Verizon Wireless, the second largest North American mobile carrier, has, as of today, a new handset in its line-up of products. Called "Verizon Wireless Blitz", the new device is presented as a "messaging phone" targeted towards "heavy texters or those who simply want to keep in touch."
The Blitz has a pretty weird form factor, somehow resembling Motorola's unconfirmed
Alexander smartphone. One of the handset's main attractions is its full QWERTY keyboard that slides out vertically so as to unveil a set of keys that should allow users to write text messages, emails or instant messages with ease.
The rest of the features that Verizon's Blitz comes with include a 2.2 inch TFT display with 262K colors and 220 x 176 pixels, dual-band CDMA connectivity (800 / 1900 MHz), VZ Navigator with turn by turn directions, stereo Bluetooth, Music player, Playlist creator and manager, V CAST Music with Rhapsody, a 2.5mm audio jack, speakerphone (with a dedicated key) Mobile Web 2.0, email and Instant Messaging, Chaperone Child, SMS and MMS capabilities, Voice Mail, Hearing Aid compatibility, alarm clock, world clock, stopwatch, calendar, calculator, notepad and expandable memory (up to 4GB). There is also a 1.3 Megapixel camera with self-timer but no flash nor auto focus.
Verizon Wireless Blitz weighs 5.1 ounces (144 grams) and, when closed, it measures 3.5 x 2.6 x 0.7 inches (99 x 73 x 19.8 millimeters). Its battery should be capable of providing up to 4.6 hours of talk-time or up to 280 hours of stand-by time.
The new Blitz is offered by Verizon for $119.99 with a contract agreement for two years. After a $50 online discount, though, the weird-looking handset can be acquired for only $69, which means that it falls into the "affordable messaging phones" category, together with the
Samsung Messager, recently released in the US via both MetroPCS and Cricket.
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