This Phone Connects

Phone freaks are talking about the newest PDA-phone offering from Samsung: the I300 Wireless Digital Assistant. Packed with all the functionality of the Kyocera Smartphone but weighing in at a lighter 6 ounces, the sleek, sexy I300 looks like a slightly oversized Palm V.

Calls are placed by tapping the touchscreen with a stylus, which will frustrate people who are accustomed to one-thumb keypad dialing. But Samsung makes up for that with its trademark voice-activated dialing capability and its speakerphone functionality (so you can talk and use your calendar at the same time). Other noteworthy design touches include a smaller LCD screen on the top of the device that displays a clock during standby mode and caller ID for incoming calls -- so you can screen your calls without taking the device out of your pocket. The I300 retails for about $550 and gives users about four hours of talk time. Find it on the Web (www.samsungusa.com).