Samsung Fun Club

Credits

Descriptions by
Chiagozie Elobuike

Captures by
Chiagozie Elobuike

Editions by
Chiagozie Elobuike, Kyrongenius1, CKC, TrademarkMagic04, and Celobu

Background

Samsung Fun Club was a mobile service included in various Samsung phones from the mid 2000s to download ringtones and images, watch video clips and play video games through the internet.

1st Logo (2005-February 2007)

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  Normal startup.

• 

  5:4 aspect ratio variant.

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  Anycall Fun Club startup.

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  Samsung Anycall startup.

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  Special D600E Torino 2006 variant.

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  Normal shutdown.

• 

  5:4 aspect ratio variant.

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  Anycall shutdown.

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  Anycall shutdown variant.

• 

  Special D600E Torino 2006 variant.

Visuals:

• Startup: On a white background, there are 3 puddles in both yellow, magenta, and light blue. Blobs come out of them and form the text "Ḟᴜ̇ɴ". A light blue background forms, and the Ḟᴜ̇ɴ text moves to the left. Meanwhile, the text "Club" writes itself and moves to the right. This completes the text Ḟᴜ̇ɴ Club. The Samsung wordmark appears above the Ḟᴜ̇ɴ Club text. The URL appears below as well. There is also a reflection under the Ḟᴜ̇ɴ Club text.
• Shutdown: The blobs from the startup all fall in swirling over a light blue circular background. The background turns white, and the Samsung wordmark in blue fades in along with the Ḟᴜ̇ɴ Club text below and the URL. Both are which small and under the big blue S/\MSUNG wordmark.

Variants:

• On a few models, such as the C160, the logo is still.
• There exists Anycall variants on phones sold in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan with the Anycall branding:
  • On the startup, the Samsung logo is moved to the left, and the Anycall logo is placed next to it. The "/\" of the Samsung logo is also changed to a normal "A". The URL is absent in this variant.
  • A variant of the startup features the blobs forming the "Any" part of the red Anycall logo, before the "call" slides in. Again, no URL is seen.
  • The shutdown beings with the same animation, but with the red Anycall logo below the Samsung logo, and without the Funclub logo and URL below. There is also a variant where the logos are smaller.
• The European D600E model had special variants to commemorate the Torino 2006 Winter Olympics.
  • In the startup, five paint blobs are shown in blue, gray, green, red and yellow. These rise up to form the Olympic rings logo at the center, while the Torino 2006 logo and the Samsung logo warp in between it. Everything zooms out as these deblur; a dotted separator is seen between the Olympic rings and Samsung logo. Below the Samsung logo, the stacked text "WORLDWIDE PARTNER WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT" is shown in three lines.
  • In the shutdown, the five blobs can be seen swirling into the center, and the flash brings up the three logos from before.

Technique: CGI-animated sequence stored in the phone's ROM.

Audio:

• Originally, it was the same music from the Samsung Mobile startup and shutdowns. This included the new music from the variants, and different polyphonic versions of the themes.
• A 6-note theme, beginning with ascending chimes and played mainly by a synth. The shutdown sound had different notes, and these were adjusted again in later devices. Other slight rearrangements exist. This was mostly featured in 2005 phones.
• A repeating theme, which was first used on the D600 and P850. It is slightly modified in the shutdown. Later phones featured a loungy rearrangement of this tune.
• A mellow 5-note theme with strings. The notes are different in the shutdown version. Used on devices like D600, E250, and E390.
• An ascending theme with strings. The shutdown sound had a descending version of the theme. This was mainly used for basic CDMA phones by Samsung.
• A 7-note happy-sounding plucked synth tune. The notes are adjusted with a pad playing along it in the shutdown.
• A 4-note tune, composed by Sixième Son, based on their Samsung Tune ringtone in 2006. For the startup, it goes A, G, A, C. Quieter bleeping notes are heard at the end. For the shutdown, it goes A, F, A, G; the first two notes of the shutdown are higher pitched. There could be a harp glissando played before the melody or none, depending on the model, such as the E780.
• The D600E Torino Olympics variant had a techno theme (from the 13th South Korean Anycall animation) rearranged in both the startup and shutdown.

