The
Samsung Galaxy
Samsung Galaxy (, stylised as SΛMSUNG Galaxy since 2015 (except Japan where it omits the Samsung branding), previously stylised as Samsung GALAXY; abbreviated as SG) is a series of computing and mobile computing devices that are designed, m ...
Spica, also known as Samsung Spica, Samsung GT-I5700, Samsung Galaxy Lite and Samsung Galaxy Portal, is a
smartphone
A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...
manufactured by
Samsung
The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...
that uses the open source
Android operating system. The phone is positioned below the
Samsung Galaxy (original). Even though some of its features like the camera resolution, storage and data connection speeds are lower than the i7500, its processor's clock speed is much higher at 800 MHz. It is succeeded by the
Samsung Galaxy 3
The Samsung Galaxy 3, also known as the Samsung Galaxy Apollo, Samsung Galaxy Mini in Italy, or Samsung Galaxy 580 in Hong Kong, is a smartphone manufactured by Samsung that runs the open source Android operating system. Announced and released ...
.
Features
The Galaxy Spica is a
3G smartphone, offering quad-band
GSM
The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a standard developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to describe the protocols for second-generation ( 2G) digital cellular networks used by mobile devices such ...
and announced with two-band
HSDPA
High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) is an amalgamation of two mobile protocols—High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) and High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA)—that extends and improves the performance of existing 3G mobile telecommunic ...
(900/2100) at 3.6Mbit/s. The phone features a 3.2-inch
LCD capacitive
touch screen
A touchscreen or touch screen is the assembly of both an input ('touch panel') and output ('display') device. The touch panel is normally layered on the top of an electronic visual display of an information processing system. The display is ofte ...
, a 3.2
megapixel
In digital imaging, a pixel (abbreviated px), pel, or picture element is the smallest addressable element in a raster image, or the smallest point in an all points addressable display device.
In most digital display devices, pixels are the sm ...
autofocus camera, and a digital compass. The i5700 has a standard 3.5mm headphone jack and is equipped with DNSe 2.0.
Software-wise, the Galaxy Spica offers a suite of Mobile Google services, including Google Search,
Gmail
Gmail is a free email service provided by Google. As of 2019, it had 1.5 billion active users worldwide. A user typically accesses Gmail in a web browser or the official mobile app. Google also supports the use of email clients via the POP and ...
,
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
, Google Calendar, and Google Talk. The phone's
GPS
The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite sy ...
enables
Google Maps
Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panoramic views of streets ( Street View), real-time traffic conditions, and rou ...
features such as My Location,
Google Latitude
Google Latitude was a location-aware feature of Google Maps, developed by Google as a successor to its earlier SMS-based service Dodgeball. Latitude allowed a mobile phone user to allow certain people to view their current location. Via their o ...
, and
Street View. It also supports
MP3
MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...
,
AAC (including
iTunes Plus downloads),
WMA audio, and
H.264
Advanced Video Coding (AVC), also referred to as H.264 or MPEG-4 Part 10, is a video compression standard based on block-oriented, motion-compensated coding. It is by far the most commonly used format for the recording, compression, and distr ...
video. The phone is also capable of playing DivX and Xvid coded content which makes it the first Android phone that supports this feature.
Availability
The phone was available in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
,
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...
and
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...
. The i5700 is Samsung's second Android-based handset for Europe. The phone was released in December 2009 in
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
and is released in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
on the
Rogers Communications
Rogers Communications Inc. is a Canadian communications and media company operating primarily in the fields of wireless communications, cable television, telephony and Internet, with significant additional telecommunications and mass media ass ...
network.
Software
The Samsung Galaxy Spica has received an update to
Android 2.1
Android Eclair is a codename of the Android (operating system), Android mobile operating system developed by Google, the fifth operating system for Android and the second major release of Android. Eclair spans the versions 2.0.x and 2.1. Unveiled ...
Eclair as of February 2010. Some phone vendors, such as Three and
T-Mobile
T-Mobile is the brand name used by some of the mobile communications subsidiaries of the German telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom AG in the Czech Republic ( T-Mobile Czech Republic), Poland ( T-Mobile Polska), the United States (T-Mobil ...
in the UK, have started shipping the phone with 2.1 Eclair preloaded.
As of May 2010, phones have started to sell in
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
and
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
with the 2.1 Eclair update preloaded.
The only official method for updating the Spica is via Samsung's PC Studio software and not, unlike others, via
OTA.
It is not possible to update Branded phones in this way. In this case, the phones needs to be updated by an official Samsung Partner.
However, unsupported methods are available using a combination of third-party software and a range of available firmware from
Android 1.5 Cupcake to alpha versions of
Android 2.2 Froyo,
Android 2.3 Gingerbread and
Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.
CyanogenMod 9 Unofficial Builds
/ref>
See also
* List of Android devices
References
{{Samsung phones
Android (operating system) devices
Samsung mobile phones, Galaxy Spica
Samsung Galaxy, Galaxy Spica
Samsung smartphones
Mobile phones introduced in 2009