Sprint Cancels Samsung i550 Smartphone

Posted By: Ryan Monday, February 7, 2005 9:32:51 AM

According to new information the long delayed Sprint i550 Palm OS 5 clamshell smartphone will not be released anytime soon.

SprintPCS Info is reporting that multiple sources claim the Samsung i550 is cancelled. The reason cited is that Sprint intends to focus on sales of the palmOne Treo 650.

The Samsung i550 gained FCC approval in April 2004. It is a Palm OS 5.2 smartphone which has a a high resolution screen and exterior OLED color display. The phone portion is a CDMA Tri-Mode Dual Band Analog/PCS phone. It would likely be targeted for use on the US Sprint network. It has megapixel digital camera with a flash, an SD memory expansion slot, voice recorder and eternal mp3 playback controls.

Link via Engadget.

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Haji To Shirei

vesther @ 2/7/2005 1:05:44 PM #

This move cuts down the smartphone variety Sprint PCS has to offer--from a Palm OS Standfield--I'd rather have a high-quality smartphone rather than something that is of inferior quality.

Haji To Shirei--What a Disgrace in Japanese.

RE: Haji To Shirei

LiveFaith @ 2/7/2005 3:45:46 PM #

Why Japanese?

Sprint is USA. Samsung is South Korea.

Pat Horne; www.churchoflivingfaith.com

RE: Haji To Shirei

vesther @ 2/7/2005 7:24:31 PM #

I had to say Haji To Shirei because what Samsung is doing is a really big disgrace to the Palm OS Community. I also directed my Haji To Shirei to Sprint PCS for putting all their energy to just one Palm OS Device and the rest of their smartphone energy on Windows Mobile (AAAH!!!) smartphones. The cancellation of the Samsung SCH-i550 really restricts the Palm OS Variety on Sprint's part, and hurts freedom of choice.

Powered by Palm OS since March 2002

RE: Haji To Shirei

otter @ 2/8/2005 12:20:06 AM #

I too would rather have a high-quality smartphone than something of inferior quality. But instead I got a Treo 650. There were rumors awhile back that the i550 was vaporware. I guess the rumors were true....

I saw this one coming a mile away

hkklife @ 2/7/2005 1:22:57 PM #

It's been painfully obvious that Samsung has never had its heard in its pitiful line of Palm OS-based smartphones. Whenever the original 66mhz Dragonball one launched late and with no SD slot, I knew it was a lost cause. Samsung is not like Sony--they will not keep chipping away at a product or segment of the market until they make inroads. If it doesn't meet with initial success and acceptance, then they are out of the game and on to the Next Big Thing.

It's a shame that both P1 and Sprint feel compelled to put all of their eggs in the Treo 650 basket. It's a nice unit, sure, but NOT worth the $ and still has a number of glaring flaws that have not been rectified (No, a free 128mb SD card doesn't count!)

I wish Verizon could somehow deviate slightly from their stringent policy to at least get a few more smartphones out faster. I wonder if Samsung'll try to shop this one to Verizon?

My guess for why this decision REALLY happened is that Sprint doesn't want to invest a ton of $ into new handhsets until all of the details are worked out for migrating at least some of the Nextel users into the Sprint fold.

Also, I wonder if this a harbinger of a clamshell Treo to come later this year from P1?? Hmmmm.

RE: I saw this one coming a mile away

jasondeno @ 2/7/2005 3:00:36 PM #

I had a clamshell Treo. It was the Treo 270. Unfortunatly, the clam kept falling off! I went thru three of them.

RE: I saw this one coming a mile away

mikecane @ 2/7/2005 5:32:39 PM #

>>>Unfortunatly, the clam kept falling off!

ROTFLMAO!

Too Bad

Puppy @ 2/7/2005 3:23:01 PM #

Too bad. Assuming it's a good phone, I like the design of that more than the Treo, and would be much more likly to get one. Of course, these "smart phones" always cost more than buying a high end PDA and phone, and are always the equivalents of low end PDAs.

Sprint

TwinTurbo @ 2/7/2005 6:25:45 PM #

The only thing I didn't like about the Samsung Palm phones from Sprint was that you couldn't download any firmware updates. You were forced to go to a Sprint store to get the upgrade and many locations weren't setup to do it. It was really annoying. Other than that, I thought they made some decent phones.

Samsung & Palm OS

temp_user @ 2/7/2005 6:41:57 PM #

I really don't understand what is Samsung strategy for Palm OS!

Palmsource claims Samsung is working on Cobalt 6.1! This is the thing I don't really understand, if Samsung now produces a great PDA/Phone based on cobalt 6.1, they could steal Palmone’s business easily, so what are they waiting for? Why, as a palm OS licensee, hasn't Samsung taken Palm OS seriously considering it's huge customer base?

RE: Samsung & Palm OS

rogerkang @ 2/7/2005 8:04:33 PM #

Like the article suggests, perhaps it is Sprint that is mainly at fault for canceling this phone due to their wanting to focus on the Treo650? I don't think we can blame Samsung for this one....why should they make a phone for Sprint if Sprint doesn't intend to sell it?

I played with the Samsung Palm flip phone (CDMA version)in Korea long before it came out here (this was years ago). There are many phones that Samsung makes that I'd love to see here. Unfortunately, making the phone we all want doesn't always work out in the end because of all the work that has to go on between the carrier (in this case Sprint) and manufacturer...

What happened to its predecessor?

Masamune @ 2/8/2005 9:04:09 AM #

I know that the Samsung IGH-530 was debuted at the Athens 2004 Olympics and that a few have been appearing on eBay. Are these ever going to make an appearence in sunny Blighty?

crap

csdmmnt @ 2/9/2005 1:43:57 PM #

... this was the phone I wanted. Waited since first reported.

Cancelling Sprint account.

Leaving Palm OS.

Going Cingular most likely.

Going Windows SmartPhone 2003 OS.

Stupid moves but no other option is no other option.

I can not stand holding a tablet to my head to talk to, can not stand open face devices, can not stand thumb keyboards, and can not stand Treo design.

For me the only thing missing from the Samsung SPH-i550 is Bluetooth and/or Wi-Fi but I can do without either one happily.

Seize the moment!