For the more geeky people, here is a summarized specifications of the Samsung SGH-i550.

Network
- HSDPA (3.6Mbps download and 384kbps upload)
- Quad-band (900, 1800, 1900, 2100 MHz)
- EDGE
- GPRS Class 10

Operating System
- Symbian Series 60

Dimnesion
- 115 x 53 x 13.8 mm
- 109 g

Battery
- Lithium Ion at 1200 mAh
- Standby time up to 450 hours
- Talk time up to 8 hours

Memory
- 150MB internal memory
- Expandable up to 4GB Micro SD

Connectivity
- Bluetooth technology Version 2.0 with EDR, A2DP and AVRCP
- USB 2.0 high speed
- WiFi enabled

Display
- 2.6″ screen
- 262144 color TFT (240 * 320)

Camera
- 3.2 mega pixel
- 9x digital zoom
- Auto Focus
- Flash LED

Video
- Recording time up to 3 hours
- Playback time up to 4.5 hours
- MPEG4, H.263 and Real One format.

Music
- MP3, AAC, AAC+, e-AAC, WMA format supportable
- Background music play

Features
- Organizer
- Quick Office
- Adobe Reader

- Java MIDP 2.0
- EMS / MMS support
- SyncML DS 1.1.2
- OMA DRM v2.0
- FM Radio
- e-Mail (POP3, IMAP4, SMTP, SSL and TLS)
- Instant Messaging
- PC STudio v7.1
- Offline mode
- Hands-free speaker phone
- Voice Memo
- Voice Mail
- Call Logs (10 missed calls, 10 received calls and 20 dialed numbers)
- Speed dial
- Themes

And that is the official specification released by Samsung Mobile.

Looking at the specifications, I would say they are pretty standard and what one would expect from a high end mobile phone these days. With a price tag of RM1499, if the phone doesn’t have these much of features, then it doesn’t fit the price tag. In my opinion, the ones that make them stand out would be the WiFi, 3.2 mega pixel camera, 2.6″ TFT LCD display and last but not least, Symbian Series 60 as its operating system.

Symbian Series 60 is currently the operating system used in most high end (which also spells expensive) mobile phone. The pioneer would be Nokia’s N-series, the earliest series of mobile phones to adopt and implement S60 as their operating system. Although the open source software is owned by all the mobile phone manufacturer, it is Nokia that is holding the biggest stake in the company.

The advantage of using S60 as the operating system is that end users are able to install as many third party applications as they want, making their mobile phone as fun, as efficient, and as powerful as the end users want it to be. Being an open source program, developers around the world are constantly creating SIS applications for Symbian phones with different objectives, functions and purposes.

However, nothing is perfect, so is the S60 operating system. Coming from an end user who used N70 that runs on S60 for the past two years, I can safely say that after a long period of usage and with many applications installed, the system will be slowed down at a significant speed. It is somewhat similar to a normal computer trying to run Windows XP with insufficient memory. In Layman’s term, lag.

Yet, it has been two years and there were many newer versions and patches that have been released to fix this aging problem, I can only hope that the problem is partially solved as I believed there’s no solution to this problem. Why? It’s like saying Microsoft Windows will never have blue screen of death, which you and I know that its impossible.

I always have doubt with Samsung’s mobile phones because of its really lousy operating system. When I found out that Samsung Mobile has finally decided to jump onto the wagon to use S60 as its operating system, I was nothing but pleased and glad. Not only S60 is a powerful operating system, the user friendliness that Nokia’s phone is famous for can also be found on Samsung’s phone now. It pushes Samsung’s phone to be right on par with Nokia’s N-series and it boils down who has the better specifications.

Yes, with the S60, its going to open up many possibilities for the upcoming models and even perhaps, change the future of Samsung mobile. That pretty much summarized the specification of the Samsung SGH-i550 as I shall leave the rest for another post.

The Samsung SGH-i550 series :
The Kick Off
The Outlook

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It was only after two days later when I finally got to sit down and have a closer look at the phone. No thanks to the Sunday’s assignment at A Famosa Golf Resort and assignment due on the following Monday.

This is Samsung SGH-i550.

Samsumg Mobile has targeted the phone for design seekers, efficiency seekers, fun seekers and also price seekers. I only agree with three out of the four, as the recommended retail price of the phone is currently at RM1,599. With such hefty price tag, that’s definitely not a phone for a budget user, if you ask me.

The phone, albeit is for both male and female city dwellers, it is the males who might be interested with the phone due to the its shape and colour. Unlike the usual designs of most Samsung phone, the SGH-i550 doesn’t have the sexy curves or shinny silver coating. Instead, it is generally black in colour with brown on the sides and keypads. It is simple yet has a sophisticated look and at the same time, oozing out charisma and class of its own.

At 53mm wide, 13.8mm thick and 115mm long, the phone is reasonably sized and would fit most palms without much problem. Most importantly, it doesn’t weigh a tonne. In fact, it might be even lighter than my current phone as it is only 109g. Looking at the size of the phone, it is quite impressive that they managed to pack in a 2.6″ TFT display for maximum viewing pleasure.

At the back is the 3.0 mega pixel camera with auto focus feature. There’s a little shinny plate to see your reflection for your own cam-whoring convenience. It has a built in flash, definitely not a Xenon flash, but I assume it should be powerful enough (than a conventional LED light) to light up dim lit areas for picture takings. I shall explore the camera feature at a later time.

