FreshPhoneNews.com

The Holidays are still a long way away but it’s never too early to start shopping especially if you’re shopping for a new phone for yourself. There is a new rebate sheet circulating the blessed WWW and it goes to show that at least phone makers are getting ready for the holidays. So the ultimate question of Best Buy or Worst Buy, (no pun intended) will soon be answered. Did you cough up some hefty cash too soon or were you right in holding out for the good stuff? The highlights of the sheet feature:

• HTC Touch Pro2
• Blackberry Tour
• HTC Snap
• Motorola W845
• Motorola Crush
• LG UX310 (replaces the UX300)
• LG UX700

The show stoppers are still the smoldering HTC Touch Pro 2 and the rocking BlackBerry Tour 9630. As with all rebate sheets the final drop date for these handsets may still be a while away. The validity for the sheet is 07/17/2009 – 11/12/2009 so actual release dates can’t really be predicted but corporate America never sits idle before the Holidays so expect something good for yourself this year.

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The LG Tritan is one of the handsets that’s slated for a debut on U.S. Cellular this month. The 3 inch QVGA touchscreen handset also brings full QWERTY keyboard, full HTML browser, music player, G sensor, Bluetooth and a 3 megapixel camera. Pricing, though not confirmed, is rumored to be around the very affordable point of being less than $100 after rebate. U.S. Cellular users will be required to get a $20 monthly data plan.

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A freshly leaked memo from the halls of U.S. Cellular shows that June is all set to be one exciting month in terms of handset releases. There will be no less than five handsets out this month (if this memo pans out that is) and they range from you average Joe flip phone to a Windows Mobile smartphone. Here’s the skinny on the goods to come;

1. Motorola Hint QA30: June 4th. Re-release of the somewhat problematic handset.
2. LG UX840 Tritan: June 8th. Slider with 3-inch QVGA touchscreen, full QWERTY keyboard, full HTML browser, music player, G sensor, Bluetooth and 3 megapixel camera. Will require US Cellular’s premium data/Internet package for $19.95 per month.
3. Samsung Axle R311: June 10th. A basic clam shell feature phone.
4. Samsung Code: June 18th. Windows Mobile 6.1 candybar with front QWERTY keyboard, Bluetooth and 2 megapixel camera. Will require Windows Mobile Package.
5. BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8320: Expected release late June, possibly around June 20th.
6. LG UX700: Late July/Early August. Slim candy bar with a 3-inch touchscreen, virtual QWERTY keyboard, full HTML browser, music player, Bluetooth, and a 2 megapixel camera. Will require U.S. Cellular’s premium data/internet package for $19.95 per month.

Very nice.

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Finally the rumor train has stopped and we have confirmation to share. The very young U.S. carrier U.S. Cellular has just upgraded its smartphone offering by adding the HTC Touch Pro to it. And since the Touch Pro is here, the BlackBerry Pearl Flip, Samsung Gloss and LG UX840 shouldn’t be far. It only makes sense. Of course every kid on the block knows the specs of the Touch Pro so go ahead and socialize with your local wiz-kid. We’ll just tell you the pricing, $250 after a $70 mail-in rebate. If you’re thinking about the Touch Pro2, sure that’s a good option, if you have $800+ bucks to spare that is.

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Users with U.S. Cellular can expect some goodies over the next few months as 5 new handsets are coming their way, all by the end of June.

First off is the HTC Touch Pro which is slated to arrive on April 17th. Next up is the Samsung Gloss U440, a white or charcoal clam shell with a QWERTY keyboard, integrated music player, stereo Bluetooth and 1.3 megapixel camera. For the fashionable ladies who love to text their style, the Gloss (Samsung Cleo) will hit the shelves in early May. Soon after, in mid-May, U.S. Cellular will debut the entry-level Samsung R311, a simple clam shell with Bluetooth, one-touch speakerphone and a VGA camera. Last but not least to arrive in mid-June are the BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8230, which we’ve talked about endlessly and you should know the specs in your sleep, and the LG UX840. The LG UX840 will be a QWERTY slider with a 3″ QVGA touchscreen, 3.0 megapixel camera, integrated music player, stereo Bluetooth, full HTML browser, email support and GPS.

The lineup is not confirmed yet, considering the source is an anonymous forum post. But if you’re a U.S. Cellular customer, you’ll definitely be glad to hear about the possibility of some fresh blood coming your way.

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US Cellular has launched a sleek new Samsung music phone; the Samsung TwoStep, also known as the SCH-r470. The handset has some pretty cool multimedia features, including easy to use music controls, stereo speakers and external microSD card slot which will support storage expansion up to 8GB. You can snap some pretty decent pictures with the 1.3 megapixel camera.

The Samsung TwoStep comes with Bluetooth and gives you the ease of hands free wireless connectivity. You also get your choice of colors from Burnt Orange, Red and Purple.

Here are the specs;

1.      Music Player with External Controls

2.      External Stereo Speakers

3.      1.3 Megapixel Camera

4.      Up to 8 GB of microSD support

5.      Bluetooth Wireless Technology

6.      Text Messaging (SMS), Multimedia Messaging (MMS)

7.      Voice Recognition Services

8.      Speakerphone

9.      Downloadable Ringtones, Wallpapers, Games and Business Applications

10.  Fashionable Color Options (Burnt Orange, Red and Purple)

11.  Multilingual Text Display

12.  72-Tone Polyphonic Ringtones

13.  Dimensions: 3.58” x 1.77” x 0.75”

14.  Internal Display: 176 x 220 Pixel, 262K, 2.0”

15.  Weight: 3.60 Ounces

16.  Standard Rechargeable Lithium Ion battery: Up To 3 Hours Talk Time