The i640: Samsung's Follow-Up to The i600

[Mike Temporale]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='https://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/oet/cf/eas/reports/ViewExhibitReport.cfm?mode=Exhibits&RequestTimeout=500&calledFromFrame=N&application_id=437074&fcc_id=\'A3LSCHI640' target='_blank'>https://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/oet/cf/eas/reports/ViewExhibitReport.cfm?mode=Exhibits&RequestTimeout=500&calledFromFrame=N&application_id=437074&fcc_id=\'A3LSCHI640</a><br /><br /></div>It looks like Samsung is working hard on a followup to the popular i600. The i640 has a lot in common with the original i600. Both devices are a clam-shell design, CDMA, and both do not have Bluetooth. :( You can find all the info on the FCC website. The <a href="https://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/oet/forms/blobs/retrieve.cgi?attachment_id=471857&amp;native_or_pdf=pdf">user manual</a> has a couple pictures of the device, and a number of screen shots. Which, by the way, clearly show that the i640 will be running Windows Mobile 2003SE. Oh, and I think it's also pretty easy to see that this phone is going to show up on Verizon's network.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/images/Temporale-20041108-Samsungi640jpg.jpg" alt="User submitted image" title="User submitted image"/>

[Jerry Raia]

Was just discussing this over here http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6682

I can' believe its not going to have BT!!!! :crazyeyes:


And another thing...its ugly

[Mike Temporale]

Was just discussing this over here http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6682

Ya, I noticed that. But this thread has pictures and links to the FCC postings! :D

I can' believe its not going to have BT!!!! :crazyeyes:


And another thing...its ugly

I don't understand why any manufacturer would leave out Bluetooth in todays Smartphone world. It can't possibly add that much overhead.

And for the record, I agree... It's ugly. :!:

[Jerry Raia]

And for the record, I agree... It's ugly. :!:

Oh looks silly too, I wouldnt want to be buried with it.

Verizon has no sense of style at all. Besides that to come out with a smartphone in 2005 :?: that doesnt have BT is just bizarre.

Well the fact that it looks like an Edsel wont help it too much either 8)

But I bet the camera takes great pics, or are those things headlights?

[encece]

Odd that the screenshots of the phone itself are not of the Smartphone OS.

[Jerry Raia]

Odd that the screenshots of the phone itself are not of the Smartphone OS.

Yeah I noticed that too. What is that anyway?

[Mike Temporale]

Odd that the screenshots of the phone itself are not of the Smartphone OS.

I noticed that too, and almost wrote off this post until I scrolled down a couple pages in the user manual and saw the screen captures. :?

[encece]

Odd that the screenshots of the phone itself are not of the Smartphone OS.

Yeah I noticed that too. What is that anyway?

I'm not sure...but it does raise a bit of uncertainty...though like Mike said, the manual does give hope that it is indeed a MS Smartphone....but ya never know.

[Janak Parekh]

And to think I bought the i600 a week-and-a-half ago :cry: Figures.

FWIW, Samsung seems to hate Bluetooth. I think only one announced Samsung phone is scheduled to have Bluetooth out of the 100 or so that have been released in the US market.

--janak

[ARW]

It should definitely be running WM03SE. Perhaps the screen shown is of the app for playing back videos?

As for the looks, I'd agree that the two-tone color scheme is less than nice looking. On the other hand, the i640 doesn't look too bad.

I wonder why anyone would want to upgrade from an i600. For a camera? Perhaps. Bluetooth would have had me changing upon release, but I won't for a camera, nor would I for overpriced EV-DO.

[Mike Temporale]

it does raise a bit of uncertainty...

Here's a couple thoughts, 1) maybe the screen is showing a basic OS used for boot and testing of devices. or 2) this image is not the correct image of the phone. It could be a place holder. After all, the manual doesn't look finished.

[me]

Anyone know what happened to the other new smartphone Samsung was supposed to come out with? I believe the model number had 250 in it.

GSM, clamshell, with Bluetooth. Sure sounded a lot better than this one. (It is amazing that this new model is coming out without BT.)

Any news on that other new Samsung smartphone?

[encece]

it does raise a bit of uncertainty...

Here's a couple thoughts, 1) maybe the screen is showing a basic OS used for boot and testing of devices. or 2) this image is not the correct image of the phone. It could be a place holder. After all, the manual doesn't look finished.

I'd say the manual doesnt look finished!

