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Handhelds Hardware

Future Samsung Phone Plans Leaked 258

Posted by CmdrTaco from the and-it-fits-in-the-palm-of-your-hand dept.
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."
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Future Samsung Phone Plans Leaked More

Future Samsung Phone Plans Leaked

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  • Mobile envy (Score:3, Insightful)

    by SIGALRM ( 784769 ) * on Tuesday January 04, 2005 @01:47PM (#11255125) Journal
    Samsung "B-Bop"
    400 MHz Processor, 128 MB ROM, 64 MB RAM, Bluetooth, WiFi, GSM/GPRS, miniSD, 240x320 pixel with 18-bit Color, 5.52" x 2.01" x 0.95", 2 Mega Pixel Camera, and Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition for Phone Edition.
    Although the Samsung prototype has a superior form factor, my HP iPAQ h6315 [t-mobile.com] has many of the same features--minus 64M ROM, a 2-megapixel camera, and some other cool stuff. Although I'm happy with what I have, sluggishness is a real issue with my iPAQ: and I could certainly use the extra CPU power.

    I wonder if the CPU is an XScale? ... hmmm ...

    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 :)

    • Re:Mobile envy (Score:3, Informative)

      by CMiYC ( 6473 )
      The camera--for me--is a gimmicky thing, I hardly *ever* use it.

      For me, cameras on the phone are a PITA. I can't carry it into most customer sites since cameras are prohibited. On top of that, I agree with you on it being a gimmick. The phone I have does have a camera and other than to geek-play with it, I've never used it. I've never even thought, "Hey I have a camera right here!"

      Granted, maybe that's because I end up leaving it in the car most of the time.
      • For me, cameras on the phone are a PITA. I can't carry it into most customer sites since cameras are prohibited

        I had the same problem. I never even thought about it until I went to a government facility and they said "No cameras". I left my phone in the car the rest of the week.

        I could care less about having a camera, but I do want bluetooth.
    • you do realize, most people in the US are envious of you ?

      Specially those who've never used the iPAQ 6315. Tmobile sent me the unit the day they did the pre-sale (late august).. I returned it promptly after using it for a week and having to do hard resets 5 times.

      I now have an M1000 from Orange (unlocked) and am using it with Tmobile, it's great You lose the built in Wifi, but GPRS is fine for me, specially on my plan, plus you get +64MB ram and a faster processor. The M1000 costs less, and is should have

    • Re:Mobile envy (Score:2, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward

      I've got a bad case of mobile technolust... someone please help :)

      Maybe it'll help if you realize that eventually the succesor to the B-Bop will be the MBop. And all the ringtones will be other Hanson songs.

    • Re:Mobile envy (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Serious Simon ( 701084 )
      I wonder if the CPU is an XScale? ... hmmm ...

      I doubt it because Samsung make their own ARM processors (XScale are Intel's ARM CPU's)

  • Until phones and ipod style mp3 players converged. I'm still waiting for the model that includes the kitchen sink.

    • Re:It was only a matter of time (Score:5, Funny)

      by Lev13than ( 581686 ) on Tuesday January 04, 2005 @02:02PM (#11255333) Homepage
      It was only a matter of time until phones and ipod style mp3 players converged.

      Ah, but this isn't the case - the 3gb hard drive is just there to hold even longer, more annoying ring tones. The factory default will use bluetooth to sense when the owner is nowhere near the phone and then launch into a 4-hour midi retrospective of Nelly: the early years.

  • Mirror (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 04, 2005 @01:48PM (#11255133)
    I managed to get a mirror [dealsites.net] if needed.
    --
    Over 200 Gmail accounts! [retailretreat.com]

  • In other news... (Score:4, Funny)

    by Ironsides ( 739422 ) on Tuesday January 04, 2005 @01:50PM (#11255169) Homepage Journal
    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...
    • > > 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...

      "Can you hear me now?"
      "Yes."
      "Good. Now my record label can sue you!"

    • Details to follow...

      In a press conference, RIAA CEO Mitch Bainwol identified Samsung's new 500Mhz phone as "equivalent to 10 50MHz phones [slashdot.org]".

      "Clearly, Samsung is aiding pirates by providing them with the tools necessary to violate our copyrights. You might not think that a slow and dodgy cellphone can be used for piracy, but with today's technologies ... hey, all it takes is a couple of dedicated hackers to pull this off. And with a 500Mhz processor, well, it's pretty clear that this is an act of war ag

  • Missing Old Cell Phones/Plans (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Khomar ( 529552 ) on Tuesday January 04, 2005 @01:53PM (#11255208) Journal

    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?

