The Latest on 5 Upcoming Verizon Phones March 25, 2009
Posted by Eli Blumenthal in : Cell Phones, Rumors , trackback
Contract up soon or in need of a new phone on the nation’s largest wireless network, Verizon Wireless? You may wanna pay some close attention to what we got in this here post: info on 5 cool phones you should expect to see (hopefully) at Verizon in the very near future, as well as another phone that just launched!
Nokia Intrigue - just launched this week!
This phone is pretty cool, and what it doesn’t have in features, it definitely makes up for in its thin cool looks.
- Very Thin Design with 2.2 inch screen — According to the comparison on the Verizon site, this thing is a drop taller than a deck of cards, though still INSANELY thin.
- Verizon 3G with V Cast– You know, like V Cast Music with Rhapsody and V Cast Videos…. all of Verizon’s mobile store offerings.
- VZ Navigator– In case you need GPS
- Visual Voicemail capable
- 2.0 Megapixel Camera with Flash and Video Recording
- MicroSD card slot with the ability to add up to 8 GB of memory– storing all you music, movies and pix.
It also has an “eco-friendly charger” (their words, not ours) which lets you use less energy when you charge your phone (we assume this well be a nice feature for our environmentally-friendly readers 
). It also has a cool outer display that disappears when your not using it, and while it isn’t a color outside screen, it is still very, very cool in my opinion.
The Intrigue comes in either a black or pink keypad (the outside on both is black) and is available now for $129.99 on a new 2 year contract and a $50 mail in rebate from Verizon’s site.
The Nokia Intrigue in both Black and Pink keyboards (Pic from MobileMag.com)
Now let’s go to some cooler upcoming phones slated to hit Verizon in the near future (though just be warned, Verizon, like most U.S. cell phone carriers, sometimes/usually delay their phones for months more– sometimes even canning the phone entirely, so the dates we got here can very well change. Heck, one of the phones we got here was rumored to come out late LAST year… go figure).
HTC Touch Diamond
This phone was expected to come to Verizon last year, and now we’re hoping it comes out this comes out as some have predicted, later this month or early next month. This is pretty identical to the one Sprint has had for months, with:
- Thin, all touch screen design with 2.8 inch screen– This was supposed to be HTC’s answer to the iPhone last year, now they’re already up to the Touch Diamond2 which is even cooler, though we’ll cover it later when (or if) it gets closer to coming to the US later in the year.
- 3.2 Megapixel Camera with Flash and Video Recording
- Windows Mobile 6.1
- Verizon 3G
- HTC Touch Flo 3D– This makes Windows Mobile much cooler and easier to use for touch screen phones, and were glad Verizon chose to keep it on this phone (they took it off the Touch Diamond’s keyboard having big brother, the Touch Pro, which it launched last year– you can find out bout the Verizon Touch Pro here). It’s found on pretty much all HTC touchscreen phones, and you can learn more about it from our review of the AT&T Fuze here (which is AT&T’s version of the Touch Pro).
- Mp3 Player and MicroSD card slot — The Mp3 player is actually Windows Media player, which is rather old-looking in Windows Mobile 6.1 (not anywhere near as nice as other Media Player’s you’d find like on the iPhone, Storm, or pretty much every other phone),though it is helped by Touch Flo, which lets you control everything from the home screen and actually uses a Cover Flow-like method for going through albums.
- GPS
- Opera browser for viewing the internet– This works really well, displaying web sites like you’d see them on your computer. It also beats the pants off of the standard Internet Explorer mobile.
We don’t know price on this puppy, or if/when it will be released by Verizon (again, this was expected to come LAST year). If you are though looking for a nice Windows Mobile phone on Verizon, I’d recommend either the all touchscreen Samsung Omnia or the HTC Touch Pro which has the same screen as the Diamond, but adds some thickness and a full keyboard. The Omnia is available for $99.99 on a 2 year contract, and the Touch Pro is available for an unbelievable– yes unbelievable– $349.99 on 2 year contract (huh? What is this Verizon– you know the world is in an economic recession?). You know what, on second thought, just go with the Omnia.
