Motorola A4500
(Credit: PhoneScoop)While the Verizon Wireless and Apple talks are dominating headlines these days, the iPhone isn't for everyone and it looks like there might be two other noteworthy devices that are headed Verizon's way. More specifically, two QWERTY smartphones from HTC and Motorola.
The first handset, the Motorola A4500, is almost a lockdown for the carrier, considering that it was outed by the FCC. As PhoneScoop points out, the A4500 has similarities to the Motorola Q9c/Motorola Q9m but adds quad-band world roaming, Wi-Fi, a 2-megapixel camera, and a fingerprint scanner. The Windows Mobile 6.1 device will also offer stereo Bluetooth and EV-DO support.
The second smartphone is the HTC XV6175. This is rumored to be the CDMA variant of the HTC Snap, which we saw debut at CTIA 2009. This news comes as Engadget Mobile says it has "unearthed" a rendering of the XV6175 sans Verizon branding, though it's not clear where the site found the image. While not very concrete, it wouldn't surprise us to see the smartphone land with the U.S. carrier. At CTIA, HTC said it would bring an unlocked GSM version of the e-mail-centric device, the S522, to the United States, but already there have been sightings of a T-Mobile-branded Snap and a Sprint variant.
As always, we must warn you to take these rumors with a grain a salt. We'll keep you updated with any new information or official confirmation from the carriers or manufacturers.
HTC Snap
(Credit: HTC )The Nokia E71x, the LG Neon, the Samsung Magnet--seems like messaging phones are all the rage at CTIA 2009 and now you can add another one to the list. The HTC Snap.
HTC kicked off the show Wednesday morning by introducing the Snap, its newest QWERTY device. We haven't seen one in this form factor from the smartphone manufacturer in a while (think back to the T-Mobile Dash) and given the design, it's no surprise that the handset is optimized for e-mail and messaging.
In fact, HTC thinks e-mail is so important it has created a new feature called Inner Circle that prioritizes your e-mails based on your preferences. By pressing the dedicated Inner Circle button, the HTC Snap will bring e-mails from a preselected group of people to the top of your in-box so you can read and reply to them immediately.
The new functionality was created in response to a Harris Interactive study that found 44 percent of U.S. adults are overwhelmed by the amount of e-mail they receive, and 55 percent of U.S. adults prioritize five or fewer people with whom they communicate via e-mail.
The HTC Snap offers Microsoft Direct Push Technology for real-time e-mail delivery and automatic synchronization with your Outlook calendar, tasks, and contacts via Exchange Server as well as support for POP3 and IMAP e-mail accounts. The smartphone's full QWERTY keyboard also features "extra-large domed keys" to provide for a better typing experience.
Moving beyond messaging, the Snap will run Windows Mobile 6.1 and comes with integrated Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0, GPS, 256MB ROM/192MB RAM, a microSD/SDHC expansion slot, and 2-megapixel camera/camcorder. The smartphone measures 4.5 inches tall by 2.4 inches wide by 0.4 inch deep and has a 2.4-inch QVGA nontouch display.
The HTC Snap is expected to be available in select channels during the second quarter of 2009 and will be rolled out worldwide during the second half of the year. Here in the States, we'll get our on own version of the Snap, called the HTC S522, this summer and it will support AT&T's 850/1900MHz HSDPA bands, though it'll be sold unlocked and not through the carrier. Pricing was not revealed at this time.
We hope to get a better look at the HTC Snap during the MobileFocus event on Wednesday night, so check back for some hands-on photos and video. In the meantime, you can check out some images of the smartphone below.
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