DALLAS—The holiday retail season kicked into high gear as T-Mobile USA Inc., Virgin Mobile and others introduced a bevy of new handsets.
First up was Bang & Olufsen, best known for high-end consumer electronics, which launched a mobile handset developed with Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. dubbed the “Serene.” The phone offers “extreme convenience” and “unconventional” operations; it is a black, folding square with the screen on the bottom panel and a circle of dialing options on the upper panel. The company does not yet offer specifications on the phone (except to note it offers voice-activated dialing), or information on air interface technologies, features or price. (Of course, if you have to ask, you probably cannot afford it.)
Separately, Nokia Corp. and T-Mobile USA Inc. announced the 6133 handset, a quad-band phone with integrated music player, 1.3 megapixel camera and the carrier’s myFaves service offering unlimited domestic calling to five frequently used numbers. The 6133’s music can be accessed with wired or wireless stereo Bluetooth headsets and its memory can be expanded with an optional MicroSD memory card. The carrier sells the phone for $100 with a two-year service contract.
Finally, the “Slice” from Virgin Mobile USA L.L.C. and UTStarcom Inc. eschews “thin” to go with “flat”—the bar-style phone is less than a half-inch deep—as in, “flat as a pancake.” The device will be available online by Nov. 2, at the “slim” price of $50 with no contract. The phone is offered for Virgin Mobile USA’s Pay As You Go prepaid service and is pre-loaded with games.
