Remember the Star Wars DROID R2-D2? The device brought to market for the “ultra-fans” has just seen a price drop as Verizon navigates away from offering up online rebates. The Motorola DROID R2-D2 has now been cut to $99.99 with a 2-year agreement.

Source: Android Community

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• Verizon slashes pricing on Motorola Droid R2-D2 edition (zdnet.com)

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Among the many devices announced at MWC 2010, there was also the Saygus VPhone Android handset, that is supposed to reach Verizon this May. The device is pictured below and we learn that it comes with a 3.5 inch WVGA screen and an 800MHz CPU.

Source: GSM Dome

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The chunky VPhone (also known as the V1) will be the only two-way video-calling phone in the U.S., if it makes it to market. It will be the first consumer phone certified through Verizon’s Open Development Initiative, which up until now busied itself approving devices like house-arrest ankle bracelets and wireless electricity meters. And it’ll be the only Verizon Android phone so far not to use the “Droid” name.

Saygus sees the phone as a way to show off their video-calling software, which can transmit 352×288 video at 24-30 frames per second over a 48-kilobit stream, Sayers said. It’s efficient enough that video calling will cost much less than it does on AT&T, where prices start at 25 cents per minute. Saygus has been working on their software for a dozen years, but never found a buyer, so they decided to strike out on their own and make the ultimate video phone.

Video calling isn’t the VPhone’s only new trick. The phone will act as a Wi-Fi access point like Novatel’s MiFi, connecting up to eight PCs to the Internet at one time. Those PC users better watch out, though, as the VPhone’s service plans are likely to have the same 5GB per month data limit that you see on all Verizon plans. That’s enough for tons of video calling, considering Saygus’ extremely efficient compression, but tethering may strain your plan’s limits.

The phones will obviously call each other, but Riker said they’re also working on making them compatible with SIP/H.263 video-calling systems and desktop PC applications. They’d like to work with Skype, he said, but Skype has to allow them. International calling to foreign networks like 3, