FCC Blesses the Samsung i607 3G Smartphone for Cingular

[Jerry Raia]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.phonearena.com/htmls/FCC-blesses-Samsung-i607-3G-Smartphone-for-Cingular-article-a_1609.html' target='_blank'>http://www.phonearena.com/htmls/FCC-blesses-Samsung-i607-3G-Smartphone-for-Cingular-article-a_1609.html</a><br /><br /></div><i>"The SGH-i607 Blackjack is the successor of the i320 and Samsung’s answer to the Motorola Q – a slim smartphone on Windows Mobile with landscape QVGA display and full QWERTY keyboard, featuring 3G high-speed data – it is quad-band GSM and dual-band UMTS/HSDPA phone for the US, whose 3G frequencies it supports. We’ve already seen live images of the phone, and Cingular roadmap showing it, but as it is now approved by the FCC, the biggest mobile phone carrier in the States may launch it really soon!"</i><br /><br /> <img src="http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/images/Jerry-Samsung-SGH-i607.jpg" alt="User submitted image" title="User submitted image"/> <br /><br />Look at this! Maybe the first full keyboard Smartphone for Cingular. This is good. It makes me wonder if Motorola may have been a bit myopic in only letting Verizon carry the Q first. We shall see.

[txcas]

This is my next phone. I played with a Motorola Q this week and I love the form factor. UMTS/HSDPA on a smartphone with a keyboard is what I have been waiting for. Too bad Cingular never releases anything on time, so I think we will have to wait quite a bit for this one.

[Mike Temporale]

Very minor key changes over the i320. I like the layout on this device a little better. I also think this device looks a little longer than the i320. Regardless, this should be a huge hit. It's a great device. :D

[gvaldivia]

dose anyone have any idea or time frame on a release date?

[stevew]

This will be my next phone also. Can't take the regular cellphone keys anymore for data entry. Thought Cingular may get the HP 6900 but haven't seen it yet.

[Mike Temporale]

dose anyone have any idea or time frame on a release date?

Usually it's a couple months after FCC approval.

[cortez]

hopefully this phone will have a higher capacity battery (than my i320), especially considering that it has WiFi. nonetheless, i'll be tempted to sell my i320 for this puppy! :D

[gvaldivia]

yea thats what i figured...man i was really hoping sooner like this month

[bnycastro]

dose anyone have any idea or time frame on a release date?

Usually it's a couple months after FCC approval.Was talking to someone from SAMSUNG Philippines yesterday, she said they plan to release this in Manila by the end of the year [hopefully the proposed schedule holds true]... she even offered me a discount, if I got the unit through her... no pricing was mentioned though... this phone looks great! I just hope the battery life is acceptable [with a device this thin the battery may not be as good]. I do hope that by the time this device is out there would be 4Gb transflash cards already hehehe.

[dstrauss]

hopefully this phone will have a higher capacity battery (than my i320), especially considering that it has WiFi. nonetheless, i'll be tempted to sell my i320 for this puppy! :D

Where did you see the i607 has WiFi? I know the specs for the Euro Blackjack say WiFi, but I haven't seen it mentioned in the Cingular version/

[cortez]

hopefully this phone will have a higher capacity battery (than my i320), especially considering that it has WiFi. nonetheless, i'll be tempted to sell my i320 for this puppy! :D

Where did you see the i607 has WiFi? I know the specs for the Euro Blackjack say WiFi, but I haven't seen it mentioned in the Cingular version/

you're right... i was thinking about the Euro version.. wishful thinking on my part.

[dstrauss]

Leave it to Cingular to screw up a good deal. I wonder how much an unlocked Euro Blackjack will cost me... 8O

[andydempsey]

Aw crap. No wifi? Why did they have to screw up such a nice phone.

I need to switch from my 8125 that is on the fritz with its touch screen. The 607 seemed a good choice, but now appears to be much less so.

[Rocco Augusto]

Aw crap. No wifi? Why did they have to screw up such a nice phone.

I need to switch from my 8125 that is on the fritz with its touch screen. The 607 seemed a good choice, but now appears to be much less so.

I really wouldn't call it a screw up. Even with a bigger battery, the phone is still a remake of the i320 and from what everyone is reporting, the phone doesn't have the best battery life. If Cingular removed the WiFi feature, it would have been for one of three reasons.

1) Cut down cost of the handset.
2) To encourage people to pay for data.
3) WiFi drained the battery to fast.

Honestly, I'm going to go with option three here. The whole reason the Cingular 3125 was released as late as it was is because Cingular wanted HTC to add more RAM and a bigger battery. Of all the carriers I have worked for, Cingular is the most vigorous with testing their handsets. If they don't preform to a certain standard then they are either cut or modified, as we saw with the 3125.

Some people might think its to get you to buy data and I wouldn't be to sure about that. Look at the 8125, that had WiFi and the data package was twice as much as the Smartphone package.

