14 DAY TRIAL // Two new Philips mobile phones will be soon released in Europe as well as in Asia: Philips 198 and Philips 199, both coming as affordable, entry-level devices. The handsets have the same design, the same dimensions and the same features, except for the fact that the 199 model offers FM radio and headsets, while the 198 doesn't.
The new phones are succeeding the Philips 192, another entry-level device announced for the European market at the beginning of the year.
Like the 192 model, Philips 198 and Philips 199 are candybar phones that have a simple design and a black/white aspect that makes them pretty attractive. Weighing only 65 grams and measuring 99 x 42 x 13.5 millimeters, the handsets can be carried in almost any pocket.
The similar features included in the new Philips 198 and 199 are: a 1.5 inch CSTN color display with support for 62K colors and a 128 x 128 pixel resolution, a simple to use keypad and a 4-way navigation key, polyphonic ringtones, 3 embedded games, miniUSB, SMS and MMS capabilities, T9 predictive text input and an 800 mAh battery capable of providing up to 5 hours of talk-time and up to 20 days of stand-by time. In terms of network frequencies support, the two candybars only offer dual-band GSM connectivity (900 / 1800 MHz) with GPRS.
According to Mobile.cz, Philips 198 and Philips 199 will be first available in Russia, for retail prices corresponding to 40 Euros ($62) and respectively 45 Euros ($70). After that, the phones will also be released in Protugal, plus in other European and Asian countries.
Since the Dutch giant company Philips handed over the rights to produce its handsets to China Electronics Corp., most of the Philips phones only get to be released in Asia. It seems that in the future things will change, and, starting with the affordable 192, 198 and 199 models, Europe will get more Philips mobile devices.