New Blackberry, Chocolate, Android, and Other Phones Come to Verizon November 7, 2009
Posted by Eli Blumenthal in : Cell Phones , trackback
Wow– we thought Verizon would slow up on the new products for a little bit after it just announced and released one the biggest phones of the year last week, the Motorola Droid. But we were dead wrong (I mean the Droid just launched yesterday!). The other day, Verizon took the wraps off 4 new phones for the holiday and there seems to be something for everyone. We’re talking new BlackBerry Curve, new LG Chocolate phone, new Samsung phone specially designed to withstand being dropped or spilled upon, and another Android phone– the HTC Droid Eris (Verizon’s version of the HTC Hero).
While none of these are as powerful as the Motorola Droid, there is still some sick stuff here that you’d definitely want to know about– so what you waiting for, hit the more link and get to it!
Samsung Convoy
One of those people that always seems to be dropping your phone or spilling something on it? Want that extra protection against such accidents? Then listen up as that’s what Verizon and Samsung got for you here. The Samsung Convoy, like the Casio EXILIM that was launched early this year, meets military specs, meaning don’t worry bout this phone getting dropped or wet and then breaking down on you. Unlike the EXILIM, this isn’t as loaded with features like a 5 megapixel camera– instead going with a 2 megapixel camera, 3G, GPS with VZ Navigator and push to talk (walkie talkie). The design also isn’t like the swivel screen EXILIM, instead looking like your normal flip phone.
Though a phone being this simple can be a good thing, priced at only $49.99 with a new 2 year contract. It launches in a little over a week on November 15th.
LG Chocolate Touch
The LG Chocolate Touch is the next in the hit LG Chocolate line, going away from the Chocolate 3’s flip phone design in favor for an all touchscreen one. Of course, like all the phones in the Chocolate series, this phone is loaded with features, particularly music-based ones.
- Thin design with 3 inch touchscreen– I think the best comparison here is with the LG Dare and Versa, meaning thin and comfortable for pockets of all sizes.
- 3G with V Cast services like V Cast Music, Video….
- Built in apps for Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace– There even is a special social network key that will give you one touch access to update your status’.
- 3.2 megapixel camera with video and built in photo editor– So you can make your shots look nice before sending them to Facebook.
- Visual Voicemail
- GPS with VZ Navigator
- Threaded Messaging– Your texts will look like an IM conversation instead of a bunch of different replys.
Of course, like the Chocolate 3, this thing is a music BEAST! And wow, LG has bumped that up even more here.
- Music Player with Dolby Mobile– Meaning surround sound, better bass etc., be it through optional speakers or on headphones. In other words, you’ll get a sick music experience that looks to rival an iPod or Zune. Oh, and it’s got a regular 3.5 mm headphone jack so you don’t need any special headphones.
- 1 GB of built-in memory just for songs– You got room for about 250 out of the box, with the ability to up that to 16 GB through a microSD card.
- FM Radio built in– The Chocolate 3 sadly only had an FM transmitter, which let you play your music in say, a car over the FM radio, but it didn’t give you an actual FM radio to listen to stations. The Chocolate Touch looks to fix that by giving you one built-in. (No word on whether the FM transmitter made it back in as well, though I think getting a full FM radio is a more than acceptable upgrade.)
- Join the Band Mode– This is pretty awesome, and something we’ve never seen on a phone before. This let’s you play along with the song your listening to with either a full drum kit complete with snare drum, kick drum, floor tom, hi-hat cymbal, ride cymbal, crash cymbal, and even a cowbell! Or you can go with a full 88 key keyboard. You also got the option to press “Pause” to stop the music and show off solo skills. I’m not gonna lie, this sounds pretty cool.
Best part? It’s available NOW, for only $79.99 with a new 2 year contract from Verizon’s site.
Ok, now to some of the big boys. First up, a new BlackBerry Curve!
BlackBerry Curve 8530
A couple of weeks ago we wrote about T-Mobile getting a cheaper, new BlackBerry Curve 8520 complete with a sleeker design and new trackpad. Well, today Verizon get’s their own version of said Curve, bringing all those features to Verizon with even some new ones thrown in. What we got?
- Thin design– Like all the latest BlackBerry’s, this thing definitely looks thin and nice and should be easy to carry around.
