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Future Samsung Phone Plans Leaked
djgil writes "Looks like Samsung needs to be more careful what they do with their powerpoints. A number of prototype Samsung phones have appeared online including three that used Windows Mobile. One phone uses a 500Mhz processor and other had a 3Gbyte Hard Drive for music."
I wonder if the CPU is an XScale?
The camera--for me--is a gimmicky thing, I hardly *ever* use it.
I've got a bad case of mobile technolust... someone please help
Sigs cause cancer.
Until phones and ipod style mp3 players converged. I'm still waiting for the model that includes the kitchen sink.
I managed to get a mirror if needed.
--
Over 200 Gmail accounts!
One phone uses a 500Mhz processor and other had a 3Gbyte Hard Drive for music."
In other news, the RIAA has filed a lawsuit against Samsung for encouraging pirating of music on mobile phones. Details to follow...
Fly me to the moon Let me sing among those stars Let me see what spring is like On jupiter and mars
I long for the days when I used to be able to get a simple cell phone with a simple interface, contact phone book, and good reception -- for less than $25 dollars a month! Cell phones are getting so ridiculous that I finally gave up on them. You have to pay at least $45 a month (after taxes...), and for what? Internet access that I don't use. Games that I don't play. Instant text that costs me even more.
I wonder if a bare-bones plan with simple, easy to use phones (not glorified PDA's/cameras/gaming consoles) would actually do quite well in today's market for people like me that don't need all of the frills. I know people have talked about this before, but why aren't the cell phone companies listening?
I believe in de-evolution. God made the world perfect, man fell, and its been going downhill ever since!
This is exactly where everyone knows phones are going. Too bad they don't have what I want: seamless connection to WiFi and VoIP, seamless connection landline Wireless base.
Yet another set of phones that amalgamates more crappy functionality and drives the cost up for the user who simply wants a phone...
...
3GB disk? Too small for most music collections.
Let's not forget the crappy DSP most phones have anyways and 22Khz DAC
Oh and yet another camera with mildly low resolution...
[blah blah blah]
Why doesn't samsung introduce a cell phone that lasts for 6 months on a charge [standby not talk] or that can take a 5 story fall off a balcony or something. Or at least a fall from 6 ft without splitting in half... of the three cell phones I've had the cheapest POS motorola v120c was the toughest. My 300$ flip phone and my current c256 phone both will split open upon the slighest drop...
Those are features people can actually use. Not flimsy cell phones with short battery lives [well that's not entirely the case] and a whole slew of semi-functional additions that are otherwise totally fucking useless.
If I want to carry tunes with me I'll bring my mp3cd player. It's easier to deal with, was a hell of a lot cheaper and has excellent sound quality. If I want to snap pictures I'll bring my PowerShot. It has a much higher [5MP] resolution and is more configurable for actually taking pictures [the average camera phone can't adjust things like exposure, white balance, etc...]
Tom
Someday, I'll have a real sig.
What does this do for battery life. I like that my current Samsung phone is small and runs for most of a week without any recharging.
OTOH i have to recharge my ipod every day that i want to use it (although it is a pretty old one).
Do "consumers" really want this kind of convergence? I know i dont.
The HDD Music Smartphone is by far the most interesting of the three leaked models. Besides it running Windows it looks like a promising little device. Almost seems suited as a competitor to the iPod and iTunes. As seen by the 3GB hard drive, name, and online music service (whatever that means). The hard drive and MPEG-4 compatibility would also enable it to be a handheld video player. Very interesting.
Man, you can find people's entire financial statements on Google if you know what to look for. I once found a company's entire pay-to-train sessions on Google because the idiots had left it in an open directory. We're talking seven or eight classes that cost $400 a head to attend.
This "oopsy" does not surprise me in the least. Spend enough time in the corporate world with typical PHBs, and you will get used to hearing how such-and-such simple and important security task isn't important because "that's never gonna happen", so we shouldn't "waste time on it". This is it what happens when managers run technical systems rather than tech people.
Alito: A vote for Alito is a punch in the eye to put that bitch back in her place!
"Bob? Sell all my Samsung stock, fast!"
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
A member of the OSS community has hacked them to run linux.
However, due to difficulties in porting the kernel over some features are a bit lackluster. So the camera no longer functions, the mp3 player performance is somewhat slow, no contact information can be saved, and you can no longer receive calls or dial out.
On the bright side they never crash, and you've never seen pong like this before!
