Verizon launches the Samsung Glyde

One of the worst-kept secrets in Verizon's stable is finally getting official today; that's right, ladies and gentlemen, meet the Glyde from Samsung. Wearing CDMA guts underneath its F700 clothing, the fashion-friendly QWERTY slider offers a 2 megapixel cam with flash and autofocus, GPS, the full range of Bluetooth profiles, microSD slot, and a true HTML browser. Unlike its crosstown competition -- the LG Voyager -- the Glyde doesn't offer support for Verizon's VCAST TV service, but we imagine most folks will consider that a minor (read: nonexistent) inconvenience. Look for the phone to start circulating into retail channels this week for a princely $249.99 on contract after $50 rebate. Have a quick gander over on Engadget Mobile for a few shots of the Glyde doing what the Glyde does best -- posing for press photography, that is.

[robert @ May 8th 2008 1:04AM]

and I almost left verizon yesterday!!!! As soon as i can get it its mine

[vdogg89 @ May 8th 2008 8:21AM]

wow, Verizon manages to take another phone and cripple it by adding their own crappy OS. shame on them

[packetsniffer @ May 8th 2008 9:00AM]

@vdogg89
Verizon doesn't add their own OS to phones; they just add their own UI. If you're going to hijack a thread to get your comment at the top, at least say something intelligent.

[vdogg89 @ May 8th 2008 8:09PM]

fine, UI. the point is they cripple the phone. Have you ever used a verizon phone? They run slow, you cant use bluetooth the way it was meant, Who wants to use their dumb vcast interface. Why not use the ui that was intended for the phone

[packetsniffer @ May 15th 2008 9:51AM]

@vdogg89
Yes, I'm well aware of Verizon's butchering of good phones with their horrible, bloated, limiting GUI. However, my main point still stands that what you said had absolutely nothing to do with the OP's comment.

[m1D4W6 @ May 22nd 2008 8:25PM]

It's nice Verizon is offering non-smartphones with Qwerty keyboards to appeal to the "texters", but how many times are they going to redo the LG Envy? The LG Voyager is the Envy with a touch screen and this Samsung Glyde is now the Envy that slides instead of flips. Plus it's all locked down with the Verizon platform on it, so the software is essentially the same.

If I wanted a texting phone i'd go get a Sidekick LX and if i'm dishing out money on a new phone i'd wait for the new iPhone or BB Bold.

[snowenloe @ May 8th 2008 1:08AM]

yawn

[Vic20 @ May 8th 2008 2:10AM]

Agreed. Last time I heard of Glide it was with 3DFX... remember dems? Me either. Must be some Voodoo.

[CB17 @ May 8th 2008 1:15AM]

Wow, another non-smartphone Verizon QWERTY phone, what a complete waste of plastic.

Once again, what's the point of QWERTY if all you can use it for is texting...ridiculous.

[Reader @ May 8th 2008 1:59AM]

You pretty much answered your own question, since the demographic that wants a phone for that is pretty large.

[ethana2 @ May 8th 2008 2:15AM]

Yeah, the only thing QWERTY has going for it is muscle memory. Is that device even big enough for that to work? ..I haven't typed in qwerty for a year now, and I never will again. - Colemak. Typing is fun again.

[Ypocaramel @ May 8th 2008 4:57AM]

The GSM version has a decent web browser, and Opera Mini is always an option. It also has PDA functions, so you can write notes. It's not as useful as a good platform OS, but it's hardly as useless as you say.

[CB17 @ May 8th 2008 9:27AM]

I don't remember saying "useless" I think I said "waste". As in, on such a limited function phone, QWERTY is a WASTE OF SPACE

[CB17 @ May 8th 2008 9:29AM]

@Reader

And by demographic, you mean 10 year olds right?

You guys make it sound like you can't text on T9. Texting is SUPPOSED to be informal, T9 works JUST FINE for that

[Nick M. @ May 8th 2008 5:28PM]

T9 blows... after i went QWERTY on a cell.. i cant go back. Not every cell phone user needs a QWERTY phone to be a blackberry and have all that functionality or cost as much.

I think this looks like a nice phone for someone that is between 13-28 that just wants the cell for personal use and who wants QWERTY for messaging.

I think its better looking than the Voyager and even the EnV2

[CB17 @ May 8th 2008 9:55PM]

@Nick

You must be 13 (or 28 but I'm sticking with my first guess)

[Paul @ May 9th 2008 3:46PM]

I guess all of us mere mortals will just have to kneel at your feet, o space saving guru of T9. You're probably texting with telekinesis, but some of us appreciate being able to use the full keypad to type our lowly messages.

[CB17 @ May 9th 2008 3:54PM]

@Paul

Don't kneel too long, people might think we're gay.

[Ace b @ May 8th 2008 1:16AM]

Damn,my friend just got the voyager like no more than 2 weeks ago.

He prob would have liked this more.

[Cycomachead @ May 8th 2008 1:27AM]

tell him Vzw has a 30-day guarantee thing and the Voyager should be under that. It covers new customers too. There's some info on Vz's site.

