AT&T goes wild with texting, announces four QWERTY phones
By Chris Ziegler 
posted Oct 14th 2008 11:49AM
posted Oct 14th 2008 11:49AM
First up, the Pantech Matrix is available now in your choice of blue or green, with red being added on Thursday, October 16. It slides two ways -- a conventional vertical slide to reveal a numeric keypad, and a second side slider for the full QWERTY action. It's got 3G, AT&T Navigation, Video Share support, and a 1.3-megapixel cam, running $79.99 on contract with rebate. Next, the Samsung Propel apes the i620's industrial design -- but make no mistake, there's no Windows Mobile to be found here. It also does 3G and features the full host of AT&T services, packs a 1.3-megapixel cam, and will run the same $79.99 as the Matrix when it hits in late October in blue, green, red, and white with red accents. Next, the Pantech Slate is pretty appropriately named -- if its claim of being the thinnest QWERTY device in the world ends up holding water, anyway. It'll be available in late October alongside the Propel for $49.99 on contract with a 1.3-megapixel camera, but there's no high-speed data to be found in this sucker. Finally, the long-rumored Quickfire -- you may know it better as the Knick -- will come in November bearing AT&T branding and a Sidekick-esque style that'll likely appeal to the young'uns among us. It's got a touchscreen in addition to a slide-out QWERTY deal, a 1.3-megapixel camera (notice a trend here?), and 3G in your choice of orange, lime, and silver for $99.99 after you've inked up the dotted line.
I'm curious to know how much thinner the Pantech Slate is compared to the Nokia E71. Interestingly, this will be the second phone on at&t that has the "Slate" name.
I think the phone you're referring to has the color "slate" and not its official name.
derX, you are correct, thanks.
It was always my complaint that at&t didn't have these style phones the way Verizon has. Not everyone wants or needs a smartphone and the way we all love to SMS eachother these devices should sell well.
About time!
its about time !!! forget about envy and alias and crap !!
To keep it in perspective Verizon and T-Mobile have had many full qwerty's for years, and AT&T needed to get with the program awhile ago they really aren't setting any trends in the industry, and the Iphone doesn't count since Apple is the brains behind all that(marketing, pricing and availablity included)
no e63-2. I am sad.
It is possible to text on non-QWERTY handsets, or has that fact been lost somewhere?
Look at the likes of the UK, there are huge amounts of texts sent, a number of both pay monthly and PAYG tariffs offer unlimited text packages but QWERTY handsets are a tiny minority of handsets sold.
The 'SMS craze' as you seem to have dubbed it is not dependant on the hardware, it's dependant on the tariffs.
When the demand is there, the networks will enter a price war, the popularity will increase and away we go...
this is usa, the place that discovered sms only after blackberry had made it big providing email in the users pocket.
people want to appear as if they are doing big important emails, even tho they are packing a cheap feature phone, not a "crackberry".
What- no LG Xenon?
don't forget the LG Xenon
question about the quickfire.
does the screen turn with the phone like an ipod touch or can u only look at it up and down?