Availability: Seen on some Fun Club phones, beginning with SGH-D600 and ending with SGH-C160.

2nd Logo (March 2006-2008)

• 

  Normal variant.

• 

  High contrast variant.

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  Blue wordmark variant.

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  Blue wordmark variant (5:4).

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  Squished variant.

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  Anycall variant.

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  Beat DJ variant.

Visuals:

• Startup: Gold dots form a gold Ḟ. The screen then zooms out of the magenta ᴜ̇ which is also filled with dots. After zooming out it is revealed to be the text "Ḟᴜ̇ɴ" with the ɴ being blue instead of light blue. It then cuts to the same thing from before but with a black background and with an extra "www." right next to "samsungmobile.com".
• Shutdown: The screen zooms in from the different letters of Ḟᴜ̇ɴ. The Ḟᴜ̇ɴ Club text then zooms out and the same thing from the startup appears.

Variants:

• Sometimes the logo can be high contrasted.
• There is an alternate variant where after the Ḟᴜ̇ɴ text forms, the end is shown for a split second, then a new scene plays: blue dots form the blue S/\MSUNG wordmark. After that, it cuts to the end of the startup but this time with the Samsung wordmark blue.
  • The X830 had the end logo squished.
• A variant exists on Chinese Anycall phones where the "Anycall" text is shown next to the Samsung logo.
• On the M7600 Beat DJ model, a still version of this logo appears after the special bootup sequence, with everything grouped near the center.

Technique: CGI-animated sequence stored in the phone's ROM.

Audio:

• Default 4-note theme by Sixième Son. Chinese Anycall devices feature the harp glissando.
• Another re-arrangement by Sixième Son of the 4-note theme in 2009, with electronic instruments and a late 90s-style lighthearted hip hop beat, along with a female whisper, to reflect the newer variant of the Samsung Tune. The shutdown version of the theme is similar.

Audio Variants:

• Early phones using this animation, like the E900 and X820, feature the 6-note theme from the previous logo.
• Low-spec devices can feature different rearrangements of the theme.
• On other Chinese Anycall devices, like the D788 and F275, a rearrangement of the Sixième Son theme played on a zither and a harp is used.
• The Chinese-exclusive i839 utilizes a dreamy theme with strings, piano and a female operatic soprano voice. The notes are slightly re-arranged in the shutdown.
  • This is in fact the startup and shutdown used in Samsung's Windows sound scheme by Sixième Son, most infamous for being the source of the fake Windows Longhorn startup and shutdown sounds. The difference between the two is that the operatic vocals are replaced.

Availability: It made its debut appearance with the E900 model.

3rd Logo (April 2006)

Visuals:

• Startup: On a leather background is multiple white curved streaks and drop-like shapes drawing in. The Samsung Fun Club logo then fades in at the center, along with a large "WWW.SAMSUNGMOBILE.COM" URL below.
• Shutdown: A still take of the end result, with the screen dimming after a second.

Technique: Animated sequence stored in the phone's ROM.

Audio: The chime theme that was first used in the E780 model.

Availability: Used exclusively for the Samsung SGH-E500.

4th Logo (2007-2008)

Visuals:

• Startup: Multiple light streaks appear around the screen and form the Samsung Fun Club logo from before as particles appear around it. The URL fades under.
• Shutdown: The logo disappears as the particles are seen around it.

Technique: CGI-animated sequence stored in the phone's ROM.

Audio: Sixième Son's 4-note theme.

Availability: Seen on the Samsung SGH-L310 and some other Samsung Fun Club phones.

External Links

Samsung Fun Club on Art. Lebedev Studio