[Totalfixation @ May 8th 2008 1:19AM]

one of my buddies work for Verizon and was able to get a hold of this. Got a chance to play with it. I will have to say its a nice overall phone, but I don't think it's going to change my mind about getting the next version of the iPhone.

[apple_rox13 @ May 8th 2008 1:32AM]

looks neat, but i dont like the keyboard
since im so used to my iphone, it annoys me greatly on phones where you have to hit symbol, then try and locate the really tiny period, or ? mark....

i think ill stick with my iphone

[gad get @ May 8th 2008 1:36AM]

You do that.

[emjoi @ May 8th 2008 1:39AM]

If you could take some of the features of this phone... the good bluetooth, gps, keyboard, camera, microSD... and drop them into the iPhone, it would be a Good Thing.

[Jordan @ May 8th 2008 2:07AM]

True, the iphone is awesome, but still could be improved.

[apple_rox13 @ May 8th 2008 1:35AM]

i cant find anything on this phone on verizons site, but searching for the samsung u940 brings up help topics for the phone...

[Steve-o @ May 8th 2008 1:52AM]

**WARNING: Off Topic**

Unfortunately I have to leave my off-topic question here because there's nowhere else to put it (hint: Official Engadget Forum needed).

I just learned today that HDCP strippers exist and I was wondering if anyone on here could point me in the direction of one or if anyone knows how well they work it would be a huge help. I just want to be able to get my digital audio quality back on my ps3 and my dvd player. Thanks.

[Mark @ May 8th 2008 2:51AM]

Mmm... strippers.

[gad get @ May 8th 2008 6:32AM]

You're on the wrong site. Try a site with a forum. ;)

[MastrCake @ May 8th 2008 2:03AM]

I think it's funny that I called Verizon today (for a change from AT&T to VZW), and the guy told me that, instead of getting the voyager, I may want to wait for the Glyde. Glad I didn't buy the Voyager... THIS THING LOOKS FREAKIN' SWEET!!!

[gad get @ May 8th 2008 6:34AM]

Diabeetus, remember? Avoid the sweets.

[Paul Moon @ May 8th 2008 1:27PM]

Point-by-point, the LG Voyager still kicks this phone's ass. And yes, many of us love MediaFLO so the Glyde's inability is another minus.

[TubeTop100.com @ May 8th 2008 7:22AM]

I have the F700 for more than half a year now. The screen is great, battery life is good, hsdpa kicks ass and the keyboard is good (not as good as the HTC keyboards though, they doublemapped the cursor keys and there's no tab key). The browser is ok.

The only thing I hate is that it isn't really a smartphone. Besides Java, you can't really install any applications. And only few Java apps are optimized for this phone. It's a great phone, but it had the potential to become a great smartphone.

[salut @ May 8th 2008 7:24AM]

Is this phone head-proof? ie: can I smash it against my head repeatedly until I fall to the ground unconscious.

[Jason @ May 8th 2008 8:25AM]

I've had this phone since last wee,. when you were able to order it via *611. I like it very much and most people who have it already are surprised how small it is. Its nice but as far as I can tell youtube videos do not play on the phone. So the full HTML browser is a bit of an over statement. Head on over to Howard Forums and read through everyones posts to get some opinions from people who have had the phone for a week now.

[Jason @ May 8th 2008 9:29AM]

Pass.

No Diamond or Raphael, no care.

[Achilles @ May 8th 2008 10:44AM]

+1 ^^

[Darius @ May 8th 2008 11:23AM]

Wait. Unless I'm reading this wrong, this has fully functional bluetooth? Doesn't Verizon ALWAYS cripple it so you can't swap files over OBEX (a lovely way to make sure you have to buy new ringtones from their ridiculously overpriced store) and you can't use DUN?
My VX8700 cries at night from nightmares of Verizon beating its bluetooth senseless.

[Irene Rojas @ May 8th 2008 2:17PM]

So, if Verizon launched it, where is it on their website? I don't see it.

[Brian @ May 8th 2008 7:44PM]

Wow i'm sorry but this is a ripoff, I purchased a brand new T-Mobile WING for $200 +$50 rebate. This vzw phone has 1/16th of the functionality and costs a lot more.
Verizon needs to start dealing with HTC and quite using their crappy proprietary network and go GSM like the rest of the world.
I suppose I should bend over and accept my flame-age.

[JerryA @ May 9th 2008 2:42PM]

Agree. You can get a proper PPC with a sliding keyboard, wifi, gps, etc for that much or less and it will have a full OS.

[El Taco @ May 8th 2008 10:19PM]

does it play Doom mobile?

is there such a thing as Doom mobile?

[Rose @ May 10th 2008 6:58PM]

Anyone?

[FuckyouFags @ May 18th 2008 12:11PM]

Ok so to everyone who has said the Iphone kicks the glydes ass, well no fucking DUH!! the Iphone is meant to me a mini-computer with all the functions its able to do but when it all boils down to it the Iphone is a pile because how many times has apple had to upgrade the firmware since its release? from people hacking into the phone for free service and unlimited internet usage. and since the phone was designed for TEXTING the qwerty style keyboard fits the purpose dead on. and if you can't find info on the Glyde then your should stop using the internet since you can just type in samsung glyde into google's search bar and get over 100,000+ results.