PantechPocket
Latest
Pantech Pocket review
Hundreds of smartphones of all shapes, sizes and colors pass through the doors of Engadget HQ every year, so it's natural for a few oddball devices with crazy form factors to end up in our hands from time to time. The Motorola Flipout, LG DoublePlay, Kyocera Echo and Samsung DoubleTime are all instances of carriers trying something new, seeing what sticks. Of course, pushing out a phone with an unproven form factor is a huge gamble for a mobile provider, and as a result they only ship to stores in low volume and rarely receive any kind of marketing campaign at its launch. Indeed, the vast majority of these types of phones are low-end devices aimed at young adults and first-time smartphone buyers, but we still find it adventurous to take a break from the monotony of black slabs and try out something completely different. The Pantech Pocket is definitely unique -- not because it flips or slides a weird way or because it has two and a half screens, but because its 4-inch display, whose 4:3 aspect ratio promises 20 percent more horizontal real estate. Did AT&T's gamble on the display pay off? Is it worth the $50 that AT&T demands with a two-year commitment attached? Time to find out below. %Gallery-142128%
Samsung Captivate Glide, Doubletime and Pantech Pocket join AT&T's Android brigade on November 20th
Two flavors of TouchWiz and an oddly-dimensioned handset are making their way to AT&T's lineup come next week. Sammy's QWERTY duo, the Tegra 2-powered Captivate Glide and Froyo-based Doubletime, along with Pantech's uniquely formed Pocket will make their US carrier debut on November 20th, offering a little bit of everything for Joe Consumer. There's no official word on the contracted pricing for this Android trio, but you shouldn't have to wait much longer for that essential bit of info. Update: And just like that, official pricing for AT&T's latest trio has arrived. If you're curious, both the Pocket and Doubletime will retail for $50, while Sammy's Captivate Glide will set you back a solid $150. Naturally, each of these figures assume you'll sign a new contract. If you're of the skeptical type, just hop the break for confirmation.
Pantech Pocket for AT&T hands-on at CTIA E&A 2011 (video)
It's the glitz and glamour that typically defines shows such as this week's CTIA Enterprise & Applications 2011, but Pantech chose to fly under the radar this time around. Sure, the company didn't have its own multi-million dollar booth at the event, but it still at least had a significant product to show off. We were given the opportunity to spend some brief time playing with the Pantech Pocket, a follow-up to the crossover with better specs and another unique form factor. The pocket features a 4-inch SVGA (800 x 600) display, which means you can expect the device to be wider and shorter than your typical handset; in terms of width, we felt as though we were holding a 4.7-incher. We noticed, however, that its shorter length allowed for additional places to grip, which made it at least easier to hold in our hand as a result. Specwise, the Pocket is a Gingerbread phone running on Android 2.3.4, uses a similar UI to what's found on the Crossover, offers a textured scratch-resistant battery cover, has a 5MP rear cam with 720p video capture (and no LED flash or front-facing camera) and is powered by a 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8255 single-core CPU and 512MB of RAM. No pricing has been set on the Pocket, but it's certain to be gracing the midrange section of your neighborhood AT&T store starting November 6th. Gallery and vid below. %Gallery-136393% Zachary Lutz contributed to this hands-on.
AT&T starts CTIA off right by introducing five new smartphones to its Android lineup
At CTIA last March, AT&T stole the show by announcing its intent to purchase T-Mobile US. This time around the news is a bit more modest, but the company is still hoping to give us a bit of a shock by introducing a litany of new handsets right on time for the holiday season. The carrier promised the release of 12 Android devices throughout the course of the year, and this week's announcement pushes the 2011 running count to 19. Not too shabby. Naturally, we're looking for quality more than quantity, so we couldn't wait to dig into the devices that are coming out. Check out all five after the break, along with a quick video teaser. %Gallery-136207%
