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LG Wine at CTIA 2009
(Credit: Nicole Lee/CNET)Even though the LG Wine was released back in January, we weren't able to have a hands-on with the device until CTIA 2009. The Wine comes in this nice burgundy color to go along with the wine theme, and is a simple mid-tier flip phone from U.S. Cellular. There's also a white version.
The most unique thing about the Wine is that it has four dedicated hot keys underneath the display. They correspond to the messaging interface, the alarm clock, the images folder, and the U.S. Cellular's easyedge Web portal. It also has a very roomy and tactile keypad with huge numbers on the keys for easier legibility.
The LG Wine has four dedicated hot keys
(Credit: Nicole Lee/CNET)It has fairly simple features like a 1.3-megapixel camera, a speakerphone, Bluetooth, and voice command. It's available from U.S. Cellular for $29.95 with a two-year agreement, though you can get it without a contract for $179.95.
The U.S. Cellular LG Banter is on the far left, followed by the Alltel LG Banter in the middle, and the LG Rumor 2 is on the far right.
(Credit: Nicole Lee/CNET)As you might recall, the LG Banter is Alltel's version of the LG Rumor 2. Well, U.S. Cellular will also offer the phone, and we managed to take a slightly closer look at the LG Banter at CTIA 2009.
The LG Banter's keyboard is slightly different from the LG Rumor 2's.
(Credit: Nicole Lee/CNET)Indeed, it looks a lot like the LG Rumor 2, but it has a slightly more rectangular design, plus it has interchangeable faceplates. The faceplates are pretty easy to take on and off--just slip your finger nail in around the edge to pry it off. So far, the Banter has silver and green face plates. The Banter's keyboard is noticeably different; the two soft keys for landscape mode are now incorporated into the keyboard itself (The Rumor 2's soft keys for landscape mode are on the right side of the display) and the emoticon key on the Rumor 2 is not present on the Banter.
Features, which include a 1.3-megapixel camera, a music player, Bluetooth, a microSD card slot, and lots of messaging options like support for work email, are the same as the Rumor 2's. It's only $20 with an Alltel two-year service agreement. It's available from U.S. Cellular, as well, but for $50.
Motorola Q9c--lime green
(Credit: Motorola)CTIA 2008 is still one day away from its official start, but the news is already starting to trickle in. Motorola got a jump-start as it, as well as Alltel and U.S. Cellular, announced the addition of the Motorola Q9c to the carriers' line-ups, including a new lime-green version. Both providers will also offer a more traditional black version if you don't feel like getting too wild and crazy with your phone colors. (And how in the world did Moto settle on lime green?)
Looks aside, the Q9c for Alltel and U.S. Cellular is much like the Moto Q9c for Sprint, which we reviewed late last year. The Windows Mobile 6 smartphone features EV-DO, Bluetooth with A2DP support, a 1.3-megapixel camera, DataViz's Documents to Go suite, and 128MB Flash memory.
Alltel plans to have the Motorola Q9c in stores and online this summer for a lovely $99.99 (after a $100 mail-in rebate). U.S. Cellular's official pricing and release date were not available at press time, but we'll update you as soon as we get the information.
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