All in all, I never used the WiFi feature on my T-Mobile SDA. It was there, I loved that it was there, but it was a pain to use so why bother? :)

[saru7755]

is the 3G on the i600 "the euro spec" compatible with North America? ? ?

[Mike Temporale]

is the 3G on the i600 "the euro spec" compatible with North America? ? ?

In the i607? it's a global setup - Quad Band with Dual Band UMTS, if I recall correctly.

[saru7755]

is the 3G on the i600 "the euro spec" compatible with North America? ? ?

In the i607? it's a global setup - Quad Band with Dual Band UMTS, if I recall correctly.

what about the i600? as interested in getting the unlocked one that has the 2nd camera &amp; wifi..

[Kris Kumar]

I am so happy that Samsung put a quad-band radio in this unit. :D

[maxnix]

Constantly deployed keyboards are so dumb, especially with BT headsets and voice driven menus.

I prefer thicker devices with slide out keyboards, preferably from the bottom.

[datageek]

I hope to get a test unit soon. So far I hear the delay is due to battery life and a few bugs. More information to follow.

[Kris Kumar]

I hope to get a test unit soon. So far I hear the delay is due to battery life and a few bugs. More information to follow.

Cool, we would like to hear about it.

[datageek]

Got it today, so far so good, no issues getting it connected to the corporate email and browsing is a blast with the 3G network. Battery life is poor; seems to run down fairly quick.

[Jerry Raia]

How quick are we talking here?

[Kris Kumar]

Got it today, so far so good, no issues getting it connected to the corporate email and browsing is a blast with the 3G network. Battery life is poor; seems to run down fairly quick.

We need more info...

- how is the keyboard
- any special apps
- battery life in days or half days as the case may be
- accessories..does it have extra battery

[datageek]

The phone shipped to me with a stereo headset, USB cable and standard AC charger. I picked up a car charger to keep it alive all day. It ships with all the standard Smart Phone apps; in addtition I find that it has a few that the HTC 3135 I was previously using doesn't. Picsel Viewer, RSS reader for real time feeds, the standard Cingular Music, Video apps are also included.

Speed tests from toast.net resulted in 400-700kbps down and 200kbps up. I plan on tethering the unit to the PC tomorrow and testing through-put as a portable modem. It is supposed to support simultaneous voice and data when in the Cingular 3G markets. Tomorrow will tell.

As for real battery life I got almost a full day out of it, including at least 60 minutes of talk time and full syncronization of email through-out the day.

[Jerry Raia]

Sounds impressive so far :)

[saru7755]

As for real battery life I got almost a full day out of it, including at least 60 minutes of talk time and full syncronization of email through-out the day.

pretty good, have some questions though..

-Whats the processor on this phone?

-if its not he same as the i320 "416MHz", how fast is it? any lag? How fast is the shutter on the Camera?

Thanks :D

[datageek]

Well today we learned it will ship with a spare battery and car charger. The processor is the ARM926ej OMAP1710. Price is still not firm but I hear will be under $200 with appropriate service contract.

[sosnow]

I was at my local Cingular store today and they had a working blackjack demo. I am currently testing a Dash ( thinking about switching to t-mobile) and got to hold and use both units together.
The Dash feels better in my hand and I did not like the distance between each key on the blackjack, but that is my issue.
I tried opening the same apps at the same time and the blackjack was faster. Not much but still faster.
The screens seemed the same. The Dash may have been alittle brighter.
I also placed a call on each phone and the Dash sounded better, including on speaker.
The blackjack was also faster on connecting and downloading form the internet.
I am still up in the air on WIFI. The Dash has it and the Blackjack does not. But do I need WIFI?
I am looking from some reasons on why I need to have WIFI? Please comment

The salesperson told me I could by a blackjack on Nov 20th and a huge marketing campaigne is scheduled. Watch out "Q"

To Dash or To Blackjack? That is the question....looks like this will be a great holiday season after all!!!

[Mike Temporale]

The salesperson told me I could by a blackjack on Nov 20th and a huge marketing campaigne is scheduled. Watch out "Q"

:shocked!: Oh, that's not too far off. Cool. :)

Between the Dash and the BlackJack, I would say BJ. However, it's still pretty unknown. Once it comes out it could be a different story. I prefer Samsungs voice quality and speed. If the BJ has better battery life than the i320, then I would go for it. :D

[Kris Kumar]

One thing I like about Dash when compared with other QWERTY devices is the battery life. Definitely not like the 3125/2125 but it is better than the Q and I am sure better than the BJ. (Provided WiFi is turned off on the Dash).

[Pete Paxton]

However the Dash's wifi has a power management so if you are not using it, it goes into standby mode. My battery life even with wifi on has been great.

[Kris Kumar]

However the Dash's wifi has a power management so if you are not using it, it goes into standby mode. My battery life even with wifi on has been great.

The power management feature is pretty neat. Pretty seamless.

I still haven't put the WiFi to a lot of use to understand the battery drain.