... ...... .... ...... .... ....
..... .... ....... ...... .....

But then again...It reads just as good as most manuals anyway! :D

[encece]

Anyone know what happened to the other new smartphone Samsung was supposed to come out with? I believe the model number had 250 in it.

GSM, clamshell, with Bluetooth. Sure sounded a lot better than this one. (It is amazing that this new model is coming out without BT.)

Any news on that other new Samsung smartphone?

That was the SGH-i250.
Here were the specs from CEBIT last year:
- Tri Band 900/1800/1900
- Microsoft Smartphone 2003
- ROM 64MB / RAM 32MB
- Dual Colour LCD
- Java MIDP 2.0 Compatible
- Bluetooth
- Rotating Megapixel Camera with Flash
- Voice Recognition
- Mini SD

There are a few pics in this thread on Modaco:
http://smartphone.modaco.com/viewtopic.php?t=106213&highlight=i250

[encece]

Perhaps the screen shown is of the app for playing back videos?.

That could be true but the icon bar at the top of the screen is totally different as well.

[Jerry Raia]

And to think I bought the i600 a week-and-a-half ago :cry: Figures.

FWIW, Samsung seems to hate Bluetooth. I think only one announced Samsung phone is scheduled to have Bluetooth out of the 100 or so that have been released in the US market.

--janak

In view of what this thing seems to have and not have, I think you are better off with the i600. I owned one, it was a good phone especially after the 2003 upgrade.

[Janak Parekh]

In view of what this thing seems to have and not have, I think you are better off with the i600. I owned one, it was a good phone especially after the 2003 upgrade.
I'm not unhappy with the i600 per se, except for the average battery life. In fact, it's a very nice little device. But still, it's the "new thing comes out" remorse. ;)

--janak

[Kris Kumar]

it does raise a bit of uncertainty...

Here's a couple thoughts, 1) maybe the screen is showing a basic OS used for boot and testing of devices. or 2) this image is not the correct image of the phone. It could be a place holder. After all, the manual doesn't look finished.

I'd say the manual doesnt look finished!

... ...... .... ...... .... ....
..... .... ....... ...... .....

But then again...It reads just as good as most manuals anyway! :D


The manual is definitely NOT finished. Check out these two lines on the Page 7 (before the photos) in the manual.

The following pictures show the main elements of SCH-i645.
(Design can be changed later)

Design can be changed. :? And if you see the FCC external photos PDF.
https://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/oet/forms/blobs/retrieve.cgi?attachment_id=471844&native_or_pdf=pdf
The photo is different. It does not have the cheesy dual tone. Looks much nicer.

Well don't know which of the photos is true. My guess, the manual is not up to date. And the FCC photos show the reality.

But bottomline - No Bluetooth means that customers don't have to WORRY about BT configuration hassles or it's temperamental nature. :-) Verizon is sticking to its "Worry free guarantee".

[Jerry Raia]

In view of what this thing seems to have and not have, I think you are better off with the i600. I owned one, it was a good phone especially after the 2003 upgrade.
I'm not unhappy with the i600 per se, except for the average battery life. In fact, it's a very nice little device. But still, it's the "new thing comes out" remorse. ;)

--janak

Well yes, but you would have that issue no matter what you had. Thats why this is so much fun, there is always something new.

[Kris Kumar]

..... or are those things headlights?

:rotfl: :lol:

[Jerry Raia]

Well it does look like an Edsel :!:

[Phoenix]

I think there's some great hardware being made, and granted, not everything that comes to market is a winner... and with that in mind I have to say...

That is the most butt-ugly phone I've ever seen! :lol:

Good grief! Did they dig that thing up from the grave, or what?

[aristoBrat]

Even if it does come with BT, Verizon doesn't have a great track record of not mucking it up/disabling the cool profiles. :(

[Macguy59]

I'm . . . underwhelmed :( The Treo 650 is looking better all the time.

[Jerry Raia]

Yeah its pretty sad :cry:

[aristoBrat]

I'm . . . underwhelmed :( The Treo 650 is looking better all the time.
I can't wait to see a Treo w/ Windows Mobile OS! Talk about selling like hotcakes!

[Jerry Raia]

I'm . . . underwhelmed :( The Treo 650 is looking better all the time.
I can't wait to see a Treo w/ Windows Mobile OS! Talk about selling like hotcakes!

They are coming out with one?

