Samsung's M8000 WiBro phone out on the town
By Ryan Block 
posted Dec 23rd 2005 10:35AM
posted Dec 23rd 2005 10:35AM
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posted Dec 23rd 2005 10:35AM
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THAT IS ONE KICK @$$ FONE DAMN
Hi folks,
You said "Yes, we know this phone will never, ever make it to the US" but don't forget one litle thing you are read all over the world by all kind of people and it's good to know that someoen cares about gadgets from all over the world
From Portugal, Paulo
Anyone else find this phone and its brother the i730 to be useless in terms of keyboard use? The keys are not soft and it feels unbalanced when its slid open.
that is my DREAM phone.....slider with QWERTY.....US phones SUCK
"WiBro"? Sounds like something Kramer and Mr. Costanza dreamed up when the Manziere tanked.
Note especially the dual cameras, a 1.3mp one for stills on back and a 300k one on front for videoconferencing.
Regarding phones not being released in the U.S. I know we miss out on the best stuff. Why is that? I mean, I'm sure U.S. providers don't say to themselves, "no we're not going to carry this because it's just too good". I suppose it has something to do with standards (WiBro not offered in U.S?), but we could sure use an i730+ with a camera and integrated VOIP. Actually I guess that's the catch too, right. Providers don't want to offer VOIP, right?
I just want to get folks' opinions on this.
There are several reasons that phones like this don't make it out to the US. One major factor is cost, Americans are cheap and don't want to pay money for there phone. But in the Asian markets families will spend hundreds of dollars on phones a year, especially on phone that offer broadband connections for their long mass-transit commutes to and from work or school.
Another major reason is that US providers don't gamble on technologies. WiBro is still in the process of having its standard ratified.
Thats just wrong to taunt us with this right before christmas.
So, in all honesty, what keeps these groovy phones from making it to the
American market? Is the Korean cell phone network that different from ours?
(I'm sure this is an obvious yes, but just in case: what's the dealio?)
With such a huge amount of cell phone technology out there being missed by
America, why isn't there an up-n-comer provider out there that supports
these types of phones making a name (and network) for themselves?
Maybe the real question to ask is: who's responsible for this ban/hold
up/moratorium on coolness? Stingy phone manufacturers? US Government
regulations? Surely, not a lack of American consumer enthusiasm!!! Cause I
know there's about three cell phones on any given Engadget page that I want
to buy at any given time.
Java Junky
Sprint/Nextell signed a deal with KT Wibro.Wibro is being launched in many countries in 2006 including the Olympics--Worldcup---You will see Wibro in the US within 1 year
Wibro is a mobile broadband, which means you will be able to use internet while you are in a moving car up to 60 miles/hour.
You will be able to use the service in spring of 2006
in major cities in Korea.
This phone operates on the IEEE 802.16e protocol, the NEWLY FCC RATIFIED standard for WiMAX (called WiBRO other places) standard. This explains the 2400Kbs data rate, as the 802.16e is limited in channel bandwidth to roughly that rate, while 802.16d offers up to 72Mbs/sec for the "fixed" version. We are deploying a network now that will allow these phone users to do anything allowable in that bandwith which brings to mind... VoIP, internet, AND TV, most likely with automatic transition from VoIP to GPRS for cellular communication.