    • My parents were complaining about this last week. For the last few years they've had a no frills 50 minute plan that cost them ~$10/month. Last month, they were informed that their plan is no longer being offered and when their contract ends at the end of the year, they would have to select a new plan. The lowest cost plan offered has now increased to ~$20/month.

      • Re:Missing Old Cell Phones/Plans (Score:4, Insightful)

        by ad0gg ( 594412 ) on Tuesday January 04, 2005 @02:05PM (#11255378)
        Tell them to buy prepaid service. Cell companies listen to their valuable customers, someone shelling out $10 a month isn't a valuable customer. People like my sister, and her friends who shell out $50 to $100 a month because they talk on their phones all time are the ones they listen too. They are also the people who send picture messages at 0.25 cents a pop and text messages at 0.10 cents a pop. Can't send picture messages without a camera. Can't sell my sister $2 ring tones unless the phone supports them. Ring tones is a billion dollar industry.
        • except prepaid minutes expire.

          So yeah, you could shell out 120$ to get a "years worth" [going by the OP] of service but the time expires often in under three months.

          Cell phones are largely just a huge scam. Rogers [in ontario they're a big comms provider] reported around 700 million dollars in PROFIT linky linky [rogers.com].

          That's because they rip you off seven ways from sunday.

          You have the

          - service plan
          - service fee
          - license fee
          - 911 access fee
          - roaming fee
          - text msg roaming fee
          - long distance call fee [isn't th
    • Just buy a prepaid one... most of those phones are barebones with no extras...
    • I agree. I don't want color - you can't see it outside in the sun because of the glare. I don't want a camera, I already have a good digital camera. I don't care about games. Pr0n looks crappy on the tiny screen, so internet access is unnecessary. Ditto for email. I rarely use text messaging. Just give me a small, cheap, and reliable phone that makes calls and has a good phone book (Nokia's is my favorite). Is that really too much to ask? I don't want a do-it-all phone, I just want a phone!

    • I know people have talked about this before, but why aren't the cell phone companies listening?

      Because as you say it yourself, you want to pay them LESS. It might still be good idea to follow your market if it's large enough, but obviuosly they don't think it is.

      • I am confused as to who you are referring to. There are cell phone makers and there are cellular sevice providers. The service providers lose money whenever anyone signs up because they pay the phone maker far more than they charge the consumer (who usually has to pay nothing at all). As far as the cell phone maker is concerned, it doesn't matter how much what they're selling costs as long as they make money.

        So, if a very cheap phone is released, the cell phone maker could charge 150% of the price, whi
    • 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.

      Amen to that. I would kill for simple plan, with a couple hundred minutes per month and basic cell phone with contact list and call log.

      After losing a cell phone I had for ages I avoided getting a new one for a few years until I moved to take a job and got the cheapest plan I could find from AT&
    • You may want to look into the Motorla V60 line. They're still being manufactured, they're tough as nails, and no-frills at all. Pretty cheap, too.

      But I agree, I think newer phones designed for basic functionality would do well. As it is, the last few phones I've owned have been too big, bloated, and blumsy to match the V60 in ease of use, but nowhere near functional and practical enough to replace a PDA. I'm tired of these half-functional phones, and would gladly jump at the opportunity for a simple phone

    • Re:Missing Old Cell Phones/Plans (Score:5, Insightful)

      by gunnk ( 463227 ) <gunnk.mail@fpg@unc@edu> on Tuesday January 04, 2005 @02:08PM (#11255429) Homepage
      The cell phone companies may be listening, but they don't care. Customers like you aren't worth anything to them. Competition between providers continues to force them to provide more and more airtime for less and less money. If all you want to do is talk on your phone they aren't going to make much profit off of you.

      The folks that use data services, SMS, buy games and custom ringtones, and send pics (or even better: video clips!) are where the money is.
      • The cell phone companies may be listening, but they don't care. Customers like you aren't worth anything to them. Competition between providers continues to force them to provide more and more airtime for less and less money. If all you want to do is talk on your phone they aren't going to make much profit off of you.

        Your point about where carriers make the most value is fine, but it's not fair to suffest this is the primary reason.

