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Samsung Genio: Kids dream of Genio

Hey, kids! Good news: exams are getting easier, and now the colourful Samsung Genio touchscreen phone has arrived

Richard Trenholm Former Movie and TV Senior Editor
Richard Trenholm was CNET's film and TV editor, covering the big screen, small screen and streaming. A member of the Film Critic's Circle, he's covered technology and culture from London's tech scene to Europe's refugee camps to the Sundance film festival.
Expertise Films, TV, Movies, Television, Technology
Richard Trenholm
2 min read

Hey, kids! The great news just keeps on coming: exams are getting easier, you shouldn't have any trouble getting fags, and now you can have a colourful Samsung Genio of your very own.

The Genio rocks a 71mm (2.8-inch), QVGA-resolution touchscreen with haptic feedback, so it vibrates eerily when you tap the screen. You can zoom in and out with one finger, and unlock the phone by drawing a chosen letter on the screen.

You can stick widgets and apps onto the home screen to get quick access to applications and Web sites like Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, Picasa and Photobucket. We like the sound of the pop-up social-networking notifications, which let you keep track of what your peeps are tweeting and updating. The Genio isn't 3G, however, packing only Edge and GPRS, but it does have an FM radio. What do you mean you don't know what an FM radio is?

Also under the colourful shell is a 2-megapixel camera with a CMOS sensor that records video in the H.263, MPEG-4 and WMV formats. Storage is a trifling 40MB, but there's a microSD card slot for an extra 8GB of memory.

The phone can be customised with swappable, coloured battery covers that come in white, orange or pink. The yellow version will be available exclusively at the Carphone Warehouse, and there's the usual viral microsite bobbins if that's your bag of monkeys. The Genio hits shops this month and will cost somewhere in the playground of £60. Now go and finish your homework.