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Puma Phone review
So it's true, we're living in an age where people would shamelessly line up for certain electronics and luxurious fashion items. Why? Just because they can, and for that reason, some swanky outlets -- namely Christian Dior, Prada, Giorgio Armani, Dolce & Gabbana, and Versace -- have attempted to exploit our gadget lust by offering self-branded phones at extortionate prices. In the eyes of every-day consumers, there's really not much appeal in these soulless devices except for the logo and some extra bling, but apparently these two factors alone are enough to make some aficionados drool a river. On the other hand, Puma -- a less luxurious but naturally more accessible fashion brand -- has decided to do more than just slapping an OS skin onto its aptly-named Puma Phone. Priced at a comparably affordable £300 ($469), this Sagem-made featurephone packs a few unusual features such as a solar panel, a sports tracker, and even a virtual cougar named Dylan. Read on to find out if we could sense the Puma spirit in this device.%Gallery-99609%
Puma Phone now available somewhere you probably don't live
We never thought we'd live to see the day where we were talking on a shoe, Get Smart-style. Technology still hasn't advanced nearly enough to make authentic shoe-talking anything more than a distant dream, but the next best thing -- a phone from a shoe manufacturer -- is now available. Actually, "available" is a bit of a stretch since the Puma Phone has only launched in nine European, African, and Middle Eastern countries so far, but we'd hope that a wider launch is on the way. And hey, to be fair, we bet the solar panels on back work spectacularly in the African sun. Pricing will naturally vary by locale, retailer, and subsidy, but you can generally look to find it for about €399 ($500) SIM-free.
Puma Phone hits the FCC, its internals ripped asunder
Poor, poor Puma Phone. Barely we knew but now look upon you, chassis splayed by the rough, bitter hands at the FCC, ripped to bits like so many Marlboro wrappers. Your sacrifice is not in vain. When once we touched your plastic outsides we were told that no plans for a North American release had been made, but this official approval surely means that you'll be coming to our shores soon enough. So rest in peace, stylish featurephone -- not just in pieces.
Puma Phone hands-on
Chalk one up for Sagem and Puma who apparently just want a cell to be fun -- and somehow, we're right there with them. The obviously-named Puma Phone launched today, and for a pretty basic handset, it was drawing some reasonably large crowds at the booth. That might be thanks to some of the silly stuff like a calculator that teases you when you try an operation it deems too trivial, a pet puma on the device called Dylan (who shows up on-screen when you leave your handset untouched for a while), and an audio player with a turntable you can actually scratch -- but the real draw is probably the solar panel around back. It's quoted at a respectable 15 minutes of talk time or two hours of music playback for every hour in the sun, meaning you should theoretically be able to charge the phone even while blasting tunes (of course, the proof is in the pudding when it comes to battery claims, as always). It's not going to replace your Pre, but the Puma set is definitely geared toward a youthful active market that focuses on sports and entertainment, and you've got to admit that it's driven by a brand everybody recognizes. Sure, it's simple; sure it is at its most basic a feature phone; but all that aside, we just liked the experience of using it. We're feeling that if the companies behind this thing align themselves with the right carrier when it launches in Europe this April, it'll actually do pretty well. No plans for it to land in North America yet, but we're told that if its launch goes well it could cross the pond later this year. Follow on for a full tour and gallery of the goods!%Gallery-85726%
Puma joins forces with Sagem to birth the Puma Phone
Looks like the rumors we heard were true: august cordwainer Puma has teamed up with Sagem to make a phone -- and it's quite a looker, too. The Puma Phone (as it's called) is a lightweight little guy that boasts an integrated solar cell for charging and charge indicator to let you know how you're doing on juice, a QVGA TFT 2.8-inch capacitive touchscreen, plus a 3.2 megapixel cam with LED flash and 6x zoom. It also packs in GPS, a compass and geotagging, plus it's got a host of 'sporty' features (pedometer, stopwatch and GPS tracker)... if you're into an active lifestyle. This bad boy can be strapped to your arm when you're on the go, but don't blame us if it doesn't score you any points with the passersby. The Puma Phone will be available throughout Europe in April of this year -- no word on pricing or availability elsewhere yet. The full press release is after the break.
Pumaphone coming next week, solar power in the mix?
Puma (and partner Sagem) have thrown up a teaser site ahead of the launch of the company's first-ever phone next week -- a trend being voraciously adopted by designer brands lately -- but sadly, there's not a lot to see at the moment other than some unhelpful videos (one of which you can peep after the break). That may not have always been the case, though: Recombu is reporting that there'd previously been an all-too-brief glimpse of what appeared to be a touhscreen phone with a solar panel aboard in one of the videos, but Sagem eventually pulled the offending segment and asked that the site take down its screen capture. That's pretty lame, but the good news is that we've but a few days to wait before this thing gets all official on us. Let's hope for sun in Barcelona, eh? Update: MobileCrunch managed to snap the phone, too -- and unlike Recombu, they're not backing down.
