Samsung's new SCH-i730 is a major improvement over the older Samsung i700. The most visible change is the slide-down QWERTY thumb keyboard, for e-mail and other text entry duties. Less visible, but perhaps more important is the enhanced wireless power built into the device. The i730 has a built-in EVDO/1xRTT capable mobile phone as well as integrated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capability.
The i730 ships with an AC charger that plugs directly into the i730, or into the USB desk cradle that folds to easily fit in your Pocket. The cradle not only recharges your i730, it simultaneously charges a second high-capacity battery that comes with the unit. The extended battery is great to bring along with you if you use the battery-draining Wi-Fi capability. Unfortunately I wasnt able to carry out battery run time testing in time for the article deadline.
The device ships with a carrying case in the increasingly popular belt clip style, with a plastic snap holder that allows the device to be clipped to your belt in with the screen facing in toward the body for protection. Samsung also includes a second stylus in the package.
Fig. 1: The PalmOS Treo 650 (left) next to the Samsung i730.
The PalmOS-based competitor to this is the new Treo 650. Fig. 1 shows the Treo 650 and the Samsung i730 side by side. Although the i730 is slightly thicker, it feels great in the hand. The screen resolution of the i730 (240 x 320 pixels) is less than the Treo (320 x 320), however the i730 displayed my Web blog in better detail. The Treo has a great form factor, but the hidden keyboard of the i730 really gives it a WOW factor. I love the fact that the i730 gives me choices for doing input with the QWERTY thumb keyboard or by writing on the touch screen using the powerful handwriting recognition capability, which isn't available on the Treo.
Built-in software
The device is based on Microsoft's Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition software for the Pocket PC Phone Edition. This suite includes the Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition OS and Pocket versions of Outlook, Word, Excel, Internet Explorer, and Windows Media Player 10. In addition, it includes a Phone Dialer to interface with the phone technology, a variety of configuration utilities, and a few other apps. A user-installable version of Microsoft's desktop PC synchronization program ActiveSync is found on the Companion CD.
SRS WOW XT lets you fine tune the i730s audio.
In addition to the standard software from Microsoft, the i730 comes with SRS WOW XT, an application that noticeably improves the audio on the device using its SRS 3D Effect, Focus, and TruBass settings. You can access the SRS feature directly from an icon at the bottom of the Today Screen. Also contributing to the enriched audio experience is the amazingly loud, clear-sounding audio / phone speakers on the back of the device.
Samsung added a number of cool applications to the i730, including a TV/VCR remote controller (top), Ringtone manager (middle), and Launcher (bottom).
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