[aristoBrat]

Nothing officially announced, just an analyst comment that they wouldn't be excluding Windows Mobile OS products in the future...

I love the form factor of the Treo. After using the HP iPAQ 6315 for a few days, I'd pretty much given up on PPC Phones....

[Jerry Raia]

I have to admit, if Treo did come out with a SmartPhone in that form......

I'd run out and buy it instantly...even if the ROM started with a "0" :multi:

[tcwatkins]

Looking at the screenshot of the home screen, it appears that the phone is EVDO. It has a "G" symbol (for 3G?) where the IX is at the top of the screen on the i600. Is it?

[PPCMD]

The BT was most likely left out at Verizon's request. I base this on the feeling that maybe Samsung didn't want to cripple it and Verizon couldn't get away with it. The BT in the V710 is great if you only want to connect to a headset.

[Jerry Raia]

Yeah I own the v710 as well as the MPx220. Both have limited BT functionality. :really mad:

[MajesticNJ]

Saw this on news.com tonight:

Samsung to sell U.S. high-speed phone early next
By Reuters
http://news.com.com/Samsung+to+sell+U.S.+high-speed+phone+early+next/2100-1039_3-5449406.html

Story last modified November 11, 2004, 7:50 PM PST



Samsung Electronics plans to introduce a mobile telephone with high-speed Internet links in the United States in the first quarter of next year, an executive said Thursday.
Peter Skarzynski, a Samsung vice president for mobile phones, said the phone would be based on EV-DO, a high-speed technology that Verizon Wireless and Sprint are building into their networks.

Verizon Wireless, the No. 2 U.S. mobile provider, has said it would begin to market high-speed services to consumers when its first EV-DO phones go on sale next year but it has not yet revealed a launch date or named its device suppliers. Verizon now uses EV-DO technology in a number of U.S. markets to deliver the Internet to business customers via laptop computers at speeds similar to home broadband links.

Skarzynski was speaking at a event where Samsung displayed several phones it plans to deliver to U.S. consumers in the coming months. He declined to give specific details about Samsung's first high-speed U.S. phone and did not say which service provider would sell the product.

Samsung showed two EV-DO phones with computer features that it expects to launch in the United States around the middle of 2005.

Its i730 EV-DO phone has a large screen and a keyboard that users can slide out from inside the phone when they want to type messages or e-mails. The i640 EV-DO phone has a keyboard that can be attached to the phone when the user wants to type.

Samsung also unveiled its p735 phone, which has a high resolution camera and music player and will go on sale by year end at the fourth-biggest U.S. provider T-Mobile USA--owned by Germany's Deutsche Telekom.

It expects to sell its RL-A760 phone to Sprint also by year end. This phone has walkie-talkie style capability and voice recognition technology that will let users dial phone numbers by speaking the name of the person they want to call.

Samsung plans to sell another phone in the first quarter aimed at people who use their phones to play video games. The n330 has a screen that can be made bigger for game playing and can be set to vibrate at key points during a game.

It did not reveal prices.

Samsung is the world's third largest mobile phone maker but is only about 500,000 phone sales away from taking the No. 2 position from Motorola, analysts say.

It is expected to provide about 20 percent of the roughly 100 million mobile handsets to be sold in the United States this year.

Story Copyright © 2004 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.



Copyright ©1995-2004 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved.

[aristoBrat]

Verizon Wireless, the No. 2 U.S. mobile provider
"the No. 2 U.S. mobile provider" 8O :D

[maxnix]

Verizon Wireless, the No. 2 U.S. mobile provider
"the No. 2 U.S. mobile provider" 8O :D
Ever since the great merger of AT&amp;T with Cingular.

640 is no camera phone for corporate types who are not permitted such devices.

EV-DO is a big thing for those who have to stay connected to data remotely. The i64x should be a great modem for laptops and such.

[cortez]

I have to admit, if Treo did come out with a SmartPhone in that form......

I'd run out and buy it instantly...even if the ROM started with a "0" :multi:

Jerry - my man, you're on a roll.... :lol:

i'd buy the treo with WM 03 if the ROM value was NULL!!! the form factor (particularly the screen and input capabilities) is perfect for me...

[Jerry Raia]

It really is a great looking device and I have only heard good things about it. :)

[maxnix]

It really is a great looking device and I have only heard good things about it. :)
Doubt the Treos have enough hardware to run Windows Mobile