Rumor: Samsung SPH I330 Coming this Summer

Posted By: Ed Wednesday, February 27, 2002 10:11:39 AM

A source has come forward with information on Samsung's replacement for the I300 smartphone. According to this source, the SPH I330 will "probably" run the 66 MHz DragonBall Super VZ. It will have a 16-bit color screen, as opposed to the 256-color one the I300 has. It will run Palm OS 3.5.2, not anything more recent, and will be available in early summer. The price isn't known yet.

Samsung was demonstrating a prototype of this smartphone at the recent GSM World Congress 2002 where PDAFrance snapped some pictures. According to it, the I330 will run Palm OS 4.1 and have 8 MB of RAM. It will use the CDMA wireless standard. Being a smartphone, it will, of course, have both voice and data access. It will be able to to do both regular Web browsing and use Palm's Web Clipping technology.

PDAFrance agrees that it will have a 16-bit screen, though this prototype has just an 8-bit one.

As can be seen from the pictures, the I330 has a virtual Graffiti area. The I300 also has a virtual Graffiti area but this isn't the same technology that the HandEra 330 uses. At this time, the only application available that takes real advantage of the larger possible screen on the I300 is the built-in phone dialing app.

The I330 does not have a Memory Stick slot. There was some speculation that the replacement for the I300 would have one after Samsung licenced Sony's Memory Stick technology last summer. The company has released several products recently with Memory Stick slots.

Thanks to PDAFrance for permission to use the pics and to Anne H. for the translation. -Ed

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why PalmOS 3.5.2?

I.M. Anonymous @ 2/27/2002 10:38:55 AM #
why use 3.5.2, when 4.1 is already available?

RE: why PalmOS 3.5.2?
mfs @ 2/27/2002 10:43:07 AM #
The article states that 3.5.2 is used in the I300 and "the I330 will run Palm OS 4.1"

RE: why PalmOS 3.5.2?
I.M. Anonymous @ 2/27/2002 10:44:16 AM #
My guess is their software (like the app that does the virtual phone keypad) doesn't work under 4.1 and they decided it wasn't worth the hassle of changing it. Rewriting, debugging, and fully testing software can be expensive. There aren't a ton of new features in OS 4.1, though you'd think the 16-bit color support would be worth it.

There's another option. The source of this info is wrong. That happens sometimes.

RE: why PalmOS 3.5.2?
I.M. Anonymous @ 2/27/2002 10:44:34 AM #
Not sure...good question

RE: why PalmOS 3.5.2?
mfs @ 2/27/2002 10:46:02 AM #
...that's what I think its saying. The first paragraph is a bit confusing

RE: why PalmOS 3.5.2?
Ed @ 2/27/2002 10:48:33 AM #
> The article states that 3.5.2 is used in the I300 and "the I330 will run Palm OS 4.1"

Sorry for the confusion. I'm working from two sources of info. As often happens with unannounced products, contradictory information is circulating around. The first source says the I330 will run OS 3.5.2, the second, PDA France, says 4.1.

---
News Editor

RE: why PalmOS 3.5.2?
I.M. Anonymous @ 2/28/2002 9:49:05 AM #
What does Palm OS 4.1 have thats truly useful that Palm OS 3.5.2 doesn't? I could see the benefits of Palm OS 4.x if the thing had some sort of memory expansion..but it does not.

RE: why PalmOS 3.5.2?
I.M. Anonymous @ 2/28/2002 11:17:47 AM #
More than likely, it will have 4.1. 3.5.2 does not have 16 bit color support with the exception of the Handspring Visor Prism. As far as I know, Samsung isnt in bed with Handspring so im sure that the i330 will have 4.1


RE: why PalmOS 3.5.2?
Scott @ 2/28/2002 2:11:16 PM #
OS4 includes some small but significant improvements to web-clipping. That's a pretty big deal for a smartphone. The lack of OS4 is one of my top gripes for my i300.

Scott

Where's the keyboard?

I.M. Anonymous @ 2/27/2002 10:43:29 AM #
If any PDA-phone is going to be useful for e-mail, it must have a built-in thumb-style keyboard like the Blackberry and Treo. Let's hope that'll be an option on the new Samsung (but I doubt it). Any ideas?


RE: Where's the keyboard?
I.M. Anonymous @ 2/27/2002 10:48:28 AM #
I don't know, I have an i705, use the email a ton, and don't use a keyboard.

RE: Where's the keyboard?
I.M. Anonymous @ 2/27/2002 10:58:12 AM #
Keyboards are nice for people new enough to the Palm to need it, but COME ON!!! Grafitti is NOT tough. Even if you think it is, there's Jot, and the popup keyboard. There's no real need for a thumb keyboard. I can understand that someone writing LARGE files might want a full size keyboard, but mostly only for comfort reasons, anything else is just laziness in my opinion.

Learn to use the technology you are using! I bet you never bring up a command prompt in Windows/XWindows either. Or worse, you are a Mac user. Yick.

RE: Where's the keyboard?
I.M. Anonymous @ 2/27/2002 11:04:11 AM #
You said: "Keyboards are nice for people new enough to the Palm to need it, but COME ON!!! Grafitti is NOT tough."

