Samsung
Serenata

The Serenata (model number: SGH-F310) was the second music-centric phone that Samsung developed in conjunction with Bang & Olufsen (B&O). It was designed by David Lewis who worked for B&O. It looked more like a dedicated music player than a mobile phone. Key design elements were the integrated hinged aluminium desktop stand and a slide-up hi-fi stereo speaker system that emerged from the back of the device. The phone used Bang & Olufsen-patented ICEpower amplification to ensure there was no distortion to the sound even when the Serenata was set to the highest volume level. The unique user interface was controlled with a click-wheel that was undoubtedly inspired by Apple’s iPod. The phone also had a square-shaped 256K colour TFT touch-screen. The click-wheel could be used for multiple functions including accepting and ending a call, typing messages and browsing through playlists. When the phone was used as a music player the display’s backlight turned red. When used as a phone the display the backlight turned blue. The phone came with BeoPlayer software that allowed users to organise music files on their PC and transfer them to the Serenata. Samsung also provided its PC studio software which made it possible to sync contacts, messages and calendar entries with Microsoft Outlook. At launch, the phone cost a whopping US$1,500. Sadly for Samsung, despite partnering with a luxury audio brand and creating a differentiated and premium design, the Serenata was not a winning formula.