Samsung Demos Palm Powered SGH-i500 at CeBit

Posted By: Ryan Friday, March 19, 2004 3:16:10 PM

Samsung is showing a Palm Powered smartphone with a built in camera and SD slot at the CeBit. The SGH-i500 is a GSM phone with a 180 degree swivel screen design.

0SGH-i500 is a tri-band GSM (900/1800/1900) phone with Palm OS 5.2. It has a 180 degree swivel screen clamshell design. It boasts a 65,536 color TFT 162 × 176 pixel LCD screen, 40 polyphonic sounds, SDIO memory expansion slot and a 300k pixel cameral. It will have 32MB or RAM and will use the 200 Mhz Motorola MX1 CPU.

It has dimensions of 3.6 x 2.3 x .9 inches (91.5 x 54 x 22.8 mm) and weighs 5.2 ounces (147g). It will ship various WAP 2.0 web browsers, as well as an HTML browser. It will also come with a email client, mms and video capture software. Users will be able to enter in Graffiti on-screen or use the numerical pad for data input.

No carriers, prices or possible release dates are available at this time. This model adds to the confusion regarding Samsung's upcoming Palm Powered smartphones, as a model with the exact same feature set was previously shown as the SGH-i505 model.

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I want one!

Ambassador @ 3/19/2004 3:47:25 PM #
I drool every time I see one of these news flashes about this phone. I only wish it did not have a camera.

Serving Christ thru serving others,

Stuart

RE: I want one!
cbowers @ 3/19/2004 3:57:06 PM #
"I only wish it did not have a camera."

I thought that's what tape was for.
Or for the rich and frivolous, companies sell specialized stickers for that purpose.

I wonder why companies don't ask their visitors if anyone has a photographic memory before their tours. Or restrict their tours to the "sensory challenged" folks.

RE: I want one!
Token User @ 3/19/2004 4:02:58 PM #
I can't understand the attraction of having a camera in a phone either.

Manufacturers are going to need to decide who their target audiences are - individuals or corporate users. Corporate users will rarely use the camera, and in many cases camera are banned from some worksites. Yet the SmartPhone type idea lands squarely in two camps - gadget geeks (hi, I'm one too), and corporate users (hi, I'm one of them as well).

Take out the camera. Have it as an accessory. Give us expansion (hmm, SDIO with VEO camera for those that really need to take crappy photso in bars?). Give us batter life. Give us RIM style always on connectivity.

Sorry. Rant over.


~ "Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed." - DV ~

RE: I want one!
chinchorrero @ 3/19/2004 7:56:44 PM #
I love my SE 610, I use the camera constantly for work and can hardly wait for the new Samnsung.
Cheers

"Life is Too Short"
Tungsten T3-Sony ericsson T610,HBH-60,SanDisk 256Mb Sd Card
RE: I want one!
dagwud @ 3/19/2004 10:34:08 PM #
"I can't understand the attraction of having a camera in a phone either."

Well, there's a recent article on CNN.com about how people are using cell phones to thwart criminals - photos used to ID potential kidnappers, theives and flashers.

RE: I want one!
elo @ 3/20/2004 4:09:12 PM #
I think the camera defenders are missing the point. No one is suggesting that a camera is useless to all people, all the time. But it is unfortunate that more non-camera models aren't out there. As others pointed out, camera phones aren't allowed in lots of businesses. They also aren't allowed in many gyms, etc. So, at the very least, those of us who work in or go places where the phones can't be used must pick between very few cameraless options.

Cameras also add bulk to phones and increase their price. As a person who *never* would use such a thing, it's annoying to have to pay for it and have a thicker phone than would otherwise be necessary.

Welcoming more cameraless options doesn't mean those of you who use them can't get them. But why should companies ignore the rest of us?

elo

RE: I want one!
mikeyts @ 3/22/2004 12:08:36 PM #
I work on mobile phone firmware. I'm fairly certain that there will always be camera-less options, particularly if corporations begin to forbid their employees to carry them into work. Most places I've worked at, including the my current employer, forbid cameras on site, but paradoxically, many of us carry prototype camera phones in and out of the complex daily. Maybe what's needed is some kind of phone-camera inhibitor signal--of course, such a thing would be riff with abuse potential (and wouldn't work for us, since we have to test the camera at work 8^)). It's a complex issue.

