The Samsung SPH-i500 was a Palm OS-based smartphone manufactured by Samsung Electronics. It was launched in 2003. It was later discontinued in August 2005. It was marketed in the United States for use on Sprint's mobile phone network.
The CDMA phone has a clamshell-style design, with the 160×240 pixel color display on the top half, and the Graffiti area and telephone keypad on the bottom half. It operates like a standard color Palm OS device, but several hard (external) and software-imbedded buttons launch the 'phone' application, which manages calls.
Once a call is connected, it is possible to switch back to another application. Despite the Graffiti interface, the device could not send text messages, though it could receive them.
The phone shipped with an extra battery and extra stylus. The supplied power cable could be used as a travel charger or to plug into the included cradle, which could charge the phone and an extra battery simultaneously.
Despite two batteries, the phone needed to be plugged in regularly. Swapping charged batteries would eventually result in a phone reset - a complete loss of user data.