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Sharp FX Plus for AT&T quietly goes on sale at Walmart
After playing peek-a-boo on a Walmart brochure last week, the Sharp FX Plus just became a bona fide reality. Featured as an exclusive to the retain chain, the Sidekick-emulating Android handset has its own piece of real estate on its online store. The AT&T phone's offered for free with a two-year contract ($350 without the commitment), though it's currently backordered. We're not seeing anything new on the spec sheet: it comes preloaded with Android 2.2, has a 3.2-inch display, and holds a grand total of 512MB internal memory (expandable to 32GB via microSD). Throwing a three megapixel camera into the mix doesn't earn any wows, either, but to be fair, it's meant to be a respectable yet inexpensive option for messaging fanatics. And it has a plus at the end of its name -- that's gotta count for something, right?
Sharp FX Plus for AT&T caught on Walmart brochure, shows off its Froyo side
Just as paper adds fuel to a fire, so does an official Walmart brochure with images of new phones. The latest exclusive to come out of Wally World is the Sharp FX Plus (Google lawsuit, anyone?), an Android 2.2-powered follow-up to last year's blip on the AT&T radar. The photo confirms that this is indeed identical to the puzzling Sharp Android slider that appeared in fuzzy renders two months ago, only with an AT&T logo on the bottom to make it look all the more official. The brochure indicates the FX Plus will feature Froyo pre-installed (upgradeable to Gingerbread soon enough, we assume), a 3.2-inch display, and Audience's earSmart noise cancellation technology. It's unclear when we'll see it hit store shelves or how much it'll set us back; even if we knew, the phone isn't likely to deter a lot of keyboard lovers from getting something as desirable as the Samsung i927. At least AT&T's QWERTY Android lineup is filling out fast after a lengthy drought. [Thanks, Billy]
Sharp keeps going with the Sidekick look, intros FX for AT&T
Sharp, you see, hasn't had much luck with its North American phone efforts as of late -- they've made almost all of the now-dead Sidekick series, and the Kin... well, you know how that ended up working out. So on that note, we seriously wish these guys the very best of luck with their first non-Sidekick, non-Kin entry in the US market in as long as we can remember: the FX for AT&T (which looks curiously like a Sidekick, actually). This puppy pairs a touchscreen with a QWERTY slide and just a 2 megapixel camera -- not particularly high-end -- but interestingly also features support for AT&T's FLO TV-based Mobile TV service, making it a nice upgrade for Quickfire users. It'll be available next Sunday, July 25 for $99.99 on contract after $50 mail-in rebate; in the meantime, follow the break for the full press release.
