The streamlined SGH-E800, Samsung's latest baby to hit the racks, is a classic example of a successful marriage between design and technology with novel features added in-between.

First surprise is the shape of the phone. An innovative concept with a touch of whimsy, the Samsung E800 is inspired by a type of nut called "acorn" which weighs no more than 86g and a size no bigger than a closed first.

SGH- E800

It's a very cute "slide up" phone designed with the fashionably trendy in mind. Though it looks like an egg to me, I'd certainly trade my old chunky phone for this one, anytime!

Second "wow" element has to do with the quality of images. This is not so surprising either since Samsung is reputed to be the originator of the color panel…and it just keeps on getting better.

Its 300K level VGA camera takes images like a real pro - vivid, true-color images that remain as faithful to the original quality of the photos when transferred to a PC.

For the more finicky, Samsung E800 is equipped with a "Multi-shot" feature that lets you capture images in succession (select from 9/15 shots for high speed and 6/9 shots for normal speed). This feature allows the user to choose the best poses from this set of footages and leave out the "rejects".

A major hitch with this feature (at least for me) is one can't delete/select more than one picture simultaneously. It has to be done one at a time, which I find quite time-consuming.

It would have been more convenient, though, to just click on selected images and transfer them altogether to the "albums" (just like in Photoshop).

One more thing about camera phones… it's a common problem for users to capture moving subjects.  The results are either too blurry or totally unrecognizable. But thank goodness for the "Multi-shot" feature, the margin of error is reduced to a minimum while images are kept intact.

For a more personal touch, play up the images captured on the Samsung E800 with effects (gray, negative, sepia, sketch and emboss) or try experimenting with frames.

The camera is likewise fitted out with four time's digital zoom, a flash and a small mirror (found beside the lens) for self-portrait shots.

Next "wow" feature are two user-convenient functions called "Noise Cancellation" and "Voice Clarity." Like what I've said earlier, nothing beats Samsung when it comes to surprises.

I have never heard of such feature before - precisely because it's a first of its kind that was just recently implemented by the Electronics company giant.

This value-added feature is what I call "thinking out of the box" which other cellphone companies have never thought about. It's plain and simple genius.

Noise Cancellation can actually "cancel out" noise in the background and automatically amplifies the caller's voice so much so that the caller is heard loud and clear on the other end.

Voice Clarity, on the other hand, automatically increases the volume and clarity of incoming calls when a caller is in a loud place. No more excuses for a miscommunication.

Rounding up these "wow" features are an improved Organizer, IrDa, MMS, WAP and GPRS capabilities, new and entertaining Java games, 64 polyphonic ringtones to choose from and a Phonebook that can store up to 100 entries.

That's what you call small but terrible.