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Broadcom's new chips could put fast LTE in your budget smartphone
While entry-level smartphones are getting to be quite good these days, few of them have fast LTE; many have to make do with either basic LTE or 3G. If Broadcom is successful with its just-revealed M320 and M340 system-on-chip designs, though, advanced 4G could soon be very affordable. The new chips respectively bundle dual- and quad-core processors with 150 Mbps LTE radios, making it easier for small firms to ship cheap handsets (Broadcom expects sub-$300 pricing) with speedy internet access. They're already integrated with Android 4.4 KitKat, too, so companies don't always have to fuss over software support. Broadcom isn't saying when phones with the new chips will reach the market, but it's currently delivering sample units to "leading" manufacturers.
Samsung's m320 arrives on Virgin Mobile Canada
There ain't anything fancy about Samsung's m320, but that's why it's completely free on a 3-year contract. A number of months after splashing down on Sprint, the flip phone has arrived in the Great North, bringing with it Bluetooth, a VGA camera, speakerphone, calling / texting capabilities and a 1.9-inch 145 x 128 pixel inside display. Oh, and if you're looking for the no-strings-attached version, that'll run you $79.99.[Via MobileSyrup]
Sprint outs Motorola i365 and V950 with Samsung M220, M320 -- no Touch Diamond yet
Even though all signs are pointing to a release later this month, we'll admit -- we were still secretly hoping that the rumored September 2 date would somehow magically hold for Sprint's release of the Touch Diamond. Even so, the carrier is reeling in some decent -- if not totally expected -- booty today in the form of the Motorola i365 and Renegade V950 alongside Samsung's M220 and M320 flips. The i365 becomes the baddest-ass phone in Sprint's iDEN arsenal, sporting what they call a "monolith form factor" (badass speak for "candybar," we think), mil-spec everything, and GPS. As Direct Connect goes, the V950 is pretty much everything the i365 is not, eschewing iDEN for QChat and offering all the creature comforts of a modern featurephone -- music player, camera, external controls, and a pair of decent displays for starters -- and although Sprint calls this one "ultra-rugged" as well, we don't think we could heave it against a wall quite as many times as we could the i365. From Samsung, the M220 and M320 are simple 1xRTT flips with essentially the same specs as one another, though the M320 tacks on a VGA camera (so in other words, it really may as well not have a camera, either). All four handsets are available now.Read - Samsung M220, M320Read - Motorola i365Read - Motorola Renegade V950
Sprint getting Katana Eclipse in more colors, Rumor replacement?
We've been slipped a handy little document that indicates the dates that Sprint is currently targeting for the release of a few of its fall hotties, and although we already knew some of this stuff, it's always good to have some corroborating evidence in these situations. First up, the Motorola Renegade V950, i365, and Samsung M220 and M320 are all still apparently locked for September 2, as is the Touch Diamond. We've heard a groundswell of concern from tipsters that the Touch Diamond may have been bumped out to October -- it certainly wouldn't surprise us, given our jaded, overwhelmingly pessimistic personalities -- but here's hoping, anyway. It also looks like the just-released Katana Eclipse in silver will be getting pink and black siblings come October 16, along with an "LG LX600 Messaging Handset." We're not sure what the LX600 might be beyond what a confidentiality-bound FCC filing tells us, but the Rumor is getting a little long in the tooth, so it could conceivably be replacement device or a slightly higher-end QWERTY set that would sit somewhere above the Rumor in the lineup.
Sprint prepping Motorola i365, Renegade, and a pair of Samsungs
Okay, Samsung, we get it: you're really good at pounding out the cheap clamshells. Point taken. Oh, what's that, you say? You still feel like you have something to prove? Oh, well then by all means, dump another couple $20 flips on Sprint! Please, we insist. As expected, it looks like we'll all have the fabulous opportunity to pick up our choice of the M220 or M320 for $19.99 come September 2, offering Bluetooth, speakerphone, and in the case of the M320, a VGA camera.Out of the Moto camp, we get the i365 ruggedized brickphone for iDEN fanboys and fangirls -- you know who you are, so stop looking around -- which will run $90 and include Bluetooth despite its early-90s appeal. Finally, the most exciting of the foursome has to be the V950 Renegade, but excitement comes at a cost: $199.99, to be exact. In this case, your pair of Benjamins is going to net you QChat capability, Bluetooth, a 2 megapixel cam, microSD expansion, and external music controls, which makes it just about the coolest Direct Connect phone going. Line starts over here, folks.[Thanks, anonymous tipster]%Gallery-30004%
Leaked Sprint roadmap reveals slew of releases through September?
Though the document doesn't exactly look magazine-quality, this is a case where we'd argue that it doesn't have to be to be real; it's clearly for internal use only, for one thing, and secondly, we don't know where else the picture of that new Sanyo Katana Eclipse would come from. The Eclipse is just one of several pretty nifty releases claimed to be lined up between now and September, with the Motorola VE20 Vegas and a pair of data cards joining it on August 17. September should bring the Motorola i365 and V950 Renegade, Samsung m220 and m320, and the HTC MP6950 -- which we assume to be either the Touch Diamond or Touch Pro -- clearly in desperate need of an actual name by the time it launches. Go-go gadget, product marketing team![Thanks, Owen]
