AT&T and T-Mobile Release Details on 2 New Phones for Each

AT&T and T-Mobile Release Details on 2 New Phones for Each July 17, 2009

Posted by Eli Blumenthal in : Cell Phones , trackback

Today, like all days in the world of tech, was very busy, with 2 new phones coming out soon for both AT&T (a cheap model and an amazing camera phone) and T-Mobile (an updated touchscreen and a great texting phone). So what what kind of phones are we talking about here and are they worth checking out? All the answers are a More link away.

Ok, here we go– let’s start with AT&T.

sony w518a

Sony Ericsson W518a

This is the more basic of the 2 AT&T phones– and that, for some, is definitely not a bad thing. At a solid price of $49.99 (with a 2 year contract and $50 mail in rebate), it packs:

AT&T 3G
Thin design–Should be very easy to fit into your pocket.
3.2 megapixel camera– Solid for taking pix, and actually useful for things like….
Gesture Control– No, this isn’t like the iPhone with a touchscreen with multi-touch gestures, rather it allows you to, say, reject an incoming call or snooze an alarm, with a wave of your hand over the camera lens. I don’t care what you say here, but this is just sick and insanely cool.
Shake Control– Kinda like Shake to Shuffle on the iPod Nano and iPhone/iPod Touch, letting you skip or shuffle songs by just shaking the phones. You also can control volume with this, something the iPod’s can’t do. This is another very cool feature.
Facebook integration– This is great for everyone out there addicted to Facebook (probably most of us). Just flip open the phone and you should be set to receive updates from your Facebook (my guess is that you’ll need an unlimited data plan for this– which costs about $15 per month extra, though you can view other internet sites, like say TeenTechBlog, from your phone as well), and if you click on the phone’s standby screen let’s you update your status. You also can upload pix from the phone’s camera straight to Facebook.

The phone will be available on Sunday, July 19th (2 days from now).

sony c905a

Sony Ericsson C905a

This phone is awesome– AT&T’s first 8 megapixel camera phone that actually looks like it will not just be a solid phone, but also be a good camera as well. Specs on this include:

AT&T 3G
Thin, slider design with a 2.4 glass scratch resistant display– Like the W518a, it should also fit well in your pocket, and the scratch resistant display is always good.
8.1 megapixel CyberShot camera with flash, auto focus and video recording– Pretty much everything you’d look for in a standard camera. It also even has red eye reduction, face detection, a “Smart Contrast” feature that automatically adjusts the contrast if the pic is too light or too dark, and “BestPic” which basically captures 7 pix in succession. All in all, the goods to make a solid camera.
AT&T Video Share
Memory Stick Micro slot (or M2)– Sony’s version of the microSD memory card found on most phones– you can add up to 16 GB of additional storage which we’d recommend looking into if you plan on storing a lot of pix, music and video on the phone.
GPS with AT&T Navigator
FM Radio

Clearly another solid AT&T phone coming soon, also launching on July 19th for $179.99, with a $50 mail in rebate and a 2 year contract. My thoughts? Well, seeing as this was rumored to be coming in the summer of LAST YEAR (with rumors late last year saying it was scrapped entirely by AT&T), it is nice and a solid looking phone but I hoped it would have been launched at a price cheaper than $179.99 (like $129.99 or $100 would make more sense to me, considering its lateness).

Ok, now to T-Mobile– and if your a big texter your gonna really like these 2.

samsung highlight ice

Samsung Highlight

Ok, so both these phones are Samsung– and are both very cool. The first one we got for you is the Samsung Highlight and it is like a newer version of the Samsung Behold that launched late last year. Like the Behold its all touchscreen, and updates many features on the Behold.

T-Mobile 3G
Thin, all touchscreen display– Like the Behold, this should fit well in any pocket and provide a solid touchscreen experience.
3 megapixel camera with video recording– This is actually a little less powerful then the Behold’s 5 megapixel
Full HTML Browser– This let’s you view the “real” internet on your phone like you would on your computer or on phones like the Pre, G1 and iPhone.
GPS
myFaves support
Samsung’s TouchWiz UI– Like on the Behold and Samsung Memoir

All in all, a solid phone that should make a lot of T-Mobile users happy. It’s out now for $149.99 with a 2 year contract and $50 mail in rebate when you get a unlimited messaging and web (or just unlimited web) plan.

My take? Definitely a nice phone, but for about $200 (assuming you don’t go for the web or data plan which looks to add at least $30 per month from what I could find), I would either go with the Behold ($129.99) or Memoir ($199.99) or go with something like the G1 (which is also $149) or myTouch 3G when it comes out in Auguast for $199.99 if your looking for something with internet.

The Highlight is out now and available in either “fire and ice” (black and orange basically) or the black and blue combo you see in the pic above. You can check it out at T-Mobile’s site here for the black/blue combo and here for the “fire and ice” version.

samsung comeback

The Samsung Comeback– when opened

Samsung Comeback

Last on this list is the Samsung Comeback, also destined for T-Mobile and is sure to be a crowd pleaser for those who were looking for a LG enV3 like phone for T-Mobile. It basically looks a lot like the Verizon’s enV3, when you flip open the phone horizontally, it will give you a real full QWERTY keyboard (not e-ink, or “magic” keypad, just traditional keys), which should be great for texting– with the front of the phone giving you a traditional phone layout like the front of the enV. Full specs:

T-Mobile 3G
Thin design, with full QWERTY keyboard– Like all the phones on this list, it should be easy to take around.
Dual screen flip phone– Pretty much like we said above– T-Mobile’s version of the enV3.
2 megapixel camera with video recording
myFaves support
microSD card slot– With room for up to 16 GB of storage.