New Cell Phones: Color Them Anything But Dull
— -- LAS VEGAS--Black and silver are out; pink, green, and rainbow hues are in for many of the latest handsets on display at the CTIA Wireless 2008 trade show, which opens its three-day run today.
Apple and its red-hot iPhone may be no-shows, but the rest of the cell phone universe is well represented. And while we anticipate seeing some iPhone knock-offs before the show closes (Sprint CEO Dan Hesse is expected to announce Samsung's touch-screen Instinct at his keynote this morning), early announcements suggest that many vendors are seeking design inspiration from the fashion world in the form of bright colors.
Motorola, for example, announced a lime-green version of the EVDO- and GPS-equipped Q9 c Windows Smartphone, to be offered by Alltel and U.S. Cellular in early summer (Sprint already has the Q9 c in basic black). Verizon Wireless announced that it will also offer the Q9 c, for $250 before rebates; it will be the first Windows Mobile smartphone to feature the company's VZ Navigator navigation service.
Sony Ericsson announced shiny pink, purple, and black versions on its new HSDPA clamshell, the Z950a, which boasts a cool-looking subsurface OLED external screen to display caller ID and other info that appears to float on the case. It's due from AT&T Wireless in the next few weeks for $150 (an additional $100 mail-in rebate will further lower the price).
Virgin Mobile announced a slew of color phones for its prepaid service, including green and pale-blue versions of the Kyocera Marbl, to be sold at Wal-Mart; plus the LG Aloha clamshell in pink and a red Cyclops, both to be available exclusively at Target.
Even headset vendors are getting into the act. Plantronics' new high-performance Discovery 925 Bluetooth headset is scheduled to appear in pink and gold editions in May, joining the black version that's available now. The $150 headset comes with its own lipstick-sized leather charging case, which has an internal rechargeable battery you can juice up along with the headset, then use later to recharge it when no power outlet is available.
Not all handset news is about color. Several companies announced new carriers for their hottest models.
Research in Motion announced an EVDO-enabled version of the popular BlackBerry Curve 8330 with Verizon Wireless on Monday; and today Sprint said it too would be offering the eagerly awaited 8330.
RIM and T-Mobile have also said that T-Mobile will give consumers a crack at the slick new Pearl 8120, which AT&T Wireless began selling to its corporate customers exclusively last month.
Motorola announced a new skinny AT&T Wireless slider phone, the Moto Z9, that will support the carrier's super-fast HSDPA data network. Due in stores by mid-April for $250, the Z9 also boasts assisted GPS, which gets help establishing a fix from the carrier's network to achieve faster performance. The Z9 is also the first Motorola handset to support AT&T Wireless' Video Share service, which lets two customers view real-time videos of each other on their handsets.
Other Motorola handset announcements deal with expanding the availability of its GPS-enabled Q9 c Windows Mobile handsets for EVDO networks. Sprint is already carrying it; Verizon Wireless will have one. Both the Q9 c and the BlackBerry 8330 will support Verizon's latest VZ Navigator navigation software/service.