Whatever one's persuasion regarding the landscape-vs-portrait debate (blog me into the portrait camp), let's face it--Samsung's SCH-i760 comes up short as successor to the ix30 throne. A Prince Charles of PPCs, if you will. Even with Crossbow, the i760 is undeniably obsolete before release.

A bit thinner than the stock ix30, but the needed fat battery will bulk it up for many. The antenna disappears--and with it, perhaps a bar--say 2-3dB?--of RF (those at war with antennas tend to think they serve no purpose...).

The 1.3mp cam (sans flash) is insulting; the Samsung/ARM CPU at 400MHz (whether or not 'better', clock-for-clock, than the Intel/Marvell XScale PXA270 Bulverde at 520MHz) is not likely the equal of what we have; and there's zero forward progress in memory architecture or graphics.

So we upgrade to WM6 (which does not require a "new" device), and we pick up B/T 2.0 and 802.11g, both of which are old school. Hopefully, EvDO Rev A is in the box, but this isn't assured. And along the way, we trade SD for microSD, a non-starter for which we didn't ask.

All in all, the i760 may be the next device for many, but it's far from what we want, far from what we need, far from what Samsung could have built, and far from state-of-the-art. Here's a bet: Unlike the venerable ix30 platform, the effective lifecycle of the i760 device will not make nine months.

To illustrate what's wrong in part, have a look at Toshiba's snappy new G900 (as usual, for Euro GSM): 3" WVGA (800x480px), biometric scanner, etc.--
http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/0...a-tytn-killer/

Samsung could have, and should have, pushed the envelope. Instead, it hatched yet another vanilla cone, altogether lacking in leadership. (An angled-key numpad on the deck is not leadership.) For VZW's "Lou" and legions of suits, the i760 will be a marquee event. For mobile warriors, the i760 might, if it drops before June, squeak through Thanksgiving.

Now, while we're gathered together, will the real ix30 successor please stand up?!

--BAM