Touch Diamond for Verizon– assuming it ever launches (Pic from PhoneArena.com)
Samsung Trance
This is a very simple, yet stylish phone that you should actually expect to see soon. It’s a successor to the music loving Samsung Juke, and it too is a thin, music oriented slider phone with features like:
- Thin slider phone design with touch sensitive controls below the screen– Think LG Chocolate 1 and 2 without the wheel.
- Mp3 Player with Bang and Olusfen speakers — Should be good for playing music.
- MicroSD card slot– Able to accept 16 GB of memory, so you can fit a lot of your music on here.
- 1 GB built in memory– So you can store up to about 250 songs without having to go out and buy a memory card.
- 3.5 mm headphone jack– You can use normal, regular headphones with this to listen to your music.
- 1.3 Megapixel Camera
This phone though doesn’t have 3G so those looking to use V Cast may be better off going with a different phone like the LG Chocolate 3 (review here) or Samsung Sway. The phone is expected to come out sometime in the next couple months.
Samsung Trance (Pic from PhoneArena.com)
Casio Exilim C721
Ok, now this is a cool phone. Think of this as an updated cooler version of the Samsung FlipShot that came out in late 2007. Why do we say this? Well, because that is pretty much what it is.
- Thin, flip phone design with swivel screen– See the resemblance to the FlipShot
- High Resolution screen– It’s got a resolution of 800 x 480, in other, simpler words: an AMAZING screen.
- 5.1 Megapixel Camera with Flash and Auto Focus– Like the FlipShot, this phone was also designed for the camera loving Verizon users.
- Verizon 3G with V Cast
- GPS
- Mp3 Player and microSD card slot
As you can see, this is a pretty loaded phone. We don’t have a definite date or price for you, but you can expect it to launch within the next month or so if the rumors pan out.
Casio Exilim C271 (Pic from PhoneArena.com)
Samsung Alias 2
This is the successor to the highly popular, dual flipping Samsung Alias. Not much is known on this right now, but for the little we know, it looks to be a really cool phone.
- Thin, dual flip design– This phone keeps the same great design found on the current Alias, letting you open it like a normal flip phone to use it like a regular phone for calls, or opening it up from the side and letting you use it with a full keyboard for texting.
- Verizon 3G
- Mp3 Player
- Dynamic Keyboard– What does this mean? Picture little LCD screens embedded into each key of the keyboard, and the letter/number/image which appears on it differs based on whether the phone is opened horizontally or vertically, as the function of the button now changes. (kinda like the T-Mobile Rokr E8 and it’s changing keypad). This is definitely cool.
Today is the first day we’re hearing about this so we don’t know much more details, but we’ll keep you updated as more comes out.
Samsung Alias 2 (Pic from PhoneArena.com)
Ok, now here is the one that is the most expected for Verizon, and for good reason.
Blackberry Niagara (Blackberry 9630)
This is THE Blackberry for Verizon, especially if your a big texter (and we suspect most of you are ). According to Boy Genius Report.com which got an early copy to review, you should think of this as a Storm without the annoying touchscreen (honestly, from the brief moments I’ve used one I found that whole clicking touchscreen to be pretty annoying and the phone itself to be pretty buggy) and with a “perfect” keyboard, the best on any Blackberry ever. Keep in mind this comes from a guy (Boy Genius that is) who really knows his Blackberry’s– he was the one that first found out bout the Storm! So what else is in the Niagara that you should look forward to?
- Thin design, with full QWERTY keyboard and big screen– This is like the Curve’s sleekness and great screen with the Bold’s keyboard, in short: Blackberry perfection.
- Verizon 3G– For your high speed needs.
- SIM card slot for use overseas– Like the Storm, you can take this Blackberry overseas and just pop in a SIM card to use with networks over there and not get charged incredible roaming rates. SIM cards are used with GSM carriers (like AT&T and T-Mobile here in the US), and are common throughout the world than CDMA (what Verizon and Sprint currently use). Yes, theoretically you can use this phone on T-Mobile or AT&T in the US, but you will only get an EDGE (2.5G) signal and not 3G (the 3G they have on the GSM part of this phone is only able to work overseas, don’t worry the 3G will still work fine for Verizon here in the US– the 2 have nothing to do with each other)
- GPS
- Blackberry OS 4.7– The very latest Blackberry OS.