How long would it have taken you with Graffiti to write that entire posting? I've been using Palm OS for 3+ years and always find Graffiti and the on-screen keyboard to be useful only for very short text entry. I would never write this e-mail (or yours) without some kind of physical keyboard. Is it really just me?

RE: Where's the keyboard?
I.M. Anonymous @ 2/27/2002 11:07:12 AM #
Hey, I write about 30wpm on graffiti. Not sure about the on screen keyboard though.

RE: Where's the keyboard?
I.M. Anonymous @ 2/27/2002 11:12:37 AM #
Well, I can write about 100 wpm on a full-size physical keyboard, so Graffiti or a virtual keyboard at 30 wpm just doesn't cut it.

RE: Where's the keyboard?
I.M. Anonymous @ 2/27/2002 12:03:24 PM #
I have to agree that using a keyboard is much better than graffiti. Dont get me wrong - I do use both but I use Thumbtype stick-on pad to do LOTS of my e-mail messages on my Palm IIIxe equipped with minstrel III.

Im fine with it!

RE: Where's the keyboard?
I.M. Anonymous @ 2/27/2002 12:27:00 PM #
There's a Samsung version of one of the snap-on keyboards available soon for the i300.

BTW as an i300 owner, I agree with the post regarding holding off on upgrading to this model until 3G. Data rates are just too ridiculous to surf for long periods of time at 56K or 14.4....

RE: Where's the keyboard?
I.M. Anonymous @ 2/27/2002 12:49:15 PM #
>"Data rates are just too ridiculous to surf for long periods of time at 56K or 14.4...."

Ahh.. to the best of my knowledge, there is no such thing as wireless 56k for PalmOS smartphones at the moment. And, from my understanding (i've got a very knowledgable friend who works for Ericson) even 3G won't go much beyond 56K. There has been a ton of misinformation regarding this point. 3G means 2M of bandwidth PER CELL - but with 32 'users' for each cell. So with RF interference, count on 56K at best.

Correct if i'm wrong somebody. In any event, 56K on these devices is plenty great - and should be a huge leap over the current best of 14.4K.


RE: Where's the keyboard?
I.M. Anonymous @ 2/27/2002 1:01:46 PM #
Last time I check many people are still using 56K modem, and they seems very happy :)

what's wrong with 56K, I am Cable user, but I really don't see the problem with 56K. The only advantage of Cable over 56K Phoneline connection is Cable has a more stable connection, other than that, Cable only provide you with faster download, but that not what you want on a cell. Do you wanna download a 600 MB movie file on a cellphone ??

RE: Where's the keyboard?
I.M. Anonymous @ 2/27/2002 1:13:08 PM #
exactly.

RE: Where's the keyboard?
Ed @ 2/27/2002 2:44:18 PM #
Samsung demonstrated a keyboard for the I300 at PalmSource:
www.palminfocenter.com/images/img_PS02_Samsung_KB_L.JPG

Hopefully they will also release a version for the I330.

---
News Editor

RE: Where's the keyboard?
I.M. Anonymous @ 2/27/2002 4:03:19 PM #
Come on, guys! How can you compare 56K with broadband?

Even if there are a number of images, 56K connection crawls.

More and more webpages are getting fancier graphics and sound, and without broadband connection, surfing the web would be a pain.

I for one will never go back to 56K when you can have > >800K connection.

RE: Where's the keyboard?
I.M. Anonymous @ 2/27/2002 6:05:12 PM #
whatever - i made the comment above about the real situation with 3G above (that its only 56k). I too am a broadband user (for 3yrs now) at > 800k. My point was that people who are waiting for that on there wireless pda/cell will have to wait many, many years. Its taken YEARS to get 3G of the ground and it has hardly begun to roll out yet. It takes a massive multi-billion dolar effort to get to the point where the next generation of ceel network is rolled out. In fact, 3G has been one of the largest business stories/controversies of the last 2 yrs and has been called 'the biggest financial gamble in corporate history' by some. Remember - Ericson, Nokia and all of there telco company customers, lost billions on the stupid WAP cell/microbrowser thing because in the end nobody used it or liked it.

And so, if after years of pushing it and developing it - and its going to be another year or 2 before its fully out there - and if ITS only going to provide 56k, then dont expect them to put anything ('4G') out there that will give broadband speed for atleast 5 yrs. Dissapointing, i know - but the big boys have much more to worry about: they've got to make their money back on 3G. This isnt like wired broadband which can leverage underutilized networks, because they've already pushed the current cell networks as far as they can go.

RE: Where's the keyboard?
I.M. Anonymous @ 2/27/2002 6:20:24 PM #
>'Come on, guys! How can you compare 56K with broadband?'

I dont think anybody was comparing 56k with > 56K. They simply said that - relative to whats currently out there - its an improvement and its more than acceptable for email and web surfing - certainly next to 14.4k. I mean, viewing the web (in color) in the 'Palm' of yr hand. Too cool!

