Sep 23, 2010 15:21 GMT  ·  By

Kyocera and Sprint have just announced the availability of the new Sanyo Vero clamshell, starting next month. The handset will be available through the carrier's direct ship sales channels including Business Sales, Telesales and Web sales.

While this is not a major release, Sanyo Vero is one of those “cute” cheap phones that are usually ideal for consumers looking for an intuitive and easy to use phone.

The phone's huge keypad, strong battery life and a large-font option for easy reading are the main features that seem appealing for the senior and youth market.

“So much attention being paid to the growing market for smartphones, but there remains a robust demand for an extremely affordable handset like Vero that looks good and does a fantastic job with the basics like calls and messaging,” said Yasuhiro Oishi, vice president of sales and marketing at Kyocera Communications Inc.

“Vero's combination of features and value make it ideally suited to seniors, kids and anyone who wants a dependable, affordable communication tool,” added Osihi.

Besides its medium-sized 2.4-inch QVGA display, the clamshell also features a “grippable” soft-black finish and an attractive external 1.3-inch OLED glow-thru display for caller ID and clock.

Sanyo Vero sports a low-end 1.3-megapixel camera, WAP 2.0 for downloading ringers, games and screensavers, a superior speakerphone, and Automatic Speech Recognition software (ASR) to dial numbers or launch phone functions.

Vero also supports Sprint Family Locator, which uses GPS technology to locate a phone and displays the location on an interactive map, and includes Parental Controls.

Sprint recommends its subscribers the $49.99 Sprint's Everything Messaging plan, which says it matches perfectly for Sanyo Vero users (excludes taxes and surcharges). Sprint's Everything Messaging plans include unlimited text, picture- and video-messaging.

Anyway, the low-end clamshell will be available starting October 10 for just $9.99 with a new two-year service agreement, after a $50 mail-in rebate (price excludes taxes and surcharges).

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