On the left side, you have the micro SD slot, which is expandable up to 4GB. For your information, it also has 150MB internal memory. You also have the volume bottom, sligthly above the micro SD slot. The camera shortcut key and the charger / USB port are both on the right hand side of the phone. For those who demands better sound quality for their earphones, you have a 3.5mm jack on the top of the phone, next to the power button as well. That’s definitely a bonus!

A 3G video call mini camera resides on the front panel, right next to the speaker. The keypad, thin rectangular shaped, is very responsive and doesn’t require much force to press. The shape makes text messaging a breeze as you punch away the alphanumeric quickly.

Right in the middle of the keypad / phone is a track ball, emitting a really cool looking blue light, as if its the heart of the phone (like IronMan’s). When it’s charging, it’s red in colour.

Instead of the ever problematic joy stick and the flat surfaced joy pad, Samsumg Mobile has decided to put in track ball for easier navigation and scrolling. Rather than pressing or pushing, all you have to do is glide your fingers across the track ball and your cursor would move accordingly. Like our computer’s mouse, you can set the sensitivity of the track ball.

Outlook wise, I would say its pretty safe. Nothing too funky, nothing too old school, nothing too drastic, nothing too boring, it has struck a balance between all the elements to appeal potential users from all range. Moreover, the fact that I dislike the idea of flipping, twisting, rotating, shaking or whatever-ing the phone just to reach the key pad and other functions, this phone has stood out in terms of design. It looks plain and simple, but for a guy, it is definitely appealing.

The Samsung SGH-i550 series :
The Kick Off

P/S : To get amazing deals on cheap cell phone plans, the Internet can be a valuable resource. A cell phone company often has a lot of various plans and phones to choose from, so read very carefully before you sign up for prepaid cell phones or contacts!

It was late evening when I came back from class and received an email from the editor, Kashminder Singh of Mobile World, informing that I was one of the 16 bloggers invited by Mobile World and Samsung Mobile to take part in their phone program.

I should have taken the picture when I first got the bag. Now, the picture looks so crumpled up. My bad.

The 16 bloggers are Jazlin Ernida, Muhammad Norizwan, David Cheong, Abner Lim, John Ling, Ng Jun Yan, Praveen, Visithra, Amy Lai, Kugan, Muzaffar Mustapa, Vincent Chow, Ellie Chee, Jolene, Lydia Teh and myself.

Group photo contributed by Jolene.

Looking at the names, I only know Jolene personally, saw the name Lydia Teh somewhere before, realized Muzaffar Mustapa is Nuffnang’s August Featured Blogger and read a few David’s (Royal Shortness) pings at Project Petaling Street. As for the rest, I didn’t know their existence until the event. Shame of myself, really.

Correct me if I am wrong, most of the bloggers in the list don’t ping PPS and probably are not that active in the blogging community / scene. It wouldn’t be very offensive if I assume that we are the lesser known bloggers (except for a few ones, of course) compared to the mainstream celebrity bloggers in Malaysia, right? Some of the bloggers are even just a few months old, I mean, their blogs.

Now, that being said, I am truly grateful that Mobile World and Samsung Mobile actually dared to be bold and had the courage to select us instead of the more well known and established bloggers. Seriously, all these while, it was the already famous one gets even more famous and the less popular ones continue to envy them. Hence, kudos to the organizers for taking the road less taken and hopefully, with this bold move, others would follow suit and give all bloggers in the community a chance to experience something out of the blue.

We would be loaned either a Samsung SGH-i450 or Samsung SGH-i550 for a month to abuse use and blog about it, with no strings attached. To top it off, negative comments about the phone are allowed (Probably, not recommended, I think.). Obviously, I got the SGH-i550.

The kick off event was held at Izzi Kuala Lumpur, where we would meet the teams from both Mobile World and Samsung Mobile and also the other bloggers. Of course, there are the usual speeches by the management people of Mobile World and Samsung Mobile before proceeding with a briefing session about the phone. On going are three competitions, best post, highest traffic and most people the phone was showed to. I doubt I would win any, so, I shall not elaborate on it. Looking at the pictures, I think its time for me to seriously consider to get an external flash for my camera. Bad pictures.

We were given a goodies bag as well. Two magazines, a round shaped (Yes, round!) playing cards, a DVD and some funky items.

I didn’t pay attention to the CD case at first, thinking it would be some promotion CDs with less useful informations inside. However, upon taking a closer look, its freaking Beyonce’s B’Day Deluxe Edition DVD!

Now, I am a rather huge Beyonce fan and I have always wanted to buy this DVD but was reluctant to do so because of the price. Man, this is just so OMG! Well, not surprising as Beyonce was the ambassador for one of their mobile phones. Now, for the people at Samsung Mobile, I wonder you guys can give me her posters. Oh please? Haha!

Well, that was it, about the kick off event. There will be multiple posts about the phone itself in the upcoming weeks. Of course, there will be my usual food / life posts, if I have any which currently, I don’t. So, stay tune!

P/S : To get awesome prices on prepaid cell phones, the net can be a good source of information. A cell phone company usually has a lot of various phones and plans to pick from, so read very carefully before you sign up for wireless plans or contacts!