Motorola and Boost bow the i856 Debut slider

Quick: name an iDEN slider. Having trouble? Really wracking your brain over there? Well, allow us to help you out by introducing you to the i856 Debut, a just-announced model that's been rumored for Boost for the better part of 2009. The phone pushes iDEN even deeper into consumer territory and away from its traditionally business-oriented roots, featuring a funky (well, funky for iDEN, anyhow) design, stereo Bluetooth, microSD expansion to 8GB, GPS, a 1.3 megapixel cam, and that slider form factor that plays far better among Boost's youthful demo than among Nextel's decidedly heavier-duty clientele. It's available today for $169.99 (and for the record, we think we deserve a little credit for not cracking a "Motorola debuts the Debut" pun).

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 2nd 2009 2:54PM]

This is nice option for Boost really. Which is not saying much but glad to see they are getting a little bit more stylish. Now if it was a qwerty slider instead this would sell to the youthful demo. Cmon Moto you made the Rival for VZW, why not show iDEN some love!

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 3rd 2009 1:05PM]

gravyt:

Agreed. Motorola has actually a ton of phones that it can convert to work on the iDEN network for both Boost as well as Nextel. The problem, however, is (and always has been) Sprint. Sprint honestly fears that a puny 2G network can outperform it's much ballyhooed 3G CDMA network.

The reality is, Sprint wanted Nextel for nothing more than the business customers (which pretty much instantly left the minute the name Sprint was uttered) as well as the HUGE swath of spectrum that Nextel owned in the 1.9Ghz and 2.5Ghz spectrums. So, go figure.

As for this iDEN slider, it's not bad. Would love to see Sprint allow Motorola to follow this slider phone with an actual NEXTEL phone...my preference? Petition Motorola to make the Motorola KRAVE into an iDEN/WiMAX/WiFi phone...and price it around $249.99. I'd jump at it instantly.