- Touch Sensitive Optical Trackpad– Instead of the trackball found on older BlackBerry’s
- Full QWERTY keyboard– Wouldn’t be a BlackBerry without it.
- Verizon 3G– 3G was something the Curve’s BlackBerry really lacked, and we’re glad that Verizon’s has it.
- 2 megapixel camera with video recording– Decent camera, but not as great as the Curve 8900 which is 3.2 megapixel with flash and video recording.
- BlackBerry App World– For downloading apps.
- GPS with VZ Navigator
- WiFi– something the Tour was sadly missing.
- Mp3 player with microSD card slot and dedicated media keys at the top– Comes with a 1 GB card out of the box, but you can always replace it with a bigger memory card (up to 32 GB) if you want. The media keys is pretty great as seen on T-Mobile’s Curve, as you now have dedicated play/pause, rewind and fast forward keys like you find on most non-smartphones. This should be great for controlling your music while your phone is in your pocket.
All in all, another nice Verizon BlackBerry, that with the Storm2 and Tour, should give anyone looking for a new Verizon BlackBerry something that suits them perfectly. The Curve 8530 will be out on November 20th, for an also not too bad $99.99 on new 2 year contract and BlackBerry email and web plan.
HTC Droid Eris
This is the biggest news of Verizon’s new products announced today. Their 2nd Android device, and it too isn’t a bad one. Called the Droid Eris (looks like Verizon plans to name all their Android phones with some sort of Droid name), this is their version of the awesomely specd HTC Hero from Sprint, and looks to bring another solid Android experience to Verizon users. It’s even got some updates that the more powerful Motorola Droid is missing, like interface customizations such as HTC Sense (while the Motorola Droid runs the stock Android interface, you get the nicer looking and more social connected HTC Sense here), and more importantly, multi-touch (something that for a reason we can’t think of didn’t make it into the Droid. HTC made sure to put it on here, and we’re really glad Verizon kept it).
That being said, it still runs Android 1.5, not 2.0 like the Moto Droid, and therefore doesn’t have all the awesome updates like the better web browser and Google Maps Navigation (rumors are that the HTC Hero devices will be getting 2.0, so let’s hope Verizon and HTC it here soon). It also runs a slower processor than the new Droid, and doesn’t have the slide out keyboard and better display also found on the Droid. So what you getting here? Specs:
- Verizon 3G
- WiFi
- GPS with digital compass (like what’s on the new iPhone 3GS)
- 3.2 inch touchscreen with multi-touch (as mentioned above. This brings things like pinch to zoom on pix and web sites and using more than one finger at a time on the keyboard for typing)
- an awesome 5 megapixel camera with video
- 8 GB microSD memory card in the box (upgradable to 16 GB)
- Visual Voicemail
- Android Market for downloading apps, with Google Apps built in like YouTube, Gmail and Google Maps
Again, as with the Chocolate Touch and the BlackBerry Curve 8530, the price is the best part. You get all this for only $99.99 with a new 2 year contract (with a data or email plan), which is a whopping $80 cheaper than what Sprint charges for their Hero! Oh, and release date? Like the Chocolate Touch, it’s also out NOW! Yes, if you want Android today on Verizon and would prefer something without a slide out keyboard like the Motorola Droid, than look right here. You can check it out and order it at Verizon’s site here.
So that raps this latest Verizon phones post, and wow does their holiday phone line up look stacked. 2 Droids, a bunch of sick new BlackBerrys and a new Chocolate! If your on Verizon, what do you plan/want to get for your next phone?
full drum kit complete with snare drum, kick drum, floor tom,
hi-hat cymbal, ride cymbal, crash cymbal, and even a cowbell
-- The "Join the Band" piano function allows customers to play along
on a full scrolling 88-key keyboard. With the option to press
"Pause" to stop the music and show off solo s
What this is, is mode that let's you "play along" with the songs your listening to. You can do this with either the full drum kit complete with all the bells and whistles like snare drum, kick drum, floor tom, hi-hat cymbal, ride cymbal, crash cymbal, even a cowbell! Or you can go with the piano function which lets you play while scrolling an 88-key keyboard. You can also "Pause" to stop the music and show off solo skills. This is pretty sick in my opinion.
kills, the
possibilities of fun are endless
Comments»
omggg, the lg chocolate sounds so amazing – i’m getting one tonighht(: