Filed under: Handsets, LG, GSM, EDGE

Handset manufacturers — particularly Samsung, LG, and lately, Huawei — have a tendency to barrage the FCC’s approval process with countless models, most of which we’ll never see, much less pay any mind to as they’re quietly launched in some corner of the world with little to differentiate them from the models that precede or succeed them. Of course, that’s not always the case, and here’s a great example: LG’s KC550, a phone we saw approval for last month that turns out to be a pretty neat slider that LG trumpets as its cheapest 5 megapixel model to date. What makes it so cheap? Well, triband EDGE data with no 3G, for starters — and a mere 25MB of integrated memory helps too — but you’ve still got your microSD slot to play with, and the camera’s a decent Schneider-Kreuznach unit with image stabilization and autofocus. Not bad for the

Popularity: 1% [?]

Share This

Filed under: Handsets, Samsung

We now have official word from Samsung regarding the browser on its new Samsung L870 slider. You may recall that the Samsung-issued press release listed “Safari browser (full browsing)” as a feature. Now the clarification:

“Actually, L870 is equipped with S60 OSS browser, also known as S60 safari browser because both are using same webcore platform. Sorry again for the unclear specification, and bothering you with this.”

Of course, the S60 browser has never been known, even informally, as the “S60 safari browser,” but we’ll let Samsung bang heads together internally over that one.

Permalink

Popularity: 1% [?]

Share This

Filed under: Handsets, Motorola, Verizon Wireless, EV-DO, CDMA

If there’s one thing Motorola knows how to do, it knows how to make rugged push-to-talk phones. With eons of iDEN experience under its belt, it’s hard to argue Moto doesn’t have the right stuff in that department. As iDEN makes room in the PTT limelight for EV-DO-based systems, it was starting to look like the durability of the devices was going to take a hit in favor of fashion, but the V750 looks ready to buck the trend. Previous press shots we saw didn’t really do a very good job of conveying the upcoming Verizon device’s rugged nature, but from freshly leaked promo materials, we see that it’ll meet military specifications for shock, vibration, sun exposure, temperature, altitude, and dust. That’s quite a list, and it’s a big ol’ heap of peace of mind for a good many Nextel customers planning on making the leap.

Read

Popularity: 1% [?]

Share This

Filed under: Handsets, LG, Vodafone, GSM, EDGE, HSDPA, UMTS

Alright, Vodafone’s making this too easy: going to its link for the LG Secret is currently producing a “Sorry, we could not find the product requested” error, which only serves to reinforce the phone’s stealthy name. We’re figuring they’re just working out a few technical details on their end, but at any rate, LG’s fashionable 5 megapixel slider should now be available from Voda retailers in the UK, offering a 2.4 inch scratch-resistant display, carbon fiber shell, HSDPA, and all the other spoils that go with being a high-end device these days. It clocks in at just 11.8mm to boot, which should be slim enough to make it a secret in your pocket, too. Looks like the carrier’s selling it for anywhere from free to

Popularity: 1% [?]

Share This

Filed under: Handsets, Motorola, GSM, EDGE

So wait a second, let us make sure we have this right: buzz has been building for many months around this supposed Motorola superphone — the ZN5, ZINE, or whatever it’s called — with the hope that it could be just the phone to bring Moto back from the brink. The darned thing’s clearly been in the labs for ages, so they’ve got to be doing something amazing back in there, right? Eh, not so much. First of all, it tops out with EDGE data as expected, which is utterly inexcusable for a device in this class. Granted, it’s got WiFi, but we would’ve expected these guys to spend the few extra bucks, upgrade the chipset, and get MOTOMAGX freaking working with HSDPA. But wait, we haven’t even gotten to the best part: that 5 megapixel camera back there? Yeah, no autofocus. Amazing. Hop on over to Boy Genius Report for some more pictures of a phone we’ll never be owning.

Update: Whoa, yeah, the ZN5 is supposed to be a candybar. Is this the slider equivalent?

Read

Popularity: 1% [?]

