Sprint cancels Samsung i550 Palmphone
By Peter Rojas 
posted February 5th 2005 4:48PM
posted February 5th 2005 4:48PM
We'd already given up on this oft-delayed cellphone a loooooong time ago, but SprintPCSInfo says that Sprint has finally decided that they're never going to carry the SPH-i550, Samsung's Palm-powered clamshell with an OLED external display, 32MB of RAM, an SDIO expansion card slot, and a built-in one megapixel digital camera. The reason? Sprint wanted to focus its resources on selling another Palm-powered smartphone—the Treo 650.
PalmOne seems to have nothing but detractors these days, but this story seems to say a lot about the power of the Treo in smart phone market.
Rats. Except for the lack of Bluetooth, I'd *far* rather have a Samsung i550 than a Treo 650, because it's much smaller (assuming it's the same size as the i500) and, more importantly, Samsung actually knows how to build a reliable phone (I've gone through 7 Treo 600s -- the d*mn things keep dying, and the latest one they gave me the Menu key doesn't work right out of the box).
I knew this was a forgone conculsion, but I'm saddened to hear it's official, even if switching wasn't a forgone conclusion. I'm still waitng for a descent replacement for my kyocera 7135 - and there is *nothing* I see that excited me other than the i550.
I'm not fond of candy-bar/treo style phones. I'm really a clamshell kind of person. So seeing that my only option is now officially dead, can anyone suggest a good replacement taking into account these features as must-have: (except where noted)
1. Clamshell
2. Palm based
3. Tri-band w/analog
4. sd-expansion (or at least 64MB built-in)
5. works on verizon (preferred, as most calls I make are currently free on verizon and I don't want to change my number, but this is not necessary, now that number-portablility is a reality, and as long as I don't need a plan that costs more than $40-$50 on the new carrier)
6. smaller than the 7135/higher-res screen/faster/newer than palm 4 os (ie. a reason the phone would be better than the 7135, worth uprading)
the i550, hit every one of these except verizon - but with the $5/mo roaming on verizon's larger network, I would have seriously considered upgrading - so now what do I look forward to?
There's nothing "official" about this announcement. SprintPCSInfo is not Sprint, it's just another rumor site.
Ill say it over and over
Flip/Clam Shell Phones>>>>>Brick phones/candy bar, or whatever whatever other name you have for either
Aargh!! Well, silly me - I didn't realize that. I guess I can hope the rumors are untrue in that case...
I wouldn't classify SprintPCSInfo as a rumor site. Their admin hat, knows a WHOLE lot about sprint, its almost unnatural. Never have a seen an incorrect post on the 'news' section. The only rumors that float around on SPCInfo are in the message boards and even then Hat comes in an clarifies that its only speculation or rumor. Never does he do that with the main page.
Poor poor i550. I'll miss you,
-Jody-
It's sad that if you want a Palm OS based phone, you are forced to buy into the candy bar form factor, that is to say that no clamshell palm os phone is made anymore or currently offered. Why the carriers don't allow competition to the treo line of Palm phones is besides me, I can't figure it out. Why not introduce a clamshell Palm OS phone, and let the market determine what it wants, not sales and marketing executives. Release the samsung, and we'll find out how many people really wanted modern palm os phones, but wanted clamshells more, the same people, like myself, that the treo 650 was simply not an option for. The writing's on the wall that Palm is dying but for the treo, and I can't help but think that this would not be the case if they allowed some competition for it.
Hey kids look up the QDA 700 on ebay or url below. It's from singapore cut and paste the url to see it. http://pd.palmdubai.net/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=6 ore and is palm based and GSM. you
Hey kids look up the QDA 700 on ebay or url below. It's from singapore cut and paste the url to see it. http://pd.palmdubai.net/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=6 ore and is palm based and GSM. you
The Kyocera 7135, while 2 year old technology, still beats the current competition. At $250, it might be worth your while to buy a couple to tide you over until the competition catches up!
The Kyocera 7135, while 2 year old technology, still beats the current competition. At $250, it might be worth your while to buy a couple to tide you over until the competition catches up!
For anyone doubting, I can confirm this news. A month ago at CES, a reliable Samsung rep told me this was probably going to happen. It's in our CES report (scroll to bottom):
http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/ces_2005/index.php?p=sa4
It's a shame. It was such a nice phone...
I think this is a pretty huge development for the PalmOS world (not in a good way, obviously). Yes, the Treo is great, but you can't sustain a whole platform on just one successful device...
Well, I called Sprint PCS this morning . . . according to the person I spoke to, the i550 is due in March, price $550. She found it in there system . . .
Dammit!!
Does anyone at Sprint have a clue?
I have and LOVE the i500. It's a solid little phone, and the perfect size.
I was hoping to replace it when the time comes with a Palm 5 based clamshell. Like the i550.
I like the clamshell form factor. I don't want to hold a little brick to my ear. I like grafitti. I don't want a sh!tty little keyboard. And I don't want to use a windows os on my phone, i.e. the i600.
The treo line does nothing for me. I hope the rumors are wrong, but I'm not hopeful.
