14 DAY TRIAL // Leaked several days ago when it was spotted in a Walmart brochure, Sharp's FX Plus Android-based smartphone has just become available for purchase for as low as $28.88 with a new two-year AT&T agreement.
Although the phone strongly resembles one of T-Mobile USA's Sidekick devices, the FX Plus will be exclusive to Walmart store and AT&T contract.
The handset features a horizontal slider form factor and comes with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, along with a full touchscreen keypad that should appeal to all those texters that prefer the messaging capabilities of a smartphone.
Those who are not acquainted with AT&T's portfolio might want to know that the FX Plus is the sequel of the original FX handset that was launched last year.
However, while the old FX model was just a basic messaging phone, the more advanced FX Plus is a real smartphone.
Sharp FX Plus comes with a 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen display with 16 million colors support and a mediocre 3-megapixel photo snapper on the back.
The phone is powered by Google's Android 2.2 (Froyo) platform and features both built-in GPS and Wi-Fi connectivity.
In addition, it appears that Sharp has included the popular Swype on-screen keyboard, as well as earSmart technology for high-quality sound.
The slider is equipped with a low-performance 600MHz processor, which puts it in the entry-level Android smartphone category.
Furthermore, the FX Plus pack 512MB of RAM, as well as microSD card slot for memory expansion (up to 32GB).
Even though the phone is delivered with Froyo on board, which might turn away Android smartphone veterans, Sharp FX Plus is an interesting hybrid device that could make a nice addition to messaging fanatics.
There is no information regarding the phone's availability at AT&T or other authorized sellers, but it is expected that Walmart will have exclusivity over the FX Plus for at least one week.
