i580
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Motorola's rugged i580 gets fittingly doused in yellow for Sprint
It's not that we didn't appreciate Motorola's rugged i580, but even for a beater phone, it just struck us as atypically drab. At long last, Sprint is looking to remedy that very complaint by pushing the all-weather clamshell out with a shockingly yellow accent. The "highly visible" new hue can handle even the nastiest of environments without cracking, and the Direct Connect support means that you and your pals can chirp away as much as you like. Other features include GPS (TeleNav), Bluetooth, 1.3 megapixel camera and up to 1GB of optional removable memory. Folks sick and tired of breaking their handset (or huge, huge fans of yellow) can snap one up now for $119.99 on a two-year contract.[Via MobileBurn]
Motorola i9, others coming to Sprint this week?
We've seen a number of launch date leaks for Sprint courtesy of partner Brightpoint in the past; generally, they tend to be pretty accurate, so we're going to go ahead and put some weight to this latest one. Looks like we can expect Nextel to pick up the Motorola i9 on Wednesday -- Boost got it a little over a month ago, you might recall -- along with the ancient i580 in yellow. Brightpoint also reels in the Palm Treo Pro a few days earlier than Sprint's official date, while the LG Rumor 2 launches a few days later on the 15th or the 29th; Brightpoint's wording is a little odd here, so it's hard to tell exactly how it'll shake out. Finally, we have a camera-free version of the BlackBerry 8350i in the works, a logical product for RIM to be taking on considering the phone's all-business roots.[Via phoneArena]
Motorola, Chicago Cubs intro "wireless bullpen"
Reaching deep into its bag of marketing tricks, Motorola is working with Major League Baseball's Chicago Cubs to install its i580 iDEN clamshells at Wrigley Field to create the "League's first wireless bullpen communication system." We're hard-pressed to find the difference between a "wireless bullpen communication system" and "a couple of Nextels mounted on the wall," but as the name implies, the phones will give managers the capability to get through to the bullpen from the dugout without all those pesky wires that plague traditional systems. Tonight's game marks the first for the new system, after which the phone used to make the first call will be immortalized for all to see at the MLB Hall of Fame in Cooperstown (no, seriously). For the record, the i580 supports Bluetooth, so don't be surprised if you catch Dusty Baker sporting a chic headset in the dugout.
Motorola's new ruggedized i580 iDEN clamshell
If push-to-talk isn't too sissy for you now that those Cingular kids can do it, Motorola is prepping a rugged version of their i870 iDEN phone, the i580. The phone has the same WiDEN connectivity, PTT (of course), Bluetooth, 1.3 megapixel camera, and dual displays of the i870, though the external display on the i580 is a smaller grayscale one. The phone does lose the external MP3 controls, though it can still play your tunes off of the internal microSD slot. Of course, the main addition is the rubberized shell and military grade resistance to rain, dust, shock, and vibration that the new handset includes. The i580 should be available in Q2 of this year for an undetermined price.[Thanks, Allen]