        It goes back to what you said... they don't care. They don't have to. Th

        • As a side effect of all this, the us is Third World when it comes to cell phone technology.

          You are so absolutely right. Actually, I was shocked when I saw a map of the US showing huge areas without any base stations for mobile phones at all, and the rest is splintered up between CDMA and GMS. And does routing SMS between different mobile phone providers work already?

          I mean, Europe has never been a technology leader (nor is today, and I'm saying this is as a European), but I was really surprised that the
    • ...why aren't the cell phone companies listening?

      They're too busy playing exciting racing games and listening to their MP3 collection. They can't hear the phone ringing.
    • Seems like mobile phones are about the only example of a market where Americans get a far worse deal than everybody else in the world. Here in the UK you can currently get a very good UMTS phone which does video calling and the lot for free, on a contract which gives you 500 minutes of calls to any network at any time of day, 20 minutes of video calls, 100 SMS messages, 20 MMS messages, and who knows what else, for FIVE POUNDS A MONTH. When it's that cheap, why wouldn't you want all the bells and whistles
      • The reason why 3 do deals that cheap is they're having a *really* hard time convincing anyone that video is worth the extra cost.

        They're hoping that getting everyone in for the first 3-6 months at a loss will get them used to the technology so they can pay later... not sure it's going to work, myself.

        Normal contracts start at around £15 a month for most providers... Prepay is much cheaper (unlike the US, prepay doesn't expire in this country, so if you only make £10 of calls in a year that's
    • 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!

      Amen, brotha! But don't dispair quite yet, you can still get such a deal--except there is a catch:

      * you have to be at the end of a 2 year or longer contract

      * you have to be fully paid--and may have to have a good payment history with the provider

      * not requirement, but you get "bonus points" for being a "good customer" in general--ie.
    • At least here in australia [smh.com.au]. The market here seems to be splitting between "high fashion" and budget markets.

    • Luddites (Score:4, Insightful)

      by rbeattie ( 43187 ) <russ@russellbeattie.com> on Tuesday January 04, 2005 @08:54PM (#11259749) Homepage

      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

  • No Surprise, really (Score:3, Interesting)

    by hey ( 83763 ) on Tuesday January 04, 2005 @01:54PM (#11255226) Journal
    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
    • 3GB disk? Too small for most music collections

      Remember iPod mini? 4GB is too small for most music collections.
    • 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...]

      You know, I do both. I can't exactly pull out my 5MP digital camera in the middle of a store and take a photo of a random item and upload it to my gallery immediately. I can with my mobile camera though.

      I use my 5MP camera for stuff when I'm geocaching or out with the finace tour

    • Re:oh great [redundant post.... redundant comment] (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Bertie ( 87778 ) on Tuesday January 04, 2005 @02:21PM (#11255620) Homepage
      It's like those old Vidal Sassoon adverts. "Take two bottles into the shower? Not me. Now I have a crappy shampoo and a crappy conditioner in one! Just watch me flick my shiny hair from side to side, and imagine I haven't spent the last two hours in a stylist's chair!"

      If you really want to cart around a phone, an MP3 player and a camera at all times, go ahead. Right now your phone might not be able to do a job as good as all three, but it's good enough for some, and by the looks of what Samsung are up to, it won't be long before they're good enough for a lot of people. I mean, Casio have a phone out in Japan with autofocus.

      It wasn't so long ago that you'd have needed a room full of all sorts of equipment to play music, watch videos, play games, etc. Now all you need is a decent PC. That's progress.
      • The problem is the lack of choice.

        You think Samsung wants to continue selling basic cheapy phones where they make slim profits? Why should I pay for their R&D when the "new bonus value added gourmet quality" additions are things I really don't want?

        If I go to pick up a cell phone I should be able to pick up a "featureless" phone. I [the customer] should have a choice in the matter.

        Sadly the choice now is "cell phone, no cell phone"

        Tom
        • I take your point, but I'm a bit surprised that there's nothing available wherever you are that fits the bill for you. I'm pretty sure dead basic Nokias and what-have-you are still on sale here in the UK, with just annual cosmetic tweaks to keep them looking fresh. I'm not sure how many contracts offer them, though, because I suppose the market's pretty small - everybody seems to want to be able to show off the latest gadget-laden phones, not just teenagers and geeks.

