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LG intros two i-mode handsets, meet the KG291 and KE590
LG's pressed a bit of love into Italian provider Wind's hand recently with the exclusive LG KE590 (left) and KG291 i-mode handsets. The KG291 slider features a 1.3 megapixel camera, 7 MB of internal memory to store pics, MP3's and vids -- plus microSD expansion -- Bluetooth, and 4 / 100 hours of talk and standby time. The pricier KE590 comes equipped with a 2 megapixel shooter, 56 MB of memory, and the same talk and standby time as the KG291. Both handsets are tri-band GSM jobbies, and with the KG's price marked at €99 (roughly $150) and no word on the KE -- though we expect a similar entry level price point -- we expect these'll be popular once they land in Wind retail shops.[Via UnwiredView]
O2, Telstra pull plug on i-mode
Yeah, NTT DoCoMo's i-mode mobile data service does alright in Japan -- in fact, we curse the heavens every day that we aren't there to enjoy it -- but it has been met with considerably less success in the twelve other countries where it's offered in licensed form. O2 and Telstra are both phasing out their i-mode offerings -- O2 in 2009, Telstra in December -- with O2 saying that despite extremely high satisfaction among its i-mode users, a general lack of hardware available to support the service (isn't it just a deck of content on a 3G phone?) prevents it from moving forward. Of course, this doesn't spell the end of either carrier's mobile content or 3G efforts -- far from it, in fact -- with Telstra encouraging users to migrate to Next G.
Verizon preps to launch Motorola SLVR
Looks like Sprint won't have bragging rights after all as Verizon Wireless preps to be the first national carrier to launch the CDMA version of Motorola's popular SLVR phone. From the L7 to the L7c, the feature set has remained the same from with a 262,000 color display, VGA camera, expandable memory via microSD, and bluetooth. We still can't figure out why Motorola didn't up the resolution on the camera like its i-mode cousin though. Stay tuned for the price details! Update: Verizon is not the first national carrier to launch the SLVR L7c. This device was launched in November 2006 by Sprint. The device is currently an exclusive to Best Buy locations.
