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Samsung Linux-Powered Smartphone Ships In China

Posted by timothy on from the cross-pollination dept.

An anonymous reader writes "LinuxDevices.com reports on a new Samsung smartphone shipping in China. According to the article, the Samsung SCH-i519 smartphone supports both Chinese and English, and works with the CDMA2000 1x network of China's #2 wireless provider, Unicom. The device features voice control, a powerful 400MHz XScale PXA255 processor, and a software suite from Mizi Research. Add this to other recent news (a Linux-powered smartphone from China's E28, Japan's NTT DoCoMo has adopted Linux for its new 3G phones, and, of course, Motorola announced the Linux-powered A760 earlier this year), and it starts to look like Linux is picking up steam in the mobile phone market." Update: 12/17 06:16 GMT by S : We previously covered the E28 phone yesterday, though not this new Samsung model.

2 of 46 comments (clear)

  1. Power Consumption? by SynKKnyS · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The Mitac Mio 8380 smartphone has a 200 MHz XScale processor in it. It is relatively bad on power consumption when compared to similar devices. I wonder how this phone in the article will do with a 400 MHz XScale in it. Not trying to be captain obvious but talk time is what a lot of consumers look at when considering a phone.

  2. Looks... by the_true_cirrus · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Let's face it, most people will go for looks and size over fancy features before they buy a phone. These are mobile phones after all - they need to fit in your pocket comfortably, have a long battery life and preferably look pretty too.

    Now the Samsung phone looks quite nice but the form factor may limit its appeal. It's not that big, but the PDA design is an akward shape for your trouser pocket and looks a bit odd next to your face when making a phone call (I'm thinking of O2's XDA here for comparison). As for the Motorola and the E28, is it just me or are they really ugly? I know looks are very subjective, but they can hardly count as sleek and stylish. The material looks cheap for a start - looks like the grey plastic with metal colour sprayed on that wears of on the edges in no time - like several of Motorolas older clamshell phones. They look quite chubby too.

    Now don't get me wrong, I really like the idea of Linux on a phone and would love to own one someday, but unless they start producing more varied and more appealing designs I doubt they will be very successful. By comparison most current Symbian phones look nice and come in reasonable sizes. Even Motorala's MS Smarthphone thingy looks alright (looks ok, obviously you wouldn't want one because of the software).