(Credit:
Samsung )
Even at a show like CES there's always room for basic phones. Just take the Samsung SGH-T119, which T-Mobile debuted in Las Vegas. The candy-bar design is about as simple as you can get, as is the pale gray color scheme. It will be available in February.
Features are equally minimal. You'll find a speakerphone, a voice recorder, a calendar, a calculator, an alarm clock, a currency converter, messaging, speed dialing, support for T-Mobile's myFaves, and a Web browser. You also get photo caller ID, though the T119 doesn't have a camera. It's only dual-band (GSM 850/1900), so don't count on using it outside of the United States or Canada.
Sprint may have the Palm Pre, but T-Mobile wasn't a wallflower at CES. The carrier announced five new cell phones that span the range of usability. In the smartphone category there's the T-Mobile Shadow and the Rim BlackBerry Curve 8900, the Nokia 7510 is a midrange handset, and the Motorola Renew W233 and the Samsung SGH-T119 weigh in on the basic side.
It's a decent assortment in most regards, and we're glad to see T-Mobile starting the year off with a bang. So you can see all the handsets together, we've wrapped them up in this convenient T-Mobile slide show. Browse away.
T-Mobile Shadow revisited: not just a rumor anymore.
(Credit: T-Mobile)We've been hearing rumors about it for a couple of months now, but the T-Mobile Shadow (yep, just the Shadow, not Shadow II) had its officially coming out party on Tuesday night at CES 2009.
Taking over for the original T-Mobile Shadow, the updated version, which was manufactured by HTC, sports a fresh look with curved edges, a shinier face, and comes in two new color combinations: black with burgundy and white with mint. The other major additions are a faster processor (260MHz) and UMA support, so you can now make calls over Wi-Fi using T-Mobile's HotSpot service.
Aside from those differences, the T-Mobile Shadow is very much like its predecessor. The smartphone features a QVGA non-touch display and a slider design with a SureType-like keypad. Under the hood, it runs Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard Edition and features integrated Bluetooth (stereo Bluetooth supported), Wi-Fi, a 2-megapixel camera, and a microSD expansion slot that supports up to 8GB cards.
Though T-Mobile did not announce an official availability date or pricing, the carrier did say it would be released in the coming weeks and we're guessing the pricing will be around the $149.99 range. In addition to the Shadow, T-Mobile also added the RIM BlackBerry Curve 8900 to its lineup earlier this week. Good to see some new smartphones at T-Mobile finally.
(Credit:
T-Mobile)
On Monday, we reported on rumors that T-Mobile would release the RIM BlackBerry Curve 8900 on February 11, and while the date has not been confirmed, the carrier did go ahead and make the official product announcement on Tuesday.
Yes, the BlackBerry Curve 8900 will make its way to T-Mobile some time in February and is being touted as the thinnest and lightest full QWERTY BlackBerry to date. As expected, it will have integrated Bluetooth and GPS and we now know it will have built-in Wi-Fi as well as support for T-Mobile's Unlimited HotSpot Calling service. Unfortunately, there is no 3G love.
There are plenty of other highlights, though, including a 3.2-megapixel camera, a 3.5mm headphone jack, a microSD/SDHC expansion slot (supports up to 16GB cards), and a 512MHz processor. Pricing and an official release date were not released, but customers can sign up for alerts on T-Mobile's Web site.
Moto's Renew is kind to the Earth.
(Credit: Motorola)Last year at CES Motorola dazzled us with a couple of high-end multimedia cell phones. One of them, the Rokr E8, impressed us so much that it won CNET's Best of CES award in the cell phones category. This year, however, Moto is taking a more comprehensive approach with three cell phones that range from simple to complex.
On the simple side, Motorola presents the Renew W233. Its story lies not in what it offers--features are minimal--but in what it is. The Renew is made entirely of recycled water bottles (at least the plastic parts). Moto is calling it the world's first carbon neutral phone--that puts it beyond the Nokia 3110, which is made from 50 percent recycled material. The packaging is also Earth-friendly. Not only does the Renew use 22 percent less packaging, but the packaging that it does use comes from recycled paper and the ink on the manual is soy-based. Moto is also promising that the Renew will use less energy with a promised talk time of nine hours.
Features include support for CrystalTalk feature, a VGA camera, organizer features, and a music player. The Renew will arrive at T-Mobile in the first quarter of this year.
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