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An updated version of Samsung Electronics' Palm OS-based cellular telephone has made its debut in the U.S. market.

The SPH-i330 is thinner, packs improved features, and has a more stylish design than its SPH-i300 predecessor. Samsung offered a peek at the new combo device at Comdex in November.

It is also the second new Palm OS-based cellular handset to become available in less than a week after Kyocera Wireless began selling its 7135 phone through Alltel last week.

Prices, Specs

The Samsung handset is available first in the U.S. though Sprint PCS Group. Its radio is a dual-band, tri-mode model offering compatibility with Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) at both 800MHz and 1900MHz and the analog AMPS network. It and is compatible with Sprint's CDMA2000 1x data service, which offers packet-based data transmission at speeds of up to 144kbps.

Sprint PCS is selling the SPH-i330 phone for $500, a $100 premium on the SPH-i300.

Samsung provided no details of when the handset could be available through other carriers or in other markets although its CDMA base means it is unlikely to appear in all but a handful of countries.

At the center of the phone, which looks more like a personal digital assistant (PDA) than a cellular handset, is a large 256-color LCD with 160-by-240 pixel resolution. South Korea's Samsung has built 16MB of memory into the handset, which is double that of its predecessor.

Measuring 5 inches by 2.2 inches by .7 inches, it is approximately the same length and width as its predecessor but about 20 percent thinner. It is also a little lighter at 5.7 ounces. A Lithium Ion battery provides enough power for 2.5 hours of talk time, which is less than the 4 hours of talk time offered by the SPH-i300.

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Its arrival in the retail market has been awaited for almost a year. Samsung first unveiled the handset at the Expo Comm Korea exhibition in Seoul in February. At the time, the company promised the handset in April however that date was postponed under September and then put back again until late 2002.

In addition to the SPH-i330, Samsung has a number of other PDA-phone combination devices under development.

They include two dual-band, tri-mode models expected to be available through Sprint. The SPH-i500 is a Palm OS-based clamshell design handset and the SPH-i700 is based on Microsoft's Pocket PC operating system.

At the recent Telecom Asia exhibition in Hong Kong, Samsung showed for the first time its M400 handset. Based on Pocket PC 2002 Phone Edition, the device runs on CDMA 2000 1x Evolution Data Only (EvDO) networks, which are in commercial service in South Korea and offer data transmission at speeds of up to 2.4M bps. Features of the phone, which is based on an Intel XScale processor running at 400MHz, include a display capable of showing 65,000 colors, voice recognition and a text-to-speech engine, a TV tuner and Global Positioning System support.

Samsung is also developing a handset based on Microsoft's Windows Powered Smartphone platform. That operating system is targeted at handsets that are more like traditional cell phones and offers a limited number of PDA-like functions. The SCH-i600 is expected to be available through Verizon Communications

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