Samsung SCH-U520
| Industry | Consumer electronics |
|---|---|
| Founded | March 1, 1938 in Daegu, South Korea |
| Products | Mobile phones, consumer electronics |
| Website | www |
Samsung SCH-U520 is a mobile phone introduced on December 7, 2006, by the former U.S. carrier Alltel Wireless. This model marked the debut of Alltel's Axcess Mobile Guide service, enabling users to receive voice-guided turn-by-turn navigation, access maps, locate points of interest, plan routes, and more.
Features and services
The u520 offers capabilities such as TV viewing, radio listening, and podcast streaming. Equipped with a 1.3-megapixel camera, it supports both video recording and playback, featuring a display that was considered high-resolution for mobile devices in the U.S. during 2006. Notably, this was Alltel's first handset to incorporate the A2DP Bluetooth profile, allowing users to wirelessly stream .mp3 audio through stereo Bluetooth headsets.
Additionally, the SCH-U520 introduced Celltop to Alltel customers—a widget-based platform enabling phone personalization via "gadgets," reminiscent of Apple's Dashboard or Yahoo Widgets. These customizable and scrollable "cells" provide updates on weather, stock prices, sports scores, and other data. Accessing Celltop requires a dedicated mobile application that manages these "cells." While navigation between cells is straightforward, each time a user enters or returns to a cell, it reloads and incurs a one-minute airtime charge from Alltel. This billing method also applies when accessing the phone’s message inbox and call log.
Additional specifications and features
- Launch Date: December 7, 2010
- Multimedia streaming capabilitiesTemplate:Fix/category[vague]
- Java ME Applications: Information not available
Further details
The release of this device experienced several postponements over the months prior to its launch, primarily due to software complications. At present, Bluetooth OBEX File Transfer functionality is not supported. It remains uncertain whether this feature will be enabled through future software updates or unofficial modifications.
MP3 tracks stored on the MicroSD card cannot be assigned as ringtones. While MP3 playback from the MicroSD card is possible, transferring audio files from the card to the phone's internal storage is not supported, and the card must remain inserted for music playback to function.
This model lacks the option to create custom ringer profiles. To completely mute the device (beyond just silencing incoming calls), users need to press and hold the # key. Pressing and holding the external volume button will only mute the ringtone.
Some users have reported limited success transferring images and files via BitPim, which requires a data cable connection. Although significant advancements are unclear, it is known that files can be written to the phone’s internal memory but cannot be immediately accessed. By placing MP3 files into the 18067 directory (BREW->MOD->18067) and rebooting, these files can serve as ringtones after manually editing the Msinfo.db file. This involves altering the file entry in Msinfo.db from "/ff/brew/mod/sample file.mp3|0|0" to "/ff/brew/mod/sample file.mp3|0|5" using a text editor such as WordPad, then saving and transferring it back to the phone.
Additional guidance on using BitPim with the Samsung SCH-u520 can be found at jmaxxz.com. Besides supporting .jpg images for wallpapers, the device also accepts .gif formats—including animated .gif files—which can be added via BitPim or stored on a microSD card and set as wallpapers following the same procedure outlined on that page.
References