Samsung Readies Palm Phone, GPS Phone for 1X Networks
By Joseph Palenchar -- TWICE, 2/25/2002
Dallas — Samsung Telecom took to the Winter Olympics to showcase some of its newest phones, including its first Palm-based smartphone for CDMA 1X networks and an expanded assortment of gpsOne-equipped 1X phones.
The display follows a CES display of other new phones, including Samsung's first GPS-equipped 1X phone, said senior VP Pete Skarzynski.
In its exhibit area in Salt Lake Olympic Square, the company showed the i330, the 1X follow-up to the i300 Palm-based CDMA 2G PDA-phone. The touchscreen-equipped i330, due midyear to carriers, also features gpsOne position-location technology, infrared port, speakerphone option and polyphonic midi ringer for more realistic musical ring tones.
Additional details were unavailable.
The i330 was displayed beside the A310, a 1X clamshell-style phone with gpeOne. It likely is due midyear to carriers.
At CES, the company showed two new 1X phones and a 2G CDMA phone, all trimodes, said Skarzynski. They are the following:
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N370, a 1X bar-style phone due the first quarter in silver.
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A400, a 2G model with gpsOne and six-line 128x128-pixel four-color grayscale LCD display.
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And the A460, the company's first gpsOne-equipped 1X phone, due to carriers in the second quarter. It's a dual-LCD clamshell model with games, personal information manager, voice-activated dialing, SMS, seven-line LCD screen and vibrating alert. Other features include microbrowser, 250-entry phone book and high-fidelity MIDI ringers.
The CES and Olympics launches expand Samsung's 1X selection to five models and bring Samsung's selection of gpsOne phones to five, three of which will be 1X models, said Skarzynski. "Going forward from the second half, the majority of new CDMA phones will combine 1X and gpsOne," he added.
As for the NEXiO, a 1X PDA/phone based on the PocketPC operating systems, Skarzynski claimed it is still to be determined if Samsung Telecom America or Samsung Electronics America will market the device.
Other new models shown at CES included the R225, a 900/1900MHz GSM/GPRS model with AOL Instant Messaging and WAP browser. It's due in the first quarter. Other features include blue-backlit four-line LCD, two-way SMS, picture and ring tone downloading, 100-entry phone book, PC synchronization, and two customizable and three downloadable ring tones.
During the Olympics, Samsung also launched TV ads under an updated brand-positioning campaign, Skarzynski said.
The campaign, developed by consulting company LPK, posits Samsung Telecom as offering innovative technology, intuitive navigation, and image-conscious designs — three attributes that Skarzynski said have been part of the company's marketing strategy for four years.
The previous campaign, called Simply Samsung, incorporated some of these elements, said Skarzynski.
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