Sprint Launches the Sanyo Katana Eclipse X Phone

Sprint Wireless in cooperation with KYOCERA Sanyo has officially launched the new Katana Eclipse X mobile phone. This new mobile phone is actually a redesigned version of the previously announced Katana Eclipse in August. But this time, Sprint and Sanyo has added a new one-click feature which provides users with access to the phone features in just one click. One Click also allows users to personalize their home screen and also brings the Now Network right to their fingertips by selectnig and organizing features and content including text messaging, Google search, Sprint Navigation, email, web site, music and call log. In addition, One Click also gives users access to Google on their home screen. The new Sanyo Katana Eclipse X mobile phone also features unique light effects with fast data speeds and allows users to assign lighting effects to identify specific callers. One Click’s customizable carousel-style menu which is located on the home screen gives instant information related to various features of the Katana Eclipse X. The Katana Eclipse X’s One Click features also makes it easy for users to access Sprint TV with live and on-demand programming, Sprint Music StoreSM with OTA downloads of full-length songs, Sprint Radio with 150 channels and its built-in MP3 player with microSD card slot. In addition, the Katana Eclipse X also feature Sprint Navigation which provides GPS-enabled audio and visual turn-by-turn driving directions. Other features of the Katana Eclipse X include; built-in speakerphone, stereo Bluetooth, external music navigation, a 1.3MP camera with 12x zoom and video camcorder, speakerphone, wireless backup. The Katana Eclipse X is now available at Sprint retail channels for $99.99 with a 2-year service agreement, after $50 mail-in rebate.

Five Touchscreen Alternatives to the iPhone

Looking for a touchscreen mobile handset that you can match up to your friend’s iPhone 3G? Apple’s marketing strategy not your cup of tea and you don’t see yourself getting an iPhone? Here are five alternatives that you may want to get instead of the iPhone 3G. All mobile handsets touts touchscreen UI which could or could not match up the iPhone’s seamless and fluid touchscreen features. Bottomline still is, choose the handset that best suits your need, aside from the fact that you so wanted to own a touchscreen mobile phone by now.

Nokia 5800 - Nokia’s entry into the touchscreen mobile arena is by way of a music phone - the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic. The 5800 is the first among Nokia’s mobile handset to run on the S60 software which makes the touch screen interface of the phone possible. Although not as 100% touchscreen as the iPhone, Nokia puts the touchscreen feature on where it matters especially for a music phone such as the 5800. The phone’s Contacts Bar, Media Bar and other shortcuts were all made accessible through a single tap of the user’s finger. The Nokia 5800’s features include; a 3.2 MP camera with Carl Zeiss lens, 3.2-inch widescree display with a 16 by 9 aspect ratio, VGA video capture and playback, support for 60 languages and more.

LG Renoir - LG’s recently announced Renoir or what was previously known as the LG-KC910 supports full touchscreen interface. This 8MP multimedia phone is a slim yet feature-rich mobile phone. Although, LG is not marketing the Renoir as a direct competitor of the iPhone, still it’s inevitable that this two mobile phones will be compared. For one, the LG Renoir features full touchscreen menu control complemented by Wi-Fi connectivity, Dolby Surround Sound, A-GPS and a unique one-touch camera feature. The Renoir offers users two input interfaces when using the text messaging features of the Renoir, that is either through an onscreen QWERTY keypad or the standard mobile phone keypad.

Samsung Pixon - Samsung’s soon to be released Pixon mobile phone may not be actually attacking the iPhone but the LG Renoir instead. Like the Renoir, the Samsung Pixon also features a powerful 8MP camera aside from a 3.2-inch full-touch screen and an integrated Photo Browser. The Samsung Pixon is a GSM/GPRS/EDGE Quad Band mobile phone that works on 850/900/1800/1900 MHz. It runs on 3G or HSDPA 7.2mpbs. The phone’s 8MP camera also features a dual LED flash, advance shake reduction, wide dynamic range plus more standard digital camera features. It also features video recording and playback function a 30fps., face detection, face link, geotagging photos, microSD support and a surround sound system.

Sony Ericsson Xperia – If it’s from Sony, it must be good. And I can personally attest to that having used various Sony Ericsson mobile phone before. The Xperia could perhaps be among the highly anticipated mobile phone from Sony Ericsson. The latest we hear is that the Xperia was just given with a seal of approval by the FCC regulators. The X1 features a full QWERTY keyboard, runs on Windows Mobile 6 operating systems, a 3-inch wide VGA (800×480) touchscreen display, a 3.2-megapixel camera with photo light, A2DP Bluetooth, aGPS, Wi-Fi, and microSD support, internal 400MB memory. The Xperia X1 is a quad-band GSM/EDGE, and 900/1700/1900/2100MHz UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA (or 850/1700/1900/2100MHz phone. Navigation is accomplished via touch, arc-sliding QWERTY, 4-way key and optical joystick.

Google G1 Phone – Aside from the Xperia, another highly anticipated mobile phone to arrive in the market is of course none other than the Google Phone or the G1. Although this phone is not really manufactured by Google per se, but is actually an HTC phone, the fact that it bears the Google seal makes it an exciting phone to watch out for. When it was officially announced last Sept. 23, and a pre-order site was put up by T-Mobile, its official mobile carrier, T-Mobile got tons of pre-orders that the projected units almost run out even before its release. So, what makes the G1 so hot-selling even on its pre-selling stage? The G1 features a 3.17-inch 65K color touchscreen with HVGA (480×320) resolution, it gives out 5 hours talk time and 130 hours of standby time, a 3.1 megapixel camera, comes with with a 1GB microSD card and can support up to 16GB, expectedly GPS via Google Maps. And that pretty much sums up the G1 major features. It’s a GSM/GPRS/EDGE/Wi-Fi and UMTS/HSDPA 850/900/1700/1900/2100 MHz phone that would have a similar application store called the Android market as well as the Amazon MP3 store for music downloading functionality.

Orange Audiovox SPV C550

Unconfirmed rumor about the Orange SPV C550 smartphone by Audiovox. Apparently, the C550 will have the following features:

• 1.3 megapixel camera
• GPRS class 10
• 240×320 QVGA 65k (see below) TFT colour screen
• 64MB internal memory and Mini SD external memory
• USB, IrDA and Bluetooth connectivity
• Video MMS and download and playback
• Java 2.0
• Integrated SZGA and Flash
• 262K (not 64K gisplay)

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Audiovox PPC-6601 (PPC-6600) Review

The Audiovox PPC-6601 comes with a built-in slide-away keyboard, Bluetooth, 192 MB storage and PDA-sized screen. Although battery life can be better, the PPC-6601 is a powerful PDA/phone.

The PPC-6601 is definitely not a lightweight–at nearly 5 inches long and weighing 7.4 ounces, this phone won’t fit into your shirt pocket as easily as the Mortorola Razr. But, since the PPC-6601 is really focussed on geeksters, it comes with a belt clip that can hold the phone sideways just like the office tech guy’s gadgets on his belt.
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Audiovox SMT5600

The Audiovox SMT5600 for Cingular Wireless is based on the Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition Software. Underneath the candy-bar exterior, the SMT5600 is powered by a 200-MHz OMAP process from Texas Instruments, specifically designed to conserve battery life. The SMT5600 is available from Cingular Wireless at a post-rebate price of US$199.99 for a two-year voice and data service contract.
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