14 DAY TRIAL // Sprint is not the only one that plans to release a QWERTY slider in the following weeks. Major carrier Verizon Wireless is about to add a new Pantech smartphone to its portfolio.
The folks over at Android and Me have been tipped off on the upcoming launch of the Pantech Star Q, the rightful successor of the Pantech Breakout, which was launched at Verizon one year ago.
However, the new Pantech smartphone comes with improved hardware and software, while keeping the same affordability trait of its predecessor.
For example, the Breakout is equipped with a 1 GHz single-core CPU, whereas Pantech Star Q will be powered by a dual-core processor clocked at 1.5 GHz.
We don’t have additional details on the CPU, but we suspect that this is the popular Qualcomm Snapdragon S4. No word on the amount of storage either, but we can safely assume Pantech Star Q will be packed with microSD card slot for memory expansion (up to 32GB).
Furthermore, the smartphone sports a decent WVGA 4.0-inch capacitive touchscreen display that supports 480 x 800 pixels resolution, though we think Pantech could have done better.
There’s also a 3-megapixel main camera on the back, as well as a VGA front-facing camera for self-portraits and video calls.
In the connectivity front, Pantech Star Q offers support for Verizon’s 4G LTE network, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0. Another selling point of the phone is the 5-row QWERTY keyboard.
Unlike Pantech Breakout, which is powered by Gingerbread, the Star Q runs Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system.
Last but not least, rumor has it that the Pantech Star Q will be available for purchase from Verizon Wireless for only $99.99 USD (80 EUR) with a new two-year agreement. We’re not sure when exactly the phone will hit shelves, but stay tuned for more updates on the matter.