And no doubt, Verizon will pick one up, except the hard drive capacity will be reduced to 1GB, and it will have its multimedia features and bluetooth removed. Of course, they'll compensate by branding it with a five Verizon logos on the outside, and 3 Verizon banners in the software that can't be changed/removed, and the clock will spent as much time displaying "Verizon Wireless" as it does the time.
Seriously, I'm impressed by these phones, but they're like auto manufacturers' concept cars. And just like I go to the Detroit Auto Show every year and drool over the amazing concept cars (i.e. last year's Eclipse), when the things finally do hit the road, they're stripped-down, boring, tame, overpriced, and not at all exciting.
The same thing happens with cell phones (especially after Verizon has a hand in crippling them a la the Audiovox CDM-8900). They're exciting now, sure, but when these come out, they'll be advertised at $400, but existing customers will have to pay $800 for them, and half the features will have mysteriously vaporized.
Don't get me wrong, I'd love the idea of having one unit that takes the place of an iPod and a PDA and a cell phone in an elegant design, but it'll be another 3-4 years before we have those, and if Verizon, Sprint and the like have any say in it, they'll never be affordable to the masses.
Whether it is a stunt or not, I'm never going to buy a Samsung again.
After owning first a Nokia, and then a Sony Erikson, I now own a Samsung phone, and although the phone looks nice, it is horrible to use compared to my old phone. The care wasn't taken to make it useable.
Things like text messages being start in Upper Case (without settings to change it) and if you were to press the Big-Red-Button by accident whilst typing a text message, the message will be lost without any confirmation, nor does it save it to "Drafts", for example. The better hardware was made less useful due to bad userinterface. The Sony, on the other hand, was made far more useable and a better phone, even lacking the extra features of the Samsung Hardware (big colour screen, video recording, lots of memory, etc).
Although the phones this article is about are very different to the phone I have, I still don't think I could trust buying another Samsung phone, after getting this one and being constantly irritated by it.
Saying that, how deep does Windows Mobile go? As much as people reading this message will hate Microsoft, they'll probably admit they constantly do a good job of user interfaces, so maybe these ones won't be too bad? Although a phone which can play music... Hmm. Not sure I want one of those.
- Jax
Er...
*sigh*
2005 is going to be another year of boring, stupid tech crap, isn't it?
500 MHz processor and it will still have the call quality of a tin can and string. Can't wait to see the battery life.
Flying cars. Personal jetpacks. Robot maids. Vacations in space. They promised me those things as a kid. THEY PROMISED, DAMMIT! Martin Landau was supposed to be on the Moon by now!
--- Ban humanity.
To all thoes "I just want a phone phone" or thoes "Will i be able to get reception in my apt in metropolitan area #5?" to you i say.. STFU! this phone isnt for you.
i hate taking my mp3 player, cellphone, pda, and ocasionaly camera with me. The first 3 i cant leave the house with. taking public trasport is a hassel every time i enter or leave a subay i have to pay 4 pockets just to make sure i didnt forget anything. its a hassel.
i for one welcome our combo-cellphone-do-everything overlords
The More Knowledge you have the Luckier you Get- J.R. Ewing
Study after study shows that only about 15% of the customers use most of the high end features that their phones provide. I for one find email absurdly difficult to use. I don't have a camera phone but I appreciate the ability to receive a picture someone else sends me - like the exact shape of that curtain rod bracket while I'm in the store for example.
Moreover most people over the age of 15 don't really consume ringtones, wall paper and screen savers.
OK text messaging is ok but again, data entry is a fucking chore even with T9.
But the reason that all these phones come with teleporters and sex aids is because phones are basically loss leaders for the service providers. They give most of them away for free so there is little incentive for phone builders to build better FREE phones. Instead they just pile on more features to justify the extra 50 - 100 - 150 dollars per unit because that is the only way they will actually make any money at all.
But I really don't understand what all the criticism is about. For the stated $25 a month you can get a plain jane prepaid candybar phone that gets calls and makes calls. I had one for over a year no problem - a Nokia 6631 and I could limit the spending by simply prepaying any amount I wished, no bills no problem.
Maybe all the critics should look into that.
In the meantime I think these new Samsungs here are a good fist stab at convergence. If I can get rid of my phone, PDA, camera and MP3 player in one clip and replace them with one device I can insure through the phone company and I can synch it and back it up with my PC I'm pretty far along the way to getting rid of a lot of complexity I'd rather not live with.
Maybe all the specs aren't up to what each of the devices on their own can do (Camera rez, audio codec, battery life) but they will be. The first Palmpilot phones were about $1000 now they are $300.
But what I'd like to see is more business oriented and common sense features and fewer teenage features.
