Comments on: Samsung Launching i539 Smartphone in China

Yes, Samsung's past models have typically used the extra space for phone specific info such as the signal strength and voicemail notification etc. So it's a 320x320 with some extra space.

Nice idea but very unlikely.

As for Samsung, it's not only Palm OS that's been cursed with vapourware. I'm also starting to become a regular at allaboutsymbian.com and Samsung has promised no less than 3 different Symbian smartphones, all of which have failed to materialise.

The thing that really bugs me is that the SGH-i530 was released in very small numbers to guests of Athens Olympics Comittee. a couple of which have been doing the rounds on eBay for some £350 ($650). This is a crime as the phones themselves look pretty damn good. (sigh)

VoR - even GSM didn't get the SGH-i530, except in very, very limited numbers. Here's a snide short story I put up about Samsung on allaboutsymbian:

Once upon a time, there was a mobile phone manufacturer. And everyone was very happy with the phones he made, becuase they were very stylish and looked cool. Then the mobile phone manufacturer looked at PDAs and jealousy set in, because they were so much cooler and could do more than a standard phone ever could. So the manufacturer went to each of the big OS companies (Symbian, Palm & Windows) and was allowed to start making smartphones. Then things took a turn for the worse. Other manufacturers started copying his designs and so paranoia set in, meaning that no sooner had he developed a phone, he had to abandon it in case someone was working along similar lines, which would cost him his unique style. The first casulty was the SGH-i530 - a Palm smartphone which looked the nuts but never got released. The D700, D710 & 720 Symbian phones soon followed. In the end, all the manufacturer had was a Windows smartphone which was the same piece of **** all his rivals produced.

Is this story going to have happy ending - I doubt it.

I called Sprint last week and no one I spoke to had ever heard of the SPH-i550 (no surprise there) but even if I somehow "accidentally" come up with one, they say I wouldn't be able to use it on their network since they wouldn't recognize the ESN. GSM with its SIM cards is looking more and more attractive every day...

For now I'll stick with my T608 and gloat over having a rare (but buggy as he11) Bluetooth phone that actually works on Sprint. It shouldn't have to be this way, but I've hoarded a few T608 away, just in case Sprint NEVER brings out another decent Bluetooth phone.

Sprint ALREADY turned down the phone even though it already has FCC approval. There's a petition now trying to get them to release it.