14 DAY TRIAL // Samsung Galaxy S II, the newest smartphone that Samsung brought to the spotlight with Google's Android operating system on board, packs a series of yet not discussed features, it seems, including an MHL port.
This is the first smartphone in the world to include an MHL port, which would offer support for both USB or HDMI connectivity.
MHL was announced back in 2008 as the result of an initiative from a consortium of industry leaders, including Nokia, Samsung, Toshiba, Sony, and Silicon Image.
The port is the Mobile High-Definition video Link “standard” for the mobile devices these companies promote.
The MHL jack has a shape that resembles the micro-USB port. It was designed to automatically switch the phone into USB data / charging or MHL audio / video / charging modes, a recent article on Engadget shows.
The mobile phone can be connected to HDMI-equipped displays via a 5-wire micro-USB to HDMI cable. MHL-enabled TVs are expected to become available for purchase later during the ongoing year.
Apparently, the Samsung Galaxy S II smartphone, which was unveiled during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona last week, is only the first device to include this special port.
A wide range of other MHL-equipped devices are expected to become available in 2011, including mobile phones, tablet PCs, and the aforementioned TVs.
The connectivity options packed inside Galaxy S II expand beyond this port, and include USB 2.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 (a/b/g/n), WiFi Direct, Bluetooth technology v 3.0 + HS, DLNA (AllShare), and NFC Connectivity (Optional).
The smartphone runs under the new Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS, and sports a 4.27” WVGA (480x800) Super AMOLED Plus display, 1 GHz Dual Core Application Processor, 8MP camera on the back, 2MP front-facing camera, 16/32GB + microSD (up to 32GB), as well as great multimedia features.
Samsung did not unveil specific info on when would the smartphone arrive on shelves, nor on the pricing it might feature.