Gee, I can't think of a better way to create a buzz about a product than someone "stealing" your "confidential" plans about it and then "leaking" them onto the internet.
Bravo Samsung PR. Brilliant strategy!
LK
"Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
Hmmm 500 MHz processor. Guess that's what ya gotta do if you want to run Windows on your phone. Seems crazy though, given that I've run a database/email/file server that routinely queried 2 million-record database tables, ran dynamic mod-perl web apps and handled gigs of IMAP folders without breaking a sweat, all on a 500 MHz Celeron PC with similar specs as these superphones (except for 20 gigs of drive space).
I'm still trying to wrap my head around WHY. If it breaks or I lose it I have no functionality.
When I'm talking on the phone I cannot look at the screen so it would be a pain in the ass to look up info to relay to the person I'm talking to. Thus, I prefer a separate device, or at the very least a handset and some assurance I won't accidentally hang up on the person while I fiddle with things. PDA phones might be very capable, but if I were a power user I'd prefer a standalone PDA.
I only take pictures when I'm out somewhere interesting (on vacation, etc) so it seems pointless to have one on a phone that I use all the time. There are many places where photographic equipment is banned, and that means I cannot have a camera phone for work (a lot of manufacturing facilities, generating stations, etc do not allow photography equipment inside without signing special agreements). Besides, even the best camera phones take pretty crappy pictures even compared to budget digital cams. Anyone who is even semi-serious about their pics would have a separate camera.
MP3 player? Seems cool, but again a telephone conversation would interfere with operation. Besides, if even an ipod mini is too big for you you can get a basic player that fites nicely on a keychain now.
Video. Puleeeze. I don't care how far technology advances, nothing needs to be watched so bad that I MUST watch it right now---on a 2-inch screen. If these phones had TV-out...well I might look again....maybe...but all we are doing is replacing gadgets with tangled cables anyways.
I hope this superphone fad dies down a bit, and that I won't be forced to deal with unwanted features. I am just fine with a phone that makes phone calls, stores phone numbers and maybe has text messaging so I can receive alerts when I get new email. That is all I do now and nothing I've seen in these phones makes me want to do more. If they want to get me excited about a new phone...how about one with much improved reception , from a phone company that has a billing policy less complicated than spacecraft schematics.
I am pleased to see that someone besides Apple is supporting this codec on a music player. With bluetooth and aac support, who needs an ipod?
As far as I understand it, the big issue with phones is that they have to be approved by the FCC as they're regulated radio devices. Images and specification documents become public government documents once the phone is submitted for approval.
And entire websites (such as Phone Scoop) have grown around this advance information. They typically have specifications and images about 6 months before they hit the market.
For example, here's the news posting on Phone Scoop about those Samsung phones (including at least one model number). Follow the "Full Story.." link in that article for the FCC filing.
... cus' Samsung has been sooo quick to release the SGH-i505. Whoops, I mean the SGH-i550. These Palm two smartphone models were first announced at a trade show in October 2003. I still haven't seen either one in the wild.
Buy a Treo. You can actually go to a store and touch one of those. It's loads easier to type on than a cloud of pretty, hot air from Samsung.
Mirrordot.org is Groovy.
For context, click Parent.
Where's my phone that I can just throw in my pocket, rough it up, and still have it work right? With all of these flip-phones, slide phones and their touch screens, camera lenses and hard drives, they don't seem like they're going to hold up to being bumped, jarred, or just tossed into a cargo pocket for a quick bike ride down to the convenience store. I love little gadgets as much as anyone else, but I'm not always going to be able to attach the device to a belt clip, and I don't always care to, anyways.
Can't they work on a good old phone that I could accidentally mistake for a hockey puck, and still have it work right?
I don't moderate anymore. Karma penalty for 90% fair mods? Can I mod that unfair?
Please note: If they are marked with "Anycall" they will not be released here in the States, or Europe for that matter. Only Korea. Plus, phones with these specs are not uncommon there currently. They already have phones with hard drives in them, as well as 5mp cameras (that take great pics)! Theres a slim chance that if one of the US CDMA carriers adopts the Korean Wideband CDMA network infrastructure for their 3G rollout, we may see them here, but that dosent look likely, and i can only immagine how much Verizon would fuck you over with charges. $.50 per HDD spool up sounds reasonable, dosent it?
I want 2D games back.
I got a Windows Mobile phone recently, in the UK it's called the SPV C500, but I think it's unbranded name is HTC Typhoon. it is an absolute dog. Shockingly poor phone. Maybe it's just because I spent a few years in the land of the mobile phone where design is so superior it's not even funny. Leave out that they sent emails not SMS or MMS, even the texting software I used to have, which wasn't predictive, was better than the turd that some developer crouched down and dropped into my phone. Here's why it sucks so hard. You'll see there are some software problems and some industrial design problems. The moral of this rant is that it's all got to be good to be a good phone.