          As fot toughened phones, maybe there
      • "It wasn't so long ago that you'd have needed a room full of all sorts of equipment to play music, watch videos, play games, etc. Now all you need is a decent PC. That's progress."

        I dont think you understand. That guy has a band in the living room, a projector in his basement, and an arcade in the kitchen. You know, because it's more convenient.
    • This is why I purchased the leather case for my phone. It slips over it and provides what looks like an insignificant amount of padding, but in informal "drop tests" my friend's similar phone with no padding bounces, rattles, and spins on contact with the ground. Mine will sort of thud, rock up a bit, and drop.

      The tiny extra bit of padding is all it needs to sustain 0 damage on falls from normal heights, it my experience.
    • You have a good point. A hard drive (of any size) is the last thing I want in a cell phone.

    • Nokia (Score:2)

      by khrtt ( 701691 )
      Nuff said:-). I dropped my old 3360 out of a 3rd story windows, and then played hockey with it, and it still works.

    • Yet another set of phones that amalgamates more crappy functionality and drives the cost up for the user who simply wants a phone...

      I can go get a phone for free, and get unlimited evenings and weekends plus hundreds of daytime minutes from nearly any cell carrier I can think of for under 20 bucks. Is this still not cheap enough for you? Get a pay-as-you-go phone.

      3GB disk? Too small for most music collections.

      You know, not everyone wants to carry around their whole music collection. For some people bei

  • Great... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by grahamsz ( 150076 ) on Tuesday January 04, 2005 @01:56PM (#11255259) Homepage Journal
    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.
    • I don't for sure. How many times have I seen iPods connected to the big stereo at a friend's house, playing music while some mobile phones rang repeatedly when more friends called. What to do with a phone-integrated music player, leave the room to talk? Turn down the music? Disconnect that thing from the stereo, go out of the crowded, noisy area to a room where you can talk and be understood?

      Not exactly an out-of-world scenario, eh? I wouldn't want to talk with loud music playing in the background, much
      • I treat my phone like crap. If i cant find it in a pile of clothes i'll just pull it out by the charger. I'll throw it across the room if it's a call for someone else....

        i'd never dream of doing that with an ipod.
    • The "convergence" is great, but battery life is definitely a prime consideration (or should be!).

      I think many folks just assume the battery life is "good enough" when they're wowed by all the flashy new features in the latest phones, and only discover how miserable it can be after the fact.

      I've got a Kyocera 7135 "Smartphone" myself, and owned the older black and white Kyocera "Smartphone" before it. The old one was a "brick" to carry around, compared to most phones, but I will say one thing; they got so
  • Gee, looks like they got some free word of mouth advertising *AND* market research. Pretty smart.
  • 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.
    • Music phone will takeoff if they allow you to download songs over the air. With a ipod you can only buy songs while at your computer, but with a cell phone you can do it wherever, there's going to be a lot of impulse buying.
      • This is a very good point. If the telcos set up an easy interface to buy songs with the phone, and a reasonable price, it would be absolutely huge. People who get nostalgic for an old song they left at home might re-purchase that song while on their car trip... If it's just $1/song or something reasonable, I bet a lot of people would buy (and re-buy) songs all the time.

        This makes so much sense that I'm now wondering whether the next iPod feature will be a phone - plus some license deal with a major wirele

    • "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)."

      We currently refer to any such device as an "iPod Killer." Maybe you didn't get the memo.
  • is that these new tech gadgets also connect two people on a wireless network after punching in some sort of code on the built-in numeric keypad, allowing them to use a sort of "voice chat".

    Hopefully this feature won't interfere with the hard drive MP3 player and the 2 megapixel camera.

  • Sell Order (Score:2, Funny)

    by ackthpt ( 218170 )
    Samsung phones have appeared online including three that used Windows Mobile.

    "Bob? Sell all my Samsung stock, fast!"

  • Beware Verizon! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Dragoon412 ( 648209 ) on Tuesday January 04, 2005 @02:03PM (#11255358)
    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.
    • Verizon's 2 year upgrade plan for phones gives you a better deal on phones then new customers. You get $150 credit on any phone. I got my phone for $20 less than the lowest advertised priced.
  • ... oh dear now everybody knows what cool phones we will se selling shortly. Oh my, maybe they even delay the purchase of a new phone to get one of our cool ones. And these may not even include all the features that are mentioned in the powerpoint slides, because hey, they are unofficial. WE never released these, they were stolen. Oh my lord, all this free advertising we now get, it isn't fair...

