The Samsung Omnia HD i8910 is packed with touchscreen smartphone functionality. Running on the S60 5th Edition platform and with an 8-megapixel camera, there's plenty of high quality imaging capability and other fine software to play with.

As part of Samsung's touchscreen user interface, which also includes support for Wiidgets, the Omnia HD i8910 has a neat Photo Contacts feature, where photos on the phone can be associated with one or more contact numbers for speed dialling and messaging.

By swiping a finger from left to right on the homescreen, users can pull up the Photo Contacts menu, which is displayed as a scrollable cascade of images. You can assign numbers to boxes you can place on the image, and make calls or send messages simply by pressing them.

It's easy to set up and use – here's how...

Setting up Photo Contacts

1. In the homescreen (Figure 1), swipe your finger across from left to right.
2. In the Photo Contacts screen (Figure 2), tap the centre panel onscreen to add a new Photo Contact (alternatively, press the Add button).
3. A list of your photos stored on the phone is displayed (Figure 3).
4. Scroll up or down to locate the one you want to use. Drag your finger up or down the display, or press the sidebar and drag with your finger. When you've found the image you want to use, press it twice to select (Figure 4).
5. The image will be added to the Photo Contacts screen (Figure 5).

You can add further images by pressing the Add button again and repeating the procedure. The images will appear as a cascade you can scroll through by swiping your finger up or down the screen.

Once an image has been added to the Photo Contacts screen, you can assign contacts to the image. You can add just one contact or several (useful if it's a group picture or someone has multiple numbers) – the procedure is similar.

Adding contacts

1. Select the photo you want to use. Press the Edit button at the bottom of the screen (Figure 5).
2. Press the Add Area button at the bottom of the screen (Figure 6).
3. A small yellow box appears onscreen (Figure 7).
4. You can drag and drop the box anywhere on the screen, using your finger (Figure 8). You can also stretch the box in size by dragging the corner of the box (Figure 9).
5. Once you are happy with the size, shape and positioning of the box, press OK (Figure 10).
6. Options appear at the bottom of the screen (Figure 11). Press Link to phonebook.
7. You are taken into your Phone Contacts list (Figure 12). Scroll down or search until you find the contact you want to assign to the Photo Contacts image. Press the contact twice to select.
8. A Select Phone Number panel appears. If you have more than one number assigned to a contact, you can select which one you want by tapping it. Press OK (Figure 13).
9. The contact number is assigned to the box on your selected image, and the contact's name appears next to it (Figure 14).
10. You can link further numbers to the image by pressing the Add Area button, and following the same procedure outlined above. Numerous boxes with associated contact numbers can be assigned to one image (Figure 15). Be aware though, the more numbers you add to a photo, the trickier it's likely to be to accurately select the one you want when speed dialling.
11. When you have added all the boxes and contacts you want, press Done. You will be returned to the original Photo Contacts screen, with all your selections displayed (Figure 16).

Add more Photo Contacts to your list by pressing the Add button and repeating the procedure outlined from Figure 3 onwards. A cascade of Photo Contacts will be displayed (Figure 17).

Using Photo Contacts
Once you have saved your Photo Contacts, you can scroll through them and tap on them for quick dialling, video calling or messaging.

• From the homescreen, get into the Photo Contacts screen by swiping your finger from left to right.
• Once you've scrolled through and found the image you want, press the box associated with the number you want use. You are given a choice of options: Voice Call, Video Call, and Send Message (Figure 18).
• Press whichever option you require and the number will be dialed or you will be taken into the new message writing screen.