Hard to use joystick
Menus and options are selected and navigated using a flat four-way joystick, with a centre-click for select. Centre-clicking isn't difficult, but when my hands are cold (and it is December, which means cold in London) it's easy to hit slightly in the wrong place and go up before clicking. With a phone as slow as this one, this can be incredibly frustrating. It leads to putting the wrong word in when writing texts, it leads to choosing the wrong program to start, and it leads to a whole world of related pain. Stylus! Please!
Inconsistent UI
The phone has two pointless buttons: Home and Back. They probably thought it was a really good idea to have one click to go home, but it's not. You can press the Back button a few times, or if they had been clever tie it holding down the back button in order to do that. Or at least you could have done that if the UI was consistent. In fact it seems that it's up to the apps what they do with the buttons on the phone. The camera application will only quit if you press the Hangup button! You can't even cancel though the menu!
Slow boot
This is simply wrong: it takes over a minute between me pressing the power button and my phone being usable as a sort of rubbish PDA, and then an arbitrarily long time to recognise the network it's on and be actually ready to use as a phone. A minute never seemed so long before I spent one staring at Windows Mobile.
Crashes
Another one that's simply wrong: it's a phone. It crashes. I'm pretty sure that my parents' phone doesn't crash, possibly because it's made of bakelite and fixed to the wall with rusty iron screws, but the idea is there. Make a phone which doesn't crash. If it crashes, fix it and then sell it. A phone that periodically requires me to take the battery out and wait that painful minute before I can use it again doesn't deserve an owner.
Slow software
Actually, I don't know if this is the software's fault or the phone's, but the experience is slow. My friend has a Palm Treo 600 (he loves it) and his mapping software flies around. He uses his stylus and just drags the map around. I have to click up, down, left or right on the stupid little joystick in order to move around the map. And whereas the mapping software he uses is an image of a streetmap, mine is a bloody vector image, with only the major roads on it, and only some of them labelled with names. It's basically fucking useless. I tried to use it to find somewhere in Soho, in the cold December rain. In less than the time it takes to boot I called my friend with an A-Z and he told me where to go.
Button placement
This is another simple, simple, simple cock-up. There are two buttons for adjusting the earpiece volume. Never mind that they don't work very well and that the earpiece volume goes up in about 4 steps and so could be easily managed with one button, the problem here is that you have to press them hard, which means bracing against the opposite side of the phone, where the camera is. So, while you are in a noisy call, you adjust the earpiece volume and nine times out of ten start the camera. If you recall, you can't stop the camera app in order to check your calendar or contacts without pressing the hangup button, with the predictable effect of hanging up.
Texting s
Does that mean my cell phone will now crash as often as my PC at work does?
More often. Your PC is running NT, not CE.
I routinely reset my Pocket PC phone edition before placing a call, because otherwise it was likely to crash while trying to complete it.
I don't know why they can't just run NT on these things. We were running NT desktops on P-100s with 16M in the '90s, with 1024x768 screens, and they were FASTER than the Pocket PC (and we used to think those requirements were outrageous). Why they need to run a stripped down pre-NT-Windows-based OS on a machine with less than 1/16th the screen area, four times the RAM, and 4 times the CPU I have no idea...
Luddites all of you. You and every moron who modded you up and every frigin' commenter who responded in agreement (which seems to be all of them). Amazing.
Is this not Slashdot? News for Nerds? WTF is this attitude towards new technology? WAKE UP. The mobile phone is in use by 1.5 BILLION people world wide. By the end of the decade that number will have almost doubled and more people on Earth will be using it as their primary computing and communication tool than any other device.
The mobile phone is a PLATFORM now. Get it?
Long gone are the days when it was used for just making phone calls, just like long gone are the days when Linux was used just for servers. Do you bitch every time someone launches a new CPU or adds new stuff to computer OSes just because you don't need anything except VI? "What's with all this multi-threading, multimedia and GUI support? I don't need any of that crap!"
Get used to the fact that mobile phones are now the most important piece of technology in the world. More important than your PC or your television or your iPod.
Bitching about how you want a simple mobile phone with cheap service is like bitching about only wanting a Pentium 3 and basic AOL dial up because all you use your computer for is email and the web. The rest of us who are trying to focus on the future are sick of hearing from you backwards motherfuckers.
-Russ
Me