Sprint adds LG LX290 to portfolio, Tour chuckles smugly
Next up in today’s line of handsets eager to fight their way into the pockets of the 14-and-under crowd is LG’s LX290. Available nary a day after Sprint’s BlackBerry Tour hit the scene — just to help ensure our readers would barely blink — this latest offering from Sprint features, well, basically nothing:
ENTERTAINMENT & PERSONALIZATION
- NFL Mobile Live providing live audio broadcasts of every regular season game and watch the live broadcasts of all NFL Network games. Get real-time red zone alerts, scores, stats, live NFL Network 24/7 and more. Manage your fantasy football team like a pro with up-to-the-minute insights, analysis, stats and alerts.
- 1.3 MP camera with 2x digital zoom and Picture Messaging to shoot, share, print high-resolution digital photos instantly, and upload photos directly to social networking sites.
- 2.5 mm headset jack
PRODUCTIVITY
- Sprint Navigation with GPS-enabled audio and visual turn-by-turn driving directions, one-click traffic rerouting and more than 10 million local listings
- Four conveniently-located shortcut keys for quick access to texting, email, personal calendar and alarm
- Easy, one-touch access to all your personal and work email including AOL/AIM, Yahoo!, Windows Live (Hotmail and MSN) and more
- Record a voice message and send it to as many as 25 friends at once, without even making a call
- Built-in productivity tools such as planner and scheduler, memo pad, world clock, alarm clock, calculator and more
SPECIFICATIONS
- Dimensions: 4.09 x 1.94 x 0.63 inches; 3.6 ounces
- Display: 1.33 x 1.77 inches TFT (240 x 320 pixels QVGA and 262K vibrant colors)
- Standard Lithium (LiIon) battery: up to 6 hours continuous talk time*
Imagine… A handset with specs so sparse that a 2.5mm headset jack is actually worth highlighting. Right on. The LG LX290 is available immediately for $29.99 after mail-in rebate on a 2-year contract. The line forms to the right this time.
[Via Press Release]
I know there is alot of ppl that is wanting the iphone to go to verizon but their contract with at&t isnt up till 2010.
So why would the Tour be “smug” on Sprint when only a few actually have them in hand after a “vapor” launch 2 days ago?
None of my local Sprint stores have them. After I mentioned the phone, it took the Manager to look in the system to tell me I can pay in store and then get a 2 day direct ship. Why would I want to pay $299 upfront for a phone sight unseen and wait 2-7 days for it to shop/arrive?
I went to a Verizon Store across from the Sprint store and they actually had stock and the phone was $199 instantly. I wonder how many units Verizon Moved at that price!
I realize the phone is $199 after waiting 6-8 weeks for a rebate so it nets to the same price. But the issues of not having ANY stock on the phone is puzzling at best.
This phone is super basic… Apparently supposidly being comparable to the old LX-160 that they had… Only this is a slider phone… It’s a great phone for beginning users and elderly customer base… It’s a great phone to add that completes the spectrum of customer selection…
Posted from BGR Mobile (iPhone) at: Findlay United States
Every carrier needs to keep some low-to-no feature phones in the line up for the people who really just want a voice phone. Actually, this LX-290 seems to be done well. From the cnet review, it sounds like it is made with quality, matte plastics (no greasy, fingerprinty material that only looks cool for the first 5 minutes), has solid physical build quality, and provides excellent call quality.
I am relatively savvy with consumer technology and am not an old person, yet these are all the features I ever look for in a phone. I have internet at home and work and just don’t see the value in increasing my wireless bill 30 percent or so to have an additional internet connection on a 3 inch screen. Also, I only do maybe 1-2 text messages per week, so it isn’t worth it to me to get a big bar style messaging phone that is big in your pocket and not very comfortable to talk on. This LG seems to be well-executed for what it is.