FCC Approves Samsung i550 Smartphone

Posted By: Ryan Thursday, April 15, 2004 5:32:17 PM

The FCC has taken the wraps off a new upcoming Palm Powered Smartphone from Samsung. The SPH-i550 is a CDMA flip phone with a high resolution screen, SD slot and a megapixel digital camera.

Samsung SPH-i550
The FCC has approved the Samsung SPH-i550 is a Palm OS 5.2 smartphone which has a a high resolution screen and exterior OLED color display. The phone portion is a Tri-Mode Dual Band Analog/PCS phone. It would likely be targeted for use on the US Sprint network.

The phone has a built in megapixel digital camera with a flash, an SD memory expansion slow, voice recorder and comes with a web browser and messaging software. It will also have a mp3 player and video playback with dedicated control buttons on the exterior. It comes with a user replaceable 1150mAh standard battery, and a optional 1700mAh extended battery accessory will be available.

There is no word on general availability or a price at this time. Samsung also has shown a series of other CDMA and GSM Palm OS smartphone models that have not yet been officially released.

Thanks to Gaurav for the tip.

Permalink |

Article Comments

(14 comments)

The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. PalmInfocenter is not responsible for them in any way.
Please Login or register here to add your comments.

Comments Closed
This article is no longer accepting new comments.

Duck hunting?

blacklinefish @ 4/15/2004 7:28:37 PM #

I don't spend much time reading PDF files on the FCC site... but what is with the "Test Setup Photos" in the link above that shows weird photos outside, with blocks of blue foam, and what appears to be a hunting blind in the background. Is this normal?

Comments on this phone seem to go back nearly a year, so I guess we shouldn't hold our breath on an imminent release.
--gh

RE: Duck hunting?

MountainLogic @ 4/16/2004 1:55:53 PM #

That would be where the poor junior engineer who got stuck sitting in the rain during the test has to monitor the test equipment. Because this device broadcast RF and communicates with remote devices they end up testing in an "open field" configuration.

RE: Duck hunting?

talos4 @ 4/17/2004 6:11:35 PM #

I saw this post and had to laugh, cause I used to do almost this exact job as a summer co-op student in college.

I know that the FCC has been outsourcing tests for years, but I'm very that they still do them in MD, esp so close to D.C. The DC-Baltimore corridor megopolis must be an RF engineer's worst nightmare -esp inthe PCS bands.

I know that we do RF-related tests in a isolated box canyon in Arizona - and we are thinking of moving somewhere else, because the nearest town (10 miles away) is growing too big.

-R

Samsung Phones in '24'

grimpeur @ 4/15/2004 7:28:27 PM #

Anyone here a fan of '24', if you are then you'll realise cellphones play an important part in the show, as does product placement. Last season Nokia phones were ubiquitous however this time Samsung have paid the money to get some airtime for their products.

Anyway, I digress. Tonight episode 10 was being shown in the UK and I couldn't help but notice that an i500 or i550 phone was used in CTU by one of the characters. They actually look bigger that I was expecting.

So, who's going to be the first with a screen grab?

What is a SD memory expansion slow?

Ambassador @ 4/15/2004 8:50:24 PM #

Maybe its a low power slot for WIFI so that your phone lasts longer ;-)

Serving Christ thru serving others,

Stuart

RE: What is a SD memory expansion slow?

ozz @ 4/16/2004 12:40:03 AM #

uhhhh.....maybe it's even a typo! :-D

_________________________
Lord, help me become the person my dog thinks I am!

RE: What is a SD memory expansion slow?

jjsoh @ 4/20/2004 10:14:17 AM #

I think he meant slot.

Jim

Verizon?

gremlin_591002 @ 4/16/2004 9:57:41 AM #

Any chance these will show up on the Verizon network? My contract is up as are the contracts for 90% of my co-workers, I'm hoping for a nice group contract with all new phones.

Too many features (Hi-res SGH-i505 please!)

interlard @ 4/16/2004 3:15:39 PM #

I personally prefer the SGH-i505 (with it's twist & flip display), but wish Samsung would add this one's hi-res screen to it.

To my mind, this new model suffers from feature creep: MP3 player buttons on the outside, megapixel camera. What next, built-in shoe-buff? Cup-holder? Like the cartoon said, "Do you have anything more modern and useless?"

I find it very frustrating waiting over a year for Samsung to release a Palm 5 smartphone, only to see the products constantly superceded, but still unreleased!! I should stop reading news here, but I CAN'T HELP IT.

It is real this time??

alexito @ 4/16/2004 7:46:15 PM #

It should be since it's being FCC aproved and has a Sprint label on it. It seem that real competition for the Treo 600.

And since it has an external OLED screen the mp3 external buttons may be useful if you can search them using the external buttons without opening the phone.

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

Monster

dona83 @ 4/18/2004 1:23:52 AM #

This thing is nice with the hi-res screen, but I want a cell phone that doesn't make me look like a freak. I don't mind being labeled geek, but the cell phone will attract eyes in possibly not so good ways.

If only there were a hi-res Treo. Possibly with bluetooth.

RE: Monster

Snerdy @ 4/19/2004 9:43:07 AM #

Dude, you need to stop thinking that your cellphone has anything to do with what people think of you.

One phone to rule them all, losing batman's utility belt!

csdmmnt @ 4/21/2004 7:50:22 PM #

I hate carrying stuff. I don't want batman's utility belt!

Samsung is the closest to release a product I have been looking and waiting for now for over a year.

I would like:

1) Palm OS 5.x/6
2) SD Slot
3) Wi-Fi and/or Bluetooth
4) MP3 Player (should come with Palm OS ability)
5) Hi-Res screen
6) Twist top clam shell form
7) Excellent cell phone
8) External LCD
9) MegaPixel Camera (though I can do without, security is starting to crack down on these ...)

If you look at that list Samsung has a variety of phones with 7 of the 9, a different 7 across so many phones. Phones we've seen, talked about, have had at various tech shows, but have yet to have delivered. Fortunatley or unfortunately ... I am just sure that now that they've worked us up they'll release some of the "not quite right" combinations and then later release "the one cell phone" to rule them all. I've never been a patient one so I end up being an upset one ...

The i505 we've seen and had shown here is the closest, wish it had hi-res screen and wi-fi though! Samsung ... do it right the first time and you can take the market easily. Give the full featured phone, don't cut us short!

Seize the moment!

Indeed, looks good

spage @ 5/22/2004 6:52:03 PM #

(My first post here!)

I've been making do with the Samsung SPH-i300 for years now. The input area got scratched (d'oh! shoulda bought a screen protector film) so my next smartphone has to be a clamshell (plus I doubt I could get used to the Treo 600's micro-buttons). The SPH-i500 seemed an improvement but not enough to pay for (no expandability, no camera, no 2nd display). This one seems really promising.

Can anyone comment on doing Graffiti 2 on a clamshell, e.g. the SPH-i500? I've tried it on a Clie and didn't like it: you either hold the bottom half and flex the hinge or hold the top half and the bottom gets in the way.

I read on pdaphonehome.com forums that a SDIO Bluetooth card in the SD slot may not work well with Bluetooth headphones. Plus, if you put in a monster memory card for music, presumably you can't use a Bluetooth or SDIO card.

Now I just wait around for 8 months for Sprint to finally release the phone, and of course in 3 months Samsung will show at trade shows an even better phone that makes this obsolete :-(

=S Page
Phone w/ PalmOS + GPS + MP3 + 4GB memory card + Bluetooth + WiFi ! Make it already!