sch-r510
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MetroPCS finally prepping Android smartphone with LTE from Samsung?
LTE's great... but only if it's got phones and modems that can take advantage of it. Though MetroPCS beat Verizon to become the first American carrier to launch the technology, it's been scraping by so far with nothing other than the Samsung Craft, a middling dumbphone without the chops to attract the powerusers that would normally want to be involved with a 4G network anyway. Looks like that's finally about to change, though, because BGR's scored a shot of a so-called SCH-R910 -- also from Samsung -- that's running Android 2.2. It'll allegedly have backward compatibility with MetroPCS' CDMA network (naturally) along with a 1GHz Hummingbird core and 5 megapixel camera -- not a blockbuster by any stretch, but still on a whole new plane than the Craft. Rumor has it we'll see this before the end of March for somewhere between $330 and $400 contract-free; question is, will it beat Big Red's first LTE phones to market?
Samsung Wafer now available at Alltel shop
The recently announced Samsung SCH-r510 Wafer -- and at just 8.4 millimeters thin, this moniker is well deserved -- has landed at the Alltel shop, dear friends. This uber svelte XM Radio packin', EV-DO speedin' device has hit the shelves with the anybody-can-afford-it price of $49 dollars. If you aren't happy with just the XM Radio features, the Wafer also packs a memory slot (microSD) for music storage and stereo Bluetooth functionality to listen sans wires. For an entry level device and price, we're loving this tiny feature-packed handset.
Alltel rolls out Samsung "Wafer" and "Snap"
We recall (vaguely) a time when CDMA phones were notoriously clunky compared to their GSM brethren; they were thick, built like tanks, and frequently sported aerial antennas flying shamelessly beyond the hinge. Well, yeah, those days are long gone. Exhibit A: the Samsung SCH-r510 "Wafer" candybar, just introduced by Alltel, clocking in at a ridiculous 8.4 millimeters thick. For the record, that's a solid half millimeter thinner than the A727 being passed around at CES this year, a phone allegedly destined for AT&T that's still nowhere in sight. Besides EV-DO, features include a 1.3 megapixel cam and the soothing knowledge that your carrying the thinnest durned cellphone your Alltel dollars can buy. On the low end, the SCH-u340 "Snap" (known simply as the u340 on Verizon) keeps it simple, offering a monochrome external display and nothing more than 1xRTT to speed those bits along. Look for the Wafer for $70 after rebates and the Snap for $10 -- both on contract, obviously.[Thanks, Jeff]Read - Samsung r510 WaferRead - Samsung u340 Snap
Samsung prepping R510 for Alltel, U540 for VZW
Samsung is spreading the Ultra love, with its new R510 candybar for Alltel and U540 clamshell for Verizon. Both phones look to be rejiggered versions of phones we've been enjoying on other carriers for a little while now, with the SCH-R510 mirroring the T-Mobile Trace (Ultra 6.9) on specs and size for the most part, while the SCH-U540 is presumably a near (but thinner) relative to Alltel's SCH-U520. Both phones are obviously of the anorexic persuasion, but otherwise we're a bit low on details: Alltel's R510 rocks EV-DO, and most likely a microSD slot, music playback and a 1.3 or 2 megapicxel camera. The U540 will do the A2DP thing, but there's nothing much else going on. No word on when these will be hitting their respective carriers, or for how much.
