCD Test panel will display on the screen. Press 8 (VGA Cam) to activate the front camera and you can use the phone now as a mirror to adjust your hair or to apply lipstick (and also to keep an eye on what’s happening behind your back).
But you cannot click photos with the front camera, for that you have to use the rear cam (if there is another trick for that, do let me know).
I didn’t find any mention of the feature on the Samsung Corby Pro (B5310) instruction manual. While people have discussed this feature online but a simple search didn’t throw up definite any results. Therefore, this post.
The *#0*# test also lets you test your Samsung Corby Pro’s RGB settings, melody, vibration, dimming, mega cam, touch, speaker, sleepmode and sensors.
While I haven’t yet posted a review of the phone. Here’s why I chose it (I did have the liberty to choose my gift):
I wanted a touch phone and also wanted it to have a physical QWERTY keypad, I wanted 3G (for the future) and WiFi (to save on data cost) in addition to the other features that we take for granted. The budget was around 15K. And Samsung Corby Pro was the only phone that met all my requirements. The phone cost my wife Rs. 11,700 (in February 2010).
I’m a satisfied user. The only major drawback that I experienced was the lack of an LED flash. The camera isn’t also too great. The music player should’ve had more options and could’ve been more user friendly.
Contrary to reports that I read on the internet, it does have an accelerometer (tilt sensor). I’ll rate the Samsung Corby Pro 4/5.
But should you buy it? If you don’t have a need for a physical keyboard, I suggest that you go for the Samsung Galaxy Spica (I5700). It is in the Rs 12K range and has the Android advantage. As far as I know the I5700 is currently the cheapest Android phone available in India.
[Image of the face in the phone by Tony2]
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[...] From left to right – Motorola T190, (2003), Motorola C350e (2004), LG KG300 Dynamite (2007), Samsung Corby Pro B5310 (2010) and Samsung Galaxy Ace GT-S5830 (2011). ((The Motorola T190 has been photoshopped into the [...]