Samsung to launch SGH-730i i-mode slider in Europe

Just as O2 plans to scrap the service

18 July 2007 11:31 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

A day after reports come in suggesting that O2 is to scrap the mobile internet i-mode service due to, among other things, lack of decent handsets, it is reported that Samsung is to launch the i-mode compatible SGH-730i in Europe.

The SGH-730i is a capable Samsung slider that is rumoured for a French and Italian launch very soon, with other Euro countries to get the phone soon after.

The SGH-730i is a tri-band GSM handset that boasts a 262k colour TFT display, a 2-megapixel camera and 80MB of internal memory backed up by a microSD memory card slot.

If the handset does come to the UK, then the i-mode functionality means that O2 i-mode subscribers would have another phone to choose from - only 12 or so i-mode capable handsets are currently available - one of the reasons cited for the service's lack of success.