Virgin Shuttle hands-on

As 3G sliders go, the Shuttle won't rank terribly high on anyone's hot list, but as Virgin Mobile handsets go, specifically -- well, the Shuttle is pure gold. We toyed with it a bit at CTIA, and yeah, okay, it's not going to blow any minds. But if we put on our prepaid hats for just a moment, we can see how this is exactly what the doctor ordered: it's definitely the best-looking and feeling handset in Virgin's lineup, and at the same time, it doesn't come close to encroaching on Helio's higher-end territory. Granted, the 3G support doesn't mean terribly much considering the small screen (and we dare not mention "Virgin" and "tether" in the same sentence), so the Shuttle's gonna have to push units on the strength of its strapping good looks and support for Buddy Beacon. We think it'll manage.

Virgin Shuttle hands-on

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 15th 2008 3:49PM]

Oh the Buddy Beacon... great idea, poor execution. I was pretty geeked about the idea when I got a Drift the week it came out but soon learned how lame it is. First, the likelihood of you knowing another person with Helio is slim. And even if all your friends *were* on it, it's still not that useful. You have to manually initiate a broadcast that just sends a one-time message to all your "buddies". Things may have changed since then but there was no option to keep sending updates or have it track you in any way, most likely because of privacy concerns. The receiving buddy has to also manually check their buddy map thing to see where you are. Once they do, you're now just a blip on a tiny map. A text messaging saying "Hey, I'm at _____ if you want to meet me for a drink." is much more effective. It's definitely a nice start for location based services in its current state, completely useless.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 15th 2008 4:02PM]

FINALLY! 3G. i am actually going to buy this phone when it comes out, the day it comes out.

i wonder what the screen res it...

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 15th 2008 11:04PM]

It has a 176x220 i believe, it only plays videos in a res of 176x144 or smaller, and can take pics up to 1280x800, or 1280x720. dont feel like checking right now.

the video streaming service is quite good though, with a lot of music videos, as well as a couple of free content things like trailers, and the music streaming works out really good as well.

the phone is always connected, at least where i live, and has a relatively good speaker for playing music.

for $99, its a very good deal.

[derX Posted Sep 15th 2008 8:44PM]

Okay, was I the only person who had to do a double-take upon reading "Virgin Shuttle hands-on."

WTF, they should really think about these product names before finalizing them; it's dripping with innuendo.

And no, I do not want to grasp your Virgin Shuttle.