Yesterday, AT&T announced a line of quick messaging mobile phones, especially designed for fast and easy messaging. The devices in question are the Panatech Matrix, which became available as of yesterday, Samsung Propel and Panatech Slate, which will hit stores in late October. In November, the mobile carrier will bring users the AT&T Quickfire.

All these phones have full QWERTY keypads, thus allowing everyone to send text, videos, pictures and use instant messaging with maximum ease.

"This new line of mobile phones will be a hit with both the text messaging generation and users who want to more easily use other functions on their phone, from mobile e-mail to typing in a search term on the pre-installed Yellowpages.com," said the Vice President of Devices and Product Development for AT&T's wireless operations, Carlton Hill. "For a lot of reasons, more buttons are better."

As noted above, one of the phones from the new line is the AT&T Quickfire, a slider with a 2.8-inch, 256K color, TFT 240 x 320 touchscreen, which offers, aside from the full QWERTY keyboard, the possibility to read messages both in portrait and landscape mode. The device also comes with a 1.3 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, 29 MB of internal memory, along with the microSD card slot.

Users will also be able to download music using this device, by using AT&T's 3G network with Napster Mobile and eMusic Mobile. As already stated, the Quickfire will be available in November, in orange lime and silver, for $99 after the signing of a two-year agreement and after a mail-in rebate.

Panatech Matrix is a double-keypad device that features a 1.3 megapixel camera, Mobile Email, AT&T Mobile Music and Video, and much more. The price for this one is $79.99 (with a two-year agreement and after the mail-in rebate), just like for Samsung Propel, which has almost all the features of the Matrix.

The Panatech Slate is presented as the world's thinnest device with a full QWERTY keyboard, and delivers a 1.3 megapixel camera, Mobile Email and Bluetooth, along with instant messaging. The price for Slate one will be set at $49.99.