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CTIA 2007

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LG Sony Ericsson Kyocera  

Mar 30, 2007, 12:33 PM   by Eric Lin, Eric Zeman, and Rich Brome

Our on-the-scene report from the CTIA trade show in Orlando. New phones from Sony Ericsson, Kyocera, Helio, HTC, Alcatel, Motorola and Pantech.

It won't be long before you can buy at least one new phone from LG. The VX8700 is on its way to Verizon and should be available late next month. The 8700 is the first of the Shine series to come to the US, and it is pretty. Like most metal phones, it exudes quality. The weight and solidity are noticeable, but it is not too heavy.

LG has been paying alot more attention to detail and the shine really shows it. Not just the finish of the metal pieces or the way the external display fades into the surface of the phone, but also working details, like the hinge. The VX8700 has one of those hinges people rave about - if they're into that sort of thing - it feels smooth and solid. Plus it's a back opening hinge like on Apple laptops, so it looks good too since the ugly parts are out of sight.

 

The cut metal keypad is nearly flat - there are no ridges between keys or any other visible indicators that seperate one key from another. Yet it is very easy to dial or text with on the 8700 and i suspect that it wouldn't take long before you could do it without even looking.

There is also a new brushed metal look to the Verizon menus on this phone, at first blush you might think it's to match the brush metal exterior, but it is similar to the ones on the VCAST TV models. It appears as though Verizon has decided to use this style across all their new devices.

 

The 570 is still under development but the unit we got to try was the final size and shape. The square shape and circular external music controls certainly bear more than a passing similarity to the Fusic, however the 570 is much less, well, square. It is much thinner than the Fusic and the sides are completely rounded instead of flat. Between the round sides and the elimination of that nasty external antenna, the 570 sits in your hand very comfortably.

 

The keypad felt almost as good as the Fusic's, which we liked quite well when we reviewed it, but like the Fusic and the 8700 it is almost totally flat.

Though the software on the phone wasn't final, it had clear Sprint branding, even though Sprint hasn't officially acknowledged the phone. That's not a surprise considering the design and features, but it's nice when our suspicions are confirmed.

 

We were shocked that LG, who usually announces an avalanche of phones at every show only announced two. However they've promised us that more are coming. This summer we expect to see a Chocolate II, which will most likely come to Verizon as well, however that is not definite. It is not known what form factor it will take, whether it will be like the slider currently available in Korea and Europe or something more American like a clamshell.

About the author, Eric Lin, Eric Zeman, and Rich Brome:

Eric has been covering the mobile telecommunications industry for 17 years at various print and online publications. He studied at Rutgers Newark and University of Kentucky, and has a degree in writing. He likes playing guitar, attending concerts, listening to music, and driving sports cars.

Comments

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This forum is closed.

sammi1

Apr 3, 2007, 10:24 AM

ROKR Z6m - GPS??

One source shows no GPS anyone know anything different??
All CDMA phones for the past several years have had GPS for E-911. All recent mid- to high-end phones for Sprint and Verizon have also has the APIs to enable LBS. I'd be shocked if this didn't support LBS.
...
sammi1

Mar 30, 2007, 1:54 PM

Rich - ROKR Z6m - Carrier

Any chance this will be coming to Sprint?
Motorola and Sprint seem to have a great relationship now, so a "chance"? Certainly. 😉

I was pretty impressed with the Z6m. The Z6 is a nice enough form factor, but I'm most psyched that they added the 3.5mm jack and key lock switch. Those a...
(continues)
...
tuolumne

Mar 30, 2007, 6:30 PM

Samsung SCH-R510l ???

Where is this phone, other sides covered it.

Samsung's thin candybar for Alltel.
I didn't see it in the booth. Samsung's booth was massive, with easily over 100 phones out on display for people to fondle. I thought I checked the whole booth for new models, but maybe not.

I didn't see it in any other sites' CTIA coverage. Who co...
(continues)
...
nswint

Mar 31, 2007, 10:35 AM

No Samsung A717?

It's headed over to Cingular.
It was there, but we already covered that in our CES article.
terryjohnson16

Mar 27, 2007, 11:32 PM

Please bring some SE's to T-Mobile soon

Everything is Cingular. Come on.
...
LordObento

Mar 30, 2007, 11:16 AM

LG/WinMo

Any word on what that LG was? CDMA/GSM or even US release?
I suspect it's a Korean model, but it really could be anything. There was a big "don't touch" sign and a rep standing guard, so I didn't have a chance to dig through menus for clues.
Sam K

Mar 30, 2007, 12:59 PM

Rich, are you sure the Motorola maxx Ve has an FM radio?

I couldn't find any reference to it in the user manual. Here's a link to the user manual.

http://direct.motorola.com/Hellomoto/nss/include/sup ... »
Sam - That's what the woman at the Moto booth told us at CTIA, but I don't see it any of the spec pages either. She may have been mistaken. We'll look into it further.

Thanks,
Eric
Phoneking13

Mar 29, 2007, 3:24 PM

Where are the Motorolas?

👿 👿 👿 😢 😢 😢

C'mon Motorola...I know you have to have SOMETHING up your sleeves.....SPILL IT!
renardlee

Mar 28, 2007, 2:32 AM

Kyocera

kyocera's image as a basic, crappy phone manufacturer was shattered when i saw the E5000 and E1000, omg those phones are hot, i cant wait to get my hands on one of them!
The E5000 is pretty hot. The hinge is rock-solid.

The prototype E1000 and E2000 feel pretty cheap, though. The keypads are especially bad. The keys are huge, but they're really loose and floppy. If they tighented them up, there wouldn't be any gap ...
(continues)
I am not really sure about the part of not being a copycat???

https://www.phonescoop.com/phones/phone.php?p=418 »

It looks almost just like the A630 one of the worst phones that I ever got for free. It was so bad that I tried to give it back the ...
(continues)
mcuff

Mar 29, 2007, 5:17 AM

Can you read messages from the front of the VX-8700

Surely lg has realized by now everybody likes to read the message from the front. Is their like a side button that lets you view these messsages if their is i will buy one the first day they come out. Just wondering?
shine

Mar 28, 2007, 4:43 PM

VX8700!

The 8700 is the first of the Shine series to come to the US, and it is pretty.


FIRST OF THE SHINE SERIES TO COME TO THE US
FIRST OF THE SHINE SERIES TO COME TO THE US
FIRST OF THE SHINE SERIES TO COME TO THE US!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

hahahahaha!! Yes!
Slider type might come out later this year! YES!! 🙂
Wireless Buddy

Mar 28, 2007, 3:03 PM

LG VX8700...

...compliments my DeLorean nicely! 😎
oudidntkn0w

Mar 28, 2007, 1:51 PM

m1000 = env wannabe

nuff said
 
 
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