Sprint Announces Two New Katana Handsets
16th July 2007 - Sprint announced two new handsets today: the
Katana DLX and the
Katana II. The DLX model includes a 1./3 megapixel camera and MicroSD card slot, while the Katana II is an updated version of Sprint's answer to the Razr. Both phones have 2-inch internal and 1-inch external screens and are available in three colors. Both are made by Sanyo and are available now for $129.99 and $49.99 respectively with a two-year contract and a $50 mail-in rebate.
The Sanyo Katana DLX is the more fully featured phone of the two; it includes a MicroSD card slot that supports the new MicroSDHC cards with a capacity of up to 4GB. It only comes bundled with a 128MB MicroSD card, though; you can expect to pay about $130 for a 4GB MicroSDHC card, which can hold up to 4,000 songs. The DLX also include an EVDO modem, and supports Sprint's own Music Store, which allows you to buy songs and download them straight to the phone. Sprint claims that the DLX (which weighs in at just 3.5 ounces) can provide up to 4 hours of talk time. It's avaialble in three colors: Platinum Ice, Champagne and Pink Satin. The Katana DLX costs $329.99 without a contract, or $129.99 with a 2-year contract and the $50 mail-in rebate currently on offer.
The Katana II is a much simpler phone; it has no memory card slot, although it does double the amount of flash memory from the Katana to 21MB. There is also no support for the over-the-air Sprint Music Store, and the built-in camera is only a VGA model that shoots at a maximum resolution of 640 by 480. The Katana II costs $249.99 without a contract, or $49.99 with a 2-year contract including a $50 mail-in rebate.