There is little in any of our products which is not a direct response to a carrier request (which, of course, is fueled by what the people who make the chipsets tell them is possible). Right now, they're trying to sell the concept of "You wouldn't believe what I'm seeing right now! Hey, wait, let me show you!" I think that they're offering 40 such opportunities per month to show what you're seeing to the person you're talking to wrapped in their calling plan, and hoping that people will become so addicted to it that they'll do even more, at 25 cents per.

We're slowly inching towards the "Jetsons'" portable videophone; with the approach of very high-speed (much faster than your home broadband) mobile data services, it shouldn't be too much longer. Like every new technology, abuses will be found, and as with every new technology in the past, the world will adjust.

PPC's "Treo killer"?

mikecane @ 3/19/2004 8:48:06 PM #
Sorry, but the very idea makes me laugh. As if it's just enough to emaulate the Treo form factor and features. Rob Haitani (God of PalmOS GUI) put a hell of a lot of thought into how the PalmOS interfaces with a phone. Much more thought than I think these people (or MS!) have:

http://engadget.com/entry/0761112787833089/

RE: PPC's
Ambassador @ 3/19/2004 9:14:32 PM #
That is an UGGGGly thing ain't it!

I could never see myself with that but then I don't like the treo form factor either. I like flips!!!!!

I put a phone on my hip and it gets crashed and banged around. I can't believe they put the little "exterior LCD" on then give you a holster that points the face out into the destructive environment and that requires you to turn the phone around to see the display in the first place. Is the External LCD for others to see what a "cool" phone I have or for me to be able to use?

Sorry, long day and my wife is gone all week at a team meeting. Four kids, two dogs....

Serving Christ thru serving others,

Stuart

RE: PPC's
RhinoSteve @ 3/19/2004 9:43:01 PM #
This device is soomething Treo is not -- a flip phone! Demographics show that half of cell phone users are "flippers" and other's hate the form factor. That alone will make sales.


RE: PPC's
Ambassador @ 3/19/2004 10:34:43 PM #
I was referring to the "treo killer"

Serving Christ thru serving others,

Stuart

RE: PPC's
gfunkmagic @ 3/20/2004 3:01:49 AM #
This isn't the first phone to copy the Treo600 form factor. Recall the Nec e808y?

http://3gnewsroom.mobiles.co.uk/three-3g-nec-e808y-3.html

Just cus it has a thumbboard doesn't mean it can beat the Treo...anyone wanna bring up the G1000? ;)

Anyway, the tri-wirless is very interesting though. Hopefully the next Treo will have BT at min...

I support http://Tapland.com/

--------------------
GNM

RE: PPC's
painted_dog @ 3/20/2004 3:06:04 PM #
ya, that PPC phone is quite fuggly. I wouldn't call it a 'treo killer'. it couldn't touch it or a blackberry. Not that i'm opposed to PPC, it has its place (though i still prefer Palm OS), but the Treo 600 has an elegant design when compared to this PPC-thing. it will probably only 'kill' other PPC/phone models (MPX2000, HTC's, etc).

best thing to describe it... unremarkable.

-painted dog

RE: PPC's
M3wThr33 @ 3/20/2004 8:25:49 PM #
Wow. Is someone that PPC biased to not see that thing as atrocious? It's like someone stretched a blackberry and expects you to use it as a normal phone.

I don't think you understand the gravity of the situation. We're in space.
RE: PPC's
mikecane @ 3/22/2004 12:17:18 AM #
>>>Wow. Is someone that PPC biased

Did you READ before you posted?

And why did you change your handle? Your sig is the same!

This is wrong...

rsc1000 @ 3/19/2004 11:44:18 PM #
According to yr own previous article (and other sites), the SGH-i500 has a 320 x 320 display (but u say 162 x 176 above) - the i505 (god - somebody shoot samsungs marketing people) is supposed to be the one with 162 × 176. So which is it? Its confusing enough that they chose the same exact name for different models (but with a slightly different, meaningless group of letters at the start of the name), then they came up with a new name - and now we are hearing different stats for the same model???? Somethings wrong here. Check yr own link to the march 3 article.

RE: This is wrong...
Marty @ 3/20/2004 2:29:13 AM #
Like Ryan said, "This model adds to the confusion regarding Samsung's upcoming Palm Powered smartphones, as a model with the exact same feature set was previously shown as the SGH-i505 model." Its not his fault. The first SGH-I500 (320x320 screen) is know known as the SGH-I530.
RE: This is wrong...
rsc1000 @ 3/20/2004 1:10:01 PM #
The article doesn't mention any i530 - nopr do any of the previous PIC articles in the links above. Thanks though - i found info on another site. What on earth are samsungs people thinking here?