RE: Where's the keyboard?
I.M. Anonymous @ 2/27/2002 10:53:23 PM #
Let me put in a plug for Fitalystamp. With no more practice than I put into using Graffiti, I got over 50 wpm (some people get even faster). Not as fast as a fullsize keyboard, but fast enough so that I prefer to use FS rather than carry around my folding keyboard.

http://www.fitaly.com/



RE: Where's the keyboard?
I.M. Anonymous @ 2/27/2002 11:58:25 PM #
What would be cool, is if you could have your PDA stream off content from your home server. You could, lets say watch a movie, listen to music, all from your home machine ("server"). Now, tell me... how the hell can you do that one 56k?!

RE: Where's the keyboard?
I.M. Anonymous @ 6/25/2002 9:48:01 AM #
of course with the Treo you get cingular - no real service area so roaming is a killer.

why can't people develop new phones for ALL SERVICES???

Much Better

I.M. Anonymous @ 2/27/2002 10:52:09 AM #
The 1330 looks ton loads better than the 1300. They have lost the boxy look. I wish they had added some kind of flip cover, though.

RE: Much Better
I.M. Anonymous @ 2/27/2002 11:05:40 AM #
Thats lame. I'm sure in about 1 month, there will be tons of covers for them. if all else fails, just use a plastic bag. LOL

Other 66MHz Dragonball Palms

jjsoh @ 2/27/2002 11:05:30 AM #
I know it's just speculation that this cell-PDA hybrid may be running on a 66MHz Dragonball, but I've never hear of any other PDA's out there with this chip.

Has anyone heard/seen any PDA with Palm OS that runs on a 66MHz chip? If so, is there really a noticeable difference in speed?

RE: Other 66MHz Dragonball Palms
I.M. Anonymous @ 2/27/2002 11:19:21 AM #
yes, you will notice about a 33mhz difference!

RE: Other 66MHz Dragonball Palms
sandbuck @ 2/27/2002 11:36:01 AM #
Brilliant observation. Do you eat your lunch through a straw?

RE: Other 66MHz Dragonball Palms
bcombee @ 2/27/2002 12:05:07 PM #
At PalmSource 2002, David Fedor commented that Palm OS running on the SuperVZ (66MHz) felt about twice as fast as it running on the VZ (33MHz).

CodeWarrior for Palm OS technical lead
MHz != speed for all apps
webgremlin @ 2/27/2002 1:39:30 PM #
The only important thing I do with my Palm that depends on any significant speed is searching through large iSilo documents (I have several and use them for reference all the time). iSilo 3.0 is not slow--it's a much faster searcher than many doc readers, which is part of why I chose it, but I still could use a lot more performance when searching 2+ MB files. I have a good old 16 MHz Visor Deluxe, and I had hoped that some of the new models with 33MHz processors would provide a performance boost. I have tested this on the m500, m505, N610, N7??, and Visor Platinum. The only one that was faster was the Platinum! It was less than 50% faster, while all the other 33MHz devices searched about the same speed as each other, and all more than 50% slower than my 16MHz Visor Deluxe!! In my experience, setting iSilo to different display color depths (where relevant) had no significant impact. As I understand it, this incredible speed advantage in the Visor line (and it really is very noticeable, especially on large documents) is due to a different memory configuration, not the processor. It seems that afterburner and the like are able to hack this for some palms, but I haven't been able to test this.

The moral of the story: for many purposes, MHz != speed, even using the same kind of processor.

-wg <><

RE: Other 66MHz Dragonball Palms
palm_pilot_guy @ 2/27/2002 5:30:29 PM #
one question.

did motorola release a super vz processor?

------
"Go Moe! Go Moe! Don't make Homer shout out D'Oh!"

palm_pilot_guy

RE: Other 66MHz Dragonball Palms
I.M. Anonymous @ 2/27/2002 5:38:03 PM #
The Dragonball Super VZ processor was announced by Motorola at PalmSource conference a couple of weeks ago. It is not an ARM proccesor and as such, will not be supported in OS 5.0. For that, Motorola announced the Dragonball MX (or MK?) which has an ARM core and will do speeds in the 200mhz range (they'll have versions running at different clock speeds - just like Intel and TexasInstruments who have also announced ARM processors that are PalmOS 5.0 compliant).

The idea is that since %.0 devices are 6-9 months away, the SuperVZ would provide an interim performance boost for devices released before that, that use 4.1 or earlier version of PalmOS.

RE: Other 66MHz Dragonball Palms
I.M. Anonymous @ 3/2/2002 11:00:44 AM #
Webgremlin, interesting stuff. Did you run Quickbits when you did the speed trials?

why ?

I.M. Anonymous @ 2/27/2002 11:39:53 AM #
Why is everyone going on about "66mhz" db cpu's ?

66mhz isnt that great,i got my lousy m500 running at 60mhz. ran fine to,never even crashed. I personally am waiting for next years clies. The prototype photos look awsome!

RE: why ?
I.M. Anonymous @ 2/27/2002 6:02:17 PM #
Is it true?

How does the battery last?


RE: why ?
I.M. Anonymous @ 2/27/2002 6:20:30 PM #
m500 running at 60MHz... I know Afterburner can only runs up to 54MHz...

prove it!

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