  • Oh no! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by HarveyBirdman ( 627248 ) on Tuesday January 04, 2005 @02:09PM (#11255434) Journal
    Gosh! The super secret super squirrel plans for another phone loaded with useless shit slipped out the barn door. Unleash the ED-209 [tinyurl.com] suqadron! Leave no hard drive unturned! We shall hunt down the thieves and, um, oh...

    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!

  • About Time (Score:5, Interesting)

    by halo8 ( 445515 ) on Tuesday January 04, 2005 @02:11PM (#11255454)
    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
    • 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.

      ...Samsung's target demographic. Note the subject's text-message inspired spelling and desire for still more electronic toys. Welcome to the 21st Century, brought to you by Far East manufacturing and effective marketing departments.

      --
      not a

    • Re:About Time (Score:4, Funny)

      by TheGavster ( 774657 ) on Tuesday January 04, 2005 @04:42PM (#11257373) Homepage
      hate taking my mp3 player, cellphone, pda, and ocasionaly camera with me. The first 3 i cant leave the house with.
      I presume you meant 'without', given the rest of the post.

      I can see needing a cellphone, if you have an always-on-call job or something, but seriously, are you incapable of leaving your music to pop down to the store? Do you really need a PDA everywhere you go? There's this wonderful invention, only been around for 2 or 3 millenia, called paper. You can jot a note, a list for the store, readable in direct sunlight, lasts on one charge for 50-100 years.

  • only 15% of customers use most of the features (Score:4, Insightful)

    by gelfling ( 6534 ) on Tuesday January 04, 2005 @02:12PM (#11255484) Homepage Journal
    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.
    • Do you really cary all that crap with you all the time? Do you really listen to MP3's and have a PDA in your pocket when your going to the grocery store and need to call home to figure out if its swiss or provolone cheese?

      Convergence smergence. It's a phone. I pay for cellular service that sucks ass (nextel) and a phone that can play games and do everything else it doesn't need to do very well.

      People aren't complaining becaus they don't want the features of these phones - they're complaining because the
      • do I carry all that crap around? most of the time 2 or three devices, or I carry one or two and leave the other in the car.

        Yes I'll admit that coverage and range are a problem. I'm Sprint PCS and I'm often in digital roaming or worse all over town which is a pain.

        Bluetooth? yeah whatever connects to the PC - I don't care, I don't care if it's a cable either. I don't care about Voip over cell. I would like to be able to connect the cell handset to my home landline service and use its connection with or wit
      • You're absolutely right - we share a common sense of priority - sadly the phone manufacturers do not... I've a good idea why not.

        A couple of years ago I splashed out on a Nokia 8310 having spent several years on the familiar treadmill where no phone would physically last a whole year. Flimsy designs left me with broken aerials; cracked screens and batteries which lost contact with the phone if they managed to retain charge for a whole day. In contrast the 8310 has proved a solid performer - it still reta
    • For the stated $25 a month you can get a plain jane prepaid candybar phone that gets calls and makes calls.

      Where?

      I've been trying to find a cheap low-power long-standby mono "it's just a damn phone" "bar" like my old Nokia 6100 forever. They don't seem to make them any more... at the very least they all have battery-eating color screens.

  • Leaked? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Lord Kano ( 13027 ) on Tuesday January 04, 2005 @02:15PM (#11255531) Homepage Journal
    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

  • Phone hardware specs (Score:4, Interesting)

    by WebCowboy ( 196209 ) on Tuesday January 04, 2005 @02:19PM (#11255587)
    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.
    • Once again for the slow ones:

      Mhz=!Performance

      Performance= IPC*Mhz

      In a phone, you would rather like few transistors->little ipc and make up with high clockspeed because of better idle power draw (few transistors->little leakage).

      I guess a 486 would still be faster overall compared to those cpus, even if they have 10times the MHz.
    • If it breaks or I lose it I have no functionality.

      Yeah...the same as with any other type of phone or technology.

      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

      So you use it as a PDA when you're not on the phone. Not everyone has constant phone calls to interrupt their PDAing.

      I only take pictures when I'm out somewhere interesting (on vacation, etc) so it seems pointless
      • Yeah...the same as with any other type of phone or technology.

        Yeah--except that I just can't make phone calls, and I still have a camera and PDA that DO work.