I'll make this little gem last for years if I have to, I can't imagine using any other smart phone currently available.
I'm with Dan. As a Verizon customer and a Mac user, I've been looking for the Samsung to come over for a while, but they will only release the WinPhone version. I know you can hack the phone to work on the network, but then you won't have access to the data network. Is anyone at Verizon listening?
Sprint deserves to be purchased considering their marketing department has their heads up their collective *sses. As painful to own as the Kyocera 7135 often is, I will have to endure it a while longer until the pendulum shifts again.
Out with the Treo 650 and get the Samsung i550 to Sprint ASAP!
I had a Treo 650 and returned it - too many bugs, too many hard resets to count. The Kyocera 7135 is okay competition but it doesn't have the high resolution screen which I need for some anatomy programs. I have been waiting, and waiting, and waiting...for the Samsung i550 to come out. Until then, Sprint is not meeting my needs phone/pda-wise. The i500 has Palm OS, but no HR screen and no SD slot, and the i600 - does have the HR screen and the expansion slot - but it uses Windows Pocket PC type OS. All of my programs are Palm OS based and I'm not about to switch over as many of them I have had to pay for. The clamshell form is much safer for the screen. I used to have the Treo 600 and when I had it in the back pocket of my scrubs it actually would become moist with my own sweat from running around in the E.R., and I never used a holster on my waistband as in the E.R. there would be too many opportunities for a big thing like the Treo to fall off. The Samsung i550 would meet my needs so well, and I'm sure so many others. Sprint needs to get with the program here and offer their customers a CHOICE.
This news is upseting. If another provider picks the i550 up I am dropping sprint selling my i500 and going with the other provider for the i550. I would not need anytime to decide.
STARTED THINKING ABOUT IT AGAIN.
WHY!!!!!!!!!!!! I HOPE IT ISNT TRUE. I WANT MY MP3 MUSIC BACK LIKE THEY HAD IN THE UPROAR. THE I550 HAD IT ALL PALM, MP3, CLAMSHELL, CAMARA....
:-(
This news is upseting. If another provider picks the i550 up I am dropping sprint selling my i500 and going with the other provider for the i550. I would not need anytime to decide.
STARTED THINKING ABOUT IT AGAIN.
WHY!!!!!!!!!!!! I HOPE IT ISNT TRUE. I WANT MY MP3 MUSIC BACK LIKE THEY HAD IN THE UPROAR. THE I550 HAD IT ALL PALM, MP3, CLAMSHELL, CAMARA....
:-(
The i500 is THE BEST Convergence device on the market. I've been looking forward to the i550 for some time, would have bought one as soon as they hit the stores. Sprint is shooting themselves in the foot. Typical corporate America arrogance; force a substandard product on the consumer, and then wonder why they lose market share. DUH!
I have been waiting for four months for this phone to release, so this is extremely disappointing. I have been eligible for my $150 new phone discount for about 6 months now, and have been waiting for the i550 because it has every feature that I want in a phone. I hope that Sprint releases this phone, despite this recent information. I hope they realize that they will be disappointing many current and potential customers if they don't release it. I've been a Sprint customer for over 5 years now, but if Verizon releases the i550, I'll drop Sprint like a hot rock.
I cannot understand Sprint's foolish logic on cancelling the I550. Forget merging with Verizon, Nextel or any other carrier to build market share. This one silly move is already building a legion of switchers who will be moving to Cingular or any other carrier with the guts to deliver what customer's want. I was particularly disgusted to read that Sprint felt the market for Palm phones was already served with the release of the Treo 650 and there wasn't a need to release another Palm smartphone. I mean come-on, Sprint has like 2 dozen flip phones from samsung and sanyo with little or no differentiation between them. And the Treo, what a big disappointment with all of its technical flaws and Palmone goof-ups.
I was at the Samsung Experience store in Manhattan the other day, and they had the i550 on display, right next to the i500. I got to play with it for a long time, and all I can say is WOW!!! This phone is excellent. Then I asked the "highly uninformed" sales rep, and she wasn't sure about the p[rice, so she went to check with someone. When she came back, she said the phone is "delayed", and should come out later in the spring. I really REALLY hope it's delayed and not cancelled, as it really seemed to be the perfect Smartphone, with everything I needed right there in front of me. The hi-res screen was unbelievable! And a photo/video camera, plus SD card slot, Palm 5.x and Graffiti 2... the list goes on and on.
PLEASE DON'T CANCEL THE i550!!!!!
I too, have been waiting for this phone for the last 1 1/2 years. Currently, I have Verizon but I will switch to whomever releases this phone. I have been waiting what seems like "forever" and now I hear that it has been canceled. PLEASE DON'T CANCEL THIS PHONE! Lord only knows when the next descent phone will come out. I have had the Treo, but I am not a fan of this particular phone. TOO many problems and really don't like holding the "BRICK" next to my ears when talking.
If not the I550 what and when will be the next phone similar to it?
looks like the last i550 in existence might have been sold on ebay on June 8:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=64355&item=5780848703&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW
oh well.