Share This

Filed under: Handsets

Remember that U800 we peeked in the middle of last month? Turns out, that very mobile is the one pictured above, though it now has an official moniker to round things off. In an attempt to migrate the Spirit of Soul (Samsung’s words, not ours) to the candybar design, the Soulb was born. The handset checks in at 9.9-millimeters thick and features a 3-megapixel camera (with Power LED flash), document viewer / editor, web browser, multimedia player, Bluetooth 2.0, FM radio (with RDS support), 1GB of internal memory and a microSD slot just in case. It’s also noted that the Soulb will be available in Soul Grey, Platinum Silver, Metallic Black, Soul Pink and Amethyst Violet for an undisclosed price, but things aren’t looking too swell for North Americans. Germans will get first dibs when it lands in “early June,” while just about every region save for NA gets it shortly thereafter.

[Via phoneArena]

Read

Popularity: 1% [?]

Share This

Filed under: Handsets, Sony Ericsson, GSM, EDGE, HSDPA, UMTS

Hey, their catchphrase, not ours! Canada’s Fido has gone public with Sony Ericsson’s latest midrange 3G clam for North America — the latest released one, anyway — and they’re celebrating the occasion with a nice little package deal. Purchasers of the Z750i are entitled to a free Sony Ericsson Bluetooth headset — though it’ll take a three-year contract to win you the freebie, and we’re pretty sure Bluetooth will have been succeeded by at least three or four technologies during that eon. Meanwhile, your children, their children, and their children will have all been born, man will have set foot on Pluto, and RAZR V3s will still be sold on carriers the world over. We digress, though; you can pick it up for $100 CAD (about $101) now on that three-year plan with a data package included. Silver appears to be the only color available at the moment, though we wouldn’t be surprised to see that palette expand in the near future.

[Via MobileSyrup]

Read

Popularity: 1% [?]

Share This

Filed under: Handsets, ATT

A reader was sent a rather revealing “consumer survey” this week, and though the carrier (or manufacturer) responsible for commissioning it wasn’t revealed, we’re thinking AT&T may have been behind this one. Why’s that? Well, several phones — most real, one rendered — were shown during the course of the survey, and one of the devices was an AT&T-branded Pantech QWERTY slider that we’ve straight up never seen before, so unless there’s some funny business going on, no other carrier should have access to that intel. In fact, the whole survey was focused on text messaging and text-centric, QWERTY handsets, asking questions about what sorts of form factors and features customers would like to see to improve their messaging experience. Also pictured were a Sidekick Slide (presumably for comparison’s sake), a Samsung QWERTY slider sporting looks similar to the i620 and i640 (minus Windows Mobile, seemingly), and a rendered, unbranded device touting a gargantuan display and a number of available colors. The reader was asked what name they thought best suited this particular phone, and the choices were “Blaze,” “Quickfire,” and “Reveal.” Needless to say, we’re not so sure how we feel about putting an “AT&T Blaze” in our pockets — but if it happens, at least we know who to blame.

[Thanks, anonymous tipster]

Permalink

Popularity: 1% [?]

Share This

Filed under: Handsets, HTC, Sony Ericsson, Apple

Would you look at that: a thick slab of iPhone meat in a Sony Ericsson and HTC sandwich. The iPhone’s big screen is nice and all but the device is starting to look a bit portly given that the Xperia X1 sports a QWERTY with chewy HSDPA data, the latter shared with the Raphael Touch Diamond. Tasty, regardless.

Update: Er, that’s not the HTC Raphael, it’s their Touch Diamond.

[Thanks, Al]

Read

Popularity: 1% [?]

Share This

Filed under: Handsets, RIM, GSM, EDGE

Don’t be ashamed, you’re out to get every last morsel of Kickstart goodness before RIM’s first flip phone ever hits the market. On the docket today is a half dozen slides detailing the Flip Experience, essentially spilling the painfully mundane minutiae of how the handset will function while talking, receiving a text message, showing alerts and playing music. Nothing too mesmerizing or unexpected, but the Matt Damon hateration is totally out of left field.

Read

Popularity: 1% [?]

Share This