- 3.2 Megapixel Camera with Flash
This phone, like most Verizon phones, lacks WiFi (we don’t know why, but we think Verizon has some major beef with WiFi– pretty stupid if you ask us). Regardless, this looks to be an amazing phone and should catch the eye of any serious texters looking for a great phone. The rumor is this thing should come to Verizon around May, so stay tuned!
Blackberry Niagara (Pic from Boy Genius Report.com)
Now before we end this post, we’ll give you one rumor on a phone which we really have very little info about called the LG VX1100, also known as (for now) the Voyager 2 (the original Voyager was the LG VX1000). According to PhoneArena.com, this is even more loaded with features than any other phone we mentioned on this list, including the above Blackberry Niagara: according to PhoneArena.com:
- multi-touch (yes like on the iPhone and soon to be released Palm Pre) touchscreen,
- slide-out full QWERTY keyboard (different than the current Voyager which has a flip open keyboard and second screen)
- 3.2 megapixel camera
- microSD card slot up to 16 GB
That’s all we got on it so far, but you can bet we’ll follow this closely and if anything new comes out on it, we’ll make sure to share the news
Soooo, what you think? Any phone on this last catch your eye? You rather not wait for any of these phones and just go for an existing Verizon phone like the LG EnV2 or LG Versa? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Comments»
the alias 2 looks so cool
The Casio look-alike is called the FlipShot, not the FlipShoot.
I am excited for the new Voyager- I hope the rumors are true.
Thanks Ari, nice catch
I wrote this late at night and must have missed this typo. Everything is updated now
Eli,
Thanks for writing this article. I’m not a teenager by any stretch of the imagination but I’ve been looking for information on Samsung phones about to be released by Verizon and this was perfect. Thanks again.
I’ve been researching new Verizon phones, and I must say I’m most excited about the prospect of an ENV3. It looks like they made some much needed changes to the front screen (including a FULL D-Pad) and a larger screen that seems to access everything the inside screen does (as opposed to the ENV2 with its very limited front screen).
But now that I started working in a Verizon store, I really am starting to want a Blackberry. The Niagara looks wonderful. Kind of like the AT&T Bold which I love.
While I’m on the topic of Blackberrys, here’s what I’d love for them to design.. A Blackberry with an actual keypad, but with a touch sensitive screen. Eliminate the ball, let me touch the applications I want to do, and type on actual keys. That’s a Blackberry I’d buy today.
Hey Tony,
Yeah the ENV3 looks really cool, and we’ll have a post covering it soon once we get more info on it dw
And on the second type of BlackBerry you mentioned, the one with a touchscreen AND real keyboard? Well, rumors are that it is coming sometime later this year and it’s called the BlackBerry 9900 or “Pluto.” Not much is known on this mysterious BB, but it is said to be GSM (read: usable on networks like AT&T and T-Mobile, not CDMA networks like Verizon or Sprint), and there are pix of it scattered around the web, here’s one rumored shot.
Info on that right now is pretty weak, and like the ENV3, we’ll cover it once it gets some more info.
Oh and if you happen to know bout any other info on upcoming Verizon phones (like the ENV3 or new BlackBerry) from your job at the Verizon store, feel free to email us so we can share it with the world
(our email is on the contact us page at the top)
ttyl,
Eli
I have to say that as of right now I’m not all that impressed with Verizon’s selection of new phones. I currently use the Samsung Glyde, and despite typically negative reviews, I am satisfied with it.
I’ve played around on friends’ phones that have a touch-screen keyboard and most of the time it’s frustrating.
I agree with Tony: if there were a Touchscreen BlackBerry with a full keyboard I’d buy it in a second.
So is there any news on the official release date of the Blackberry Niagra?
Thanks
Hey Jeffrey,
Well, more has come out on the Niagara, mainly that it will not be called the Niagara when it’s released, instead taking on the name BlackBerry Tour. Rumors around the web are saying it’s supposed to come July 13th, but I guess we’ll see.
All the best,
– Eli
can’t wait for the voyager 2, i have the first one and love it and now am going to wait till that one comes out
i hate the first voyager
verizon has the worst selection of phones of any carrier.. if it wasnt for the quality of their network, i’d jump to at&t. any hope i had for better phones in the future just went out the window.