Samsung Cell Phone Features 3GB Hard Drive

An anonymous reader writes "Samsung will be showing off a new cell phone which runs on Microsoft's Windows Mobile operating system which features a built-in hard drive. The SGH-I300 will offer 3GB of storage which allows you to store up to 1,000 songs on it for playback through the music player. The 3GB hard drive is similar to the type of hard drive that is found in Apple's Mini iPod. These 1-inch drives with very low power requirements, are ideal for cell phones and other mobile devices."

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[fembots]

The friendly article is pretty light on details, given it's overclockerclub.com.

Engadget stated that the phone supports MP3, WMA, AAC, and AAC+ audio files, and a plug-and-play drag-and-drop no-brainer way of transferring files as you please.

Maybe I should just RTFA...

[pjt48108]

...but how long do you think it will be, before this opens up the door to massive conversation-recording? All it needs is an ambitious hacker, right? You have the phone, and you have an integrated audio storage device. Oy, the possibilities...

Re:Maybe I should just RTFA...

[Tackhead]

> It could come as an option out of the box. Recording conversations in which you're involved is NOT illegal (as far as i know) - and it could actually be very useful in certain situations.

That depends on what state (of the US) you're in.

In some states, both parties have to consent to the call's being recorded, and/or an audible "beep" has to play at specified intervals as a reminder that the call is being recorded.

You could actually do this in firmware; cell phones have locator technologies, and are theoretically capable (over the data stream as a back channel) of exchanging information regarding in which state each party to a call is physically present.

From that, it's a small set of if/then logic to work out whether the "beep" comes on automatically, and/or whether consent is required ("Press 'GO' to consent to monitoring") of more than one party to the call.

There lots of legitimate (banking/finance) commercial applications where users (both clients and brokers, for instance) might want their calls recorded.

Of course, real men don't need recording devices to back up their phone conversations. They just casually mention materials that have high neutron cross sections, mention the curve of binding energy a few times, and NSA records their calls for them.

Apple vs Microsoft

[FunWithHeadlines]

"The 3GB hard drive is similar to the type of hard drive that is found in Apple's Mini iPod."

But Apple has the good sense not to try to cram OS X-mini onto the iPod hard disk. Instead a much simpler, special purpose OS does the job simply and well. But cram Windows-mini onto a hard disk, and well, you've wasted a lot of space for no real valid reason.

Plus the delicious treat of viruses headed your way as a brand new target sits there and says, "Attack me, please."

Why can't people realize that special-purpose devices work best with special-purpose OSes?

Re:Apple vs Microsoft

[kin_korn_karn]

It's interesting how everyday devices are getting less and less stable. My new DVD drive has locked up on me several times. My PVR/cable box has unceremoniously virtual-BSOD and restarted several times, cars electronics are crashing, and soon cell phones. Progress?
It's progress for the following people:

- the manufacturer who gets to sell you another one
- the shipping carrier who couriers the RMA package from
- the retailer who gets to sell you another one or maybe something else while you're there
- the tech support rep who gets to log another call
- the manufacturer again when they refurb your device and sell it to a bargain basement OEM
- the OEM who makes a tidy profit on the refurbed parts sold as new

The disposable culture is a huge step backward for society, but because so many people can make money off of it, it's considered progress, at least in legal terms.

In related news...

[bartyboy]

Samsung announced today their new line of hernia belts and corsets. "These will keep our customers from injuring themselves when they have to lift our new phone," said the CEO of Samsung.

When did the 'song' become the standard...

[exp(pi*sqrt(163))]

...unit of memory? I guess we can blame it on Apple. How long before we start seeing hard drives advertised as storing megasongs or gigasongs? My first computer didn't even hold a millisong!

Re:My cell phone...

[generic-man]

So get a Nokia 6010, T-Mobile's bottom of the line, and quit your bitching.

There are plenty of cheap, boring phones that work primarily as phones. They don't get much attention from the tech press because they don't have any useless whizbang features.

Re:My cell phone...

[PopeAlien]

I want a cell phone that doesnt recieve calls.

I want it to take good pictures, check my email, sync to my server, play music, browse the web and have a fold out QWERTY keyboard.. I want a big color screen, weeks of battery life, kinetic charging, and it needs to fit in my pocket and be very light.

but it should NEVER recieve incoming calls, thats just a nuisance and needless distraction.

Battery life

[ColonelFubster]

Those hard drives must be hell on battery life, low-power or not.

Re:Your needs do not govern anybody else

[Mantorp]

Did Jesus die...

That sounds familiar, let me google it, I'll let you know.

Re:Amazing how far things have come

[Golias]

Makes you wonder if we'll have 120 and 200GB drives in our cell phones in 2015 :worry:

You worry about that?

Luddite.

By 2015, I want a cell phone with a 200GB HD installed sub-dermally in my jaw!

And where's my damn flying car!?!?!?

Re:My cell phone...

[Dejohn]

Then this is probably not the device for you. Don't buy it?

What I'm looking for

[gillbates]

Is a cell phone that does everything. Yes, I've heard the whining from people who just want a cell phone to be a phone, but from my perspective, the fewer devices I have to manage, the better.

Imagine you're going on vacation. You could pack:

• Your camcorder
• MP3 player
• digital camera
• PDA
• Personal video player
• Personal tv
• Cellphone

Or, you could just take your:

• Cellphone

Right now, we do have the technology to incorporate all of these features into one device with the form factor of a small notebook or PDA. Instead, people spend 5 times the amount of money on discrete appliances, and then have the added burden of having to carry them all. And then they whine because their phone isn't just a phone - as if they enjoy having dozens of electronic gadgets lying around the house, waiting to get lost, stolen, forgotten, etc...

I'm tired of using a dozen different gadgets to do what could easily be integrated into one. If cellphone manufacturers are going to break into new markets, their phones are going to have to be more than just phones.

Re:What I'm looking for

[goldspider]

Why stop there? Here's what I expect in a cell phone (one that weighs less than 6 oz. too):

camcorder

MP3 player

digital camera

PDA

Personal video player

Personal tv

Cellphone

toothbrush and toothpaste

shampoo AND conditioner

toilet paper

hairbrush

credit cards

week's worth of clothing

golf clubs

my car

Chinese hooker

Anyone who doesn't think these belong in a phone is simply a luddite who resists technological evolution.

Re:What I'm looking for

[NanoGator]

"Right now, we do have the technology to incorporate all of these features into one device with the form factor of a small notebook or PDA. Instead, people spend 5 times the amount of money on discrete appliances, and then have the added burden of having to carry them all. "

Well... I think you're both getting the point and then missing it at the same time.

A lot of Slashdotters in a rush to get the first +3 Insightful are quick to poo-poo integration. They don't care about a camera in a cell phone because it only does 640 by 480 and they've got some whiz-bang digital camera that does 5 megapixels. They paid considerably more for that camera, and they also got considerably better quality out of it. The point has been made ad-nauseum here that the more something can do, the less competent it is at doing it. It's a valid point. However, this is where they miss they miss the point entirely: That 5 megapixel camera is only good when you have it on you to use. Common sense, right? You'd think so, but when people poo-poo phones with cameras built in, they suddenly forget this point. (Race to get that +3 Insightful?) A cell phone is a nice convergence device because it stays with people at all times. I go to work: There's my cell phone. I go to an arcade: There's my cell phone. I take my family out to dinner: There's my cell phone. I take a dump: There's my cell phone. (yeah yeah, I know that'll attract smart ass comments, oh well.) Would I take my 5mp camera to an arcade? Dinner with the family? Not likely. While I'm taking a... err. Okay, that was a really bad example. I was actually thinking more about cell phone with built in games/internet etc. You get the point. Value. My cell phone does MORE. It may not be perfect, but it's better than nothing. I have photos of my nephew being silly at dinner that I simply would not have captured if my phone didn't have a camera. (I could keep going but I think the point was made right there.)

I mentioned before that you got the point and then missed it. I think you get what I just said above. I think you understand why having this stuff in a cell phone is cool for a lot of people. But what I'm really replying to is "you're going on vacation". Ugh. That wouldn't be my first example. A stronger example would have been "going on a spontaneous trip". The "master of none" point still very much applies. You want a 5 megapixel photo of the Grand Canyon.

So, yes, I agree: Cell phone convergence == generally good. Moaning about new features in cell phones == generally obnoxious.

I know this is touted as "convergence"...

[jpellino]

...but come on - I guess I could conceivably end up with an uber-gadget that is my phone, gps, iPod, PDA, universal remote, pedometer, Speedpass, web browser, biometric verifier, flash drive, camera, pager, video player, voice activated game console, garage door opener, pill timer, and nose hair trimmer, but do I want it?

It's pretty much the current definition of jack of all trades, master of none. The browsers all suck wind from the first click. No way the phone camera matches the 4MP with optical zoom and full controls. With my luck, I'd go to open the garage door and dial the Pentagon, who'd read the fix from my GPS and catch me screaming "Attack! Attack! - No, use the sniper rifle!" in the middle of a Halo session...

So it's really just a away of any one manufacturer making sure you buy the whiz-bangiest phone instead of someone else's.

What if I lose it? Right now I keep track of my GPS, iPod, camera and cell phone. Suppose I lose one device. I'm either out a copy of my music, or my most recent photos, or a location fix, or my phone. Lose the uber-device and I'm out all of them at once.