Great more vaporware

scstraus2 @ 3/20/2004 6:55:05 PM #
I am so glad I didn't wait 9 months after the last one of these new advanced samsung palm smartphones to find out they weren't coming out. If you look in the dictionary under vaporware you'll find Samsung's SGH line of palm phones.

Don't believe the hype. Buy a treo now and be happy. I did. Samsung's completely lost my faith as they have never released a market shattering palm product to anyplace other than a trade show. There will be a treo or kyocera better than this by the time it's out.

RE: Great more vaporware
moofie @ 3/20/2004 11:38:41 PM #
Until I can get a Treo with graffiti, it's a no sale.

I hate the thumboard with a loathing like the fire of 1000 suns. If it works for you? Great. It does not work for me.

RE: Great more vaporware
viqsi @ 3/21/2004 4:10:37 PM #
I completely agree on the thumboard - you (at least I, every time) have to keep your eyes on it to be able to input anything. How people actually manage to work with one with any degree of speed is simply beyond me. (But then again, I also can't imagine how people can work with touchpads on laptops, so maybe I'm not being creative enough.)

Graffiti-On-Screen is insufficent, by the way; then your hand and stylus get in the way of watching what you're writing, which completely defeats the purpose of using Graffiti to begin with.

Graffiti does not require you watch your pentip. But you do have to watch your thumbs.

I Hope this is not a Hype!

GearHead @ 3/21/2004 10:17:15 AM #
I always liked the form factor and the Grafitti on the i500. Unfortunately Screen, OS and Processor was outdated for my usage. I currently own a Sprint Treo 600. Frankly I don't like it at all. Thumb board is not for me. I still use heavily my good old Tungsten T. This seems like a great phone. I wonder if this phone has Bluetooth and Wi-Fi capabilities?

Treo is a good idea, but still it's pretty big comparing to i500.

As far as camera goes, yeah why not have one. I love to see hte face of the person before answering their call. As long as enough memory in it. Well there you have it this thing comes with a SD slot!

If not I am still going for a T3 with Wi-Fi (of course, BT and all the other goodies with it)

I was so mad at Samsung when they created i600 with Pocket PC OS. So I guess this is the Palm version of the same phoen. I don't know about you guys but maybe this is the real thing! Let's wait and see!!!!

Free 802.11 No More Wires!!!
Support your local WAN!

More pics here!

gfunkmagic @ 3/21/2004 11:36:04 AM #
ThreeGMobile posted some nice pics of the phone showing just how small this thing is!

http://www.threegmobile.net/international/index.html

I support http://Tapland.com/

--------------------
GNM

RE: More pics here!
gfunkmagic @ 3/21/2004 11:37:42 AM #
Oops... here's a direct link:

http://www.threegmobile.net/main/index.php?lang=ENG&option=news_detail&nid=334

I support http://Tapland.com/

--------------------
GNM

Again??

alexito @ 3/22/2004 3:33:18 PM #
I wonder if they ever release that thing. But if they do it, maybe I get one. I'm still deciding on buying an unsuported Treo 600 GSM. And those "unsatisfied" Treo users aren't encouraging me =)

Technology moves faster than you can afford... at least for me.

Problem with my Palm 130

bkjr @ 3/22/2004 4:04:07 PM #
If this is not the place, please direct me to the best source of information.

Have a Palm 130. Two user names, one I never use and was accidental. Handheld was acting up, so I did a complete reset, in the couse of which I was asked for a user name but I gave the wrong one. Result: the handeld no longer contains the full info that went with the good user name.

I'd like to restore that user name to the handheld.
What have I tried? Full reset again, went to HS, changed to "Desktop overwrites handheld." Then tried sync using push button on handheld. Did not work.

I'm stumped. If you can help ok to write me at bkerr@t-online.de

BKjr

Samsung i520 at Cebit?!

gfunkmagic @ 3/22/2004 8:32:25 PM #
Just to add more confusion to Samsung's naming convention here, Engadget is report about the "Samsung i520" smartphone at Cebit Germany:

http://www.engadget.com/entry/4956420217564842/

I support http://Tapland.com/

--------------------
GNM

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