Samsung's i330 Palm OS cell phone debuts

An updated version of Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.'s Palm OS-based cellular telephone has debuted in the U.S. market.

The SPH-i330 is thinner, packs improved features and has a more stylish design than its SPH-i300 predecessor and is the second new Palm OS-based cellular handset to become available in less than a week after Kyocera Wireless Corp. began selling its 7135 phone through Alltel Corp. last week.

At the center of the phone, which looks more like a PDA (personal digital assitant) than a cellular handset, is a large 256 color LCD (liquid crystal display) with 160 by 240 pixel resolution. South Korea's Samsung has built 16M bytes of memory into the handset, which is double that of its predecessor.

Measuring 125 millimeters by 57 millimeters by 17.6 millimeters, it is approximately the same length and width as its predecessor but about 20 percent thinner. It is also a little lighter at 165 grams. A lithium-ion battery provides enough power for 2.5 hours' talk time, less than the 4 hours' talk time offered by the SPH-i300.

The phone's radio is a dual-band, tri-mode model offering compatibility with CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) at both 800MHz and 1,900MHz and the analog AMPS network. The handset is available first in the U.S. though Sprint PCS Group and is compatible with the carrier's CDMA2000 1x data service, which offers packet-based data transmission at speeds of up to 144k bps (bits per second).

Sprint PCS is selling the SPH-i330 phone for US$500, a $100 premium on the SPH-i300.

Its arrival in the retail market has been awaited for almost a year. Samsung first unveiled the handset at the Expo Comm Korea exhibition in Seoul in February. At the time, the company promised the handset in April however that date was postponed under September and then put back again until late 2002.

Samsung provided no details of when the handset could be available through other carriers or in other markets although its CDMA base means it is unlikely to appear in all but a handful of countries.

In addition to the SPH-i330, Samsung has a number of other PDA-phone combination devices under development.

They include two dual-band, tri-mode models expected to be available through Sprint. The SPH-i500 is a Palm OS-based clamshell design handset and the SPH-i700 is based on Microsoft Corp.'s Pocket PC operating system.

At the recent Telecom Asia exhibition in Hong Kong, Samsung showed for the first time its M400 handset. Based on Pocket PC 2002 Phone Edition, the device runs on CDMA 2000 1x EvDO (Evolution Data Only) networks, which are in commercial service in South Korea and offer data transmission at speeds of up to 2.4M bps. Features of the phone, which is based on an Intel Corp. XScale processor running at 400MHz, include a display capable of showing 65,000 colors, voice recognition and a text-to-speech engine, a TV tuner and GPS (Global Positioning System).

Samsung also has a handset based on Microsoft's Windows Powered Smartphone platform under development. That operating system is targeted at handsets that are more like traditional cell phones and offers a limited number of PDA-like functions. The SCH-i600 is expected to be available through Verizon Communications Inc.

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