        So you use it as a PDA when you're not on the phone. Not everyone has constant phone calls to interrupt their PDAing.

        Not everyone, but I'm not everyone. There are times when I DO have constant cellphone calls. And oddly enough, the time that I am most likely to be using the PDA is...when I'm retrieving information to relay to a person I'm talki
    • I love my PDA Cell Phone. All of the devices it eliminated from my inventory are not missed. Only one unit to charge. (two of them if I use my Blue toothe headset)

      I have the audiovox 5600. I am not a windows lover, but i haven't seen a convergence item in any other OS, that has all of the features of this phone.

      I can't wait for the samsung prototypes.

      The issues that you mention above are not issues at all.

      I regularly use my phones as a PDA while talking. There is a thing call speakerphone, if you
    • Your arguments seem contrived. Yes, if your phone break, so breaks your pda, mp3 player and camera. Think about it the other way though, if you trip and fall and smash stuff in your jacket or on your belt, then you only have to replace one thing instead of 4 that might break all at the same time. Also, there's insurance on cell phones, none on the others.

      As for interrupting your calls, most of these phones have speakerphones and "driving modes". They also have headsets that can be used while using the
      • Think about it the other way though, if you trip and fall and smash stuff in your jacket or on your belt, then you only have to replace one thing instead of 4 that might break all at the same time. Also, there's insurance on cell phones, none on the others.

        1. I don't carry all four with me at all times. I generally have no need for more than two of those at once

        2. You can get insurance on anything you want. My insurance covers cell phones, laptops, PDAs and digital cameras. If I had an iPod that I rea
  • 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?

  • Not really a leak. (Score:3, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 04, 2005 @02:25PM (#11255667)
    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 [phonescoop.com]) 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 [phonescoop.com] about those Samsung phones (including at least one model number). Follow the "Full Story.." link in that article for the FCC filing.
  • Has anyone else seen the commercial with the two sitting outside eating lunch and the one is describing his new phone.. the description he gave almost fits to a T the Samsung "Thor" concept phone. And if I remember the commercial right.. even looks like it as well.

  • How many ways can you spell V-A-P-O-R-W-A-R-E? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Devlin-du-GEnie ( 512506 ) on Tuesday January 04, 2005 @02:55PM (#11256066)
    ... 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.

  • More features == More things to break (Score:5, Insightful)

    by alc6379 ( 832389 ) on Tuesday January 04, 2005 @03:20PM (#11256385)
    A few years ago, I got a little Nokia phone, I forget the model number of it. It was a little gray number, and it worked with my PDA through IrDA. And it made phone calls. It was one piece, no flippy-foldy parts, and it worked great for me. I even ran it over with a truck in the mud, and left it out in the snow for 3 days. The only way I found it was because somebody was calling me, and I heard it ringing out in the yard.

    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 had a Nokia like that, then my company changed carriers and replaced the fat, dumb, happy Nokia with the monochrome screen, no value-added features that I'd have to pay Verizon extra every month to actually use, and good enough battery life that I could forget to charge it for a week and it was still working...

      Now I have an LG flip-phone with a color screen, "Get It Now", and all kinds of features that ... "not only don't I want them, but I can't imagine anyone wanting them" (thank you William Gibson), a

  • ANYCALL (Score:3, Insightful)

    by paradesign ( 561561 ) on Tuesday January 04, 2005 @03:28PM (#11256469) Homepage
    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?

  • Windows Mobile 2003 (Score:3, Interesting)

    by ProfitElijah ( 144514 ) <elijah@atheist.com> on Tuesday January 04, 2005 @04:23PM (#11257115) Homepage

    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

    • Re:Windows Mobile 2003 (Score:3, Interesting)

      by argent ( 18001 )
      Another one that's simply wrong: it's a phone. It crashes. [...] 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.

      That matches my experience with the T-mobile Pocket PC. I've never before had a cellphone that crashed.

      Unfortunately, I've got another once since. Company phone, they changed service, and instead of the bog-simple Nokia "bar" with minimal features and good battery life (just the way I like it... it's
  • [ in my best AOL announcer voice...]
    You've got...cease and desist orders!

    By the time I saw the site, it looks like Samsung's lawyers can smell leaks as well as Apple lawyers! That's about as kean as a great white shark can smell seal blood--only they attourneys are not as kind.

    Note to self: Don't publish any internal documents from large corporations on web site.

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