Dallas (TX) - AT&T will soon begin offering Samsung’s SLM phone, a new device that is sure to raise some eyebrows with Apple and iPhone buyers.

The new cellphone, scheduled to be available on November 23 for $150 (after a $50 mail-in-rebate), will be selling side-by-side to the iPhone and offer similar functionality as well as features Apple customers are still waiting for. The phone is a fully decked-out clamshell phone covered in a brushed-metal finish and will be AT&Ts first phone to support music downloads from Napster.

Other than the iPhone, which is operating under AT&T’s moody EDGE network, the SLM supports 3G HSDPA to provide download speeds of more than 600 Kb/s, according to the carrier. AT&T says that the connection is high enough to enable the download of a music track in less than a minute. iPhone users will have to connect their iPhone to a Wi-Fi network to achieve broadband speeds and download songs from iTunes.

While the iPhone is locked down to iTunes, the SLM also supports AT&T Video Share, AT&T Mobile Music,  eMusic and mobile banking at Wachovia and SunTrust banks. Compared to iTunes, Napster mobile downloads are substantially more expensive at $1.99 per track or at $7.49 in a five-downloads-per-month package. Napster says that it currently offers more than five million different songs for download.

The SLM comes with a 2 MP digital camera, a 96- by 96-pixel 65K color external screen and a 176 x 220 pixel 262K TFT internal color screen and a 512 MB SD memory card.

At least in the entertainment segment, the SLM could emerge as a less expensive option to the iPhone, at least for users who don’t care about the brand and can live without the larger 3.5” screen, a web browser, YouTube and Google Maps integration.
 
Other carriers also have been rolling new phones. T-Mobile recently released its new Shadow phone and Verizon is now pitching its new LG Voyager and LG Venus phones, which are scheduled to hit store shelves this week. Both cellphones include a 2 MP camera, GPS, access to V CAST Video and V CAST Music as well as support for 8 GB SD memory cards. The Voyager has a 2.8” external touch screen and includes, like the iPhone, an HTML web browser. The Venus is designed into a slider form factor, has two LCDs – one of them acting as a touchscreen - and touch-key vibration for button-like feedback

The Venus phone will sell for $200 (after a $50 rebate) and the Voyager will be priced at $300 (after a $50 rebate).

Small correction...

Nov 19, 2007 13:07     

The new LG phones from Verizon will support 8 GB SD memory cards, not 8 MB. I know that 8 MB wouldn't make sense, but some people are going to believe it which will lead to some people trying to look for songs in the 30 kb range. When their results come up short, they will then try and compress their own songs to fit on the 8 MB SD card. When that fails, they start to turn to midi versions of their favorite songs. This will start to be the new norm for decades and everyone's MySpace page will be filled with midi songs that auto-play when you view their profile. This will get out of hand, however, the tubes that our internet use will be much healthier and better off if we all started to listen to midi files rather than high quality mp3s. Blame it on global warming.

Taylor S. report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

3G Coverage

Nov 19, 2007 14:10     

I always think it odd how people attempt to make a meaningful comment about the lack of 3G on the iPhone. A quick look at the coverage map for 3G show that 1. some states have 'no' coverage, many states only have coverage in 1-3 large cities and a couple lucky ones have a dozen or so cities covered (more or less). While I am sure there are many iPhone users in the lucky metro areas, there are also many nowhere close to 3G services. I am happy to have a great battery life rather than the ability to access a service that I do not have any access to.

T. S. report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

A small bit of foward thinking.

Nov 19, 2007 18:03     

"I always think it odd how people attempt to make a meaningful comment about the lack of 3G on the iPhone. A quick look at the coverage map for 3G show that 1. some states have 'no' coverage, many states only have coverage in 1-3 large cities and a couple lucky ones have a dozen or so cities covered (more or less). While I am sure there are many iPhone users in the lucky metro areas, there are also many nowhere close to 3G services. I am happy to have a great battery life rather than the ability to access a service that I do not have any access to." Granted AT&T has a small 3G network at the moment, but they are expanding that network. This phone is quite useful for the Anti-Ipod crowd or those that napster. It could be a decent competitor for the Iphone, even without google maps integration or YouTube. Google maps is an easy fix due to there being a Java version.

Benjamin report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Nice phone

Nov 20, 2007 10:38     

It sounds like a nice phone; alternative to iPhone. http://www.wireless.att.com I like the lower price.
TomLeeM/BigWarpGuy report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0