KatanaLx
Latest
Sanyo Katana LX now available on Sprint
From rumor to sale in about two months' time -- not bad. The Sanyo Katana LX is now available through Sprint, offering a worthy replacement to the aging Katana II at the same price point, $49.99 on contract after rebates. Fashion is the name of the game here, thanks to a trendy see-through front cover revealing an external display underneath and availability in three collect-'em-all colors: Liquid Graphite, Pacific Blue, and Elegant Pink. You're also going to get GPS, Bluetooth, and a VGA cam -- but one thing you aren't going to get is EV-DO, so steer clear if you have a need for speedy bits.[Thanks, Chuck and Jorge]
Sanyo Katana LX for Sprint rears its shiny head
So that's where the external display is! From the FCC documentation, we couldn't really make out what was up with Sanyo's Katana LX -- a phone that's allegedly destined to replace the lowly Katana II -- but it turns out that the display is hidden under a semi-translucent casing. This is a trick we've seen employed by various manufacturers in the past, often with lovely results, and it's looking pretty solid this time around, too. With any luck we'll see this one in the flesh next month. Follow the break for another glamor shot, if you're so inclined.
Sprint's Sanyo Katana LX gets the FCC rundown
That rumored Katana II replacement, the creatively-named Katana LX, is looking more real than ever now that the FCC's labs have put it through the ringer. If the remainder of the rumor ends up checking out, the LX ended up passing the federal checkpoint just in the nick of time en route to an April launch. One thing that concerns us just a tad is that we're having a hard time finding an external display or a camera, though we imagine it's possible that one or both are crammed into that black area near the hinge; if not, this bad boy's going to make a pretty miserable Katana II successor since the older model carried both features. Needless to say, EV-DO isn't in the cards either way.
QChat phones, others launching on Sprint mid-April?
Word on the street is that customers might be getting their first crack at Sprint's QChat wares rather soon -- April 16, to be exact. The news comes from phoneArena, which reports that the LG LX400 (pictured) will be launching alongside Sanyo's PRO-200 and PRO-700 on that fateful day, presumably along with the Direct Connect tech (and iDEN heir apparent) itself. The LG is rumored to be coming in at an SRP of $279.99, while the two Sanyos check in at $249.99 and $269.99, respectively. Also slated for April launches are the BlackBerry Curve 8330 in "titanium" along with Sanyo's Katana LX, a replacement for the Katana II that'll presumably keep its slim profile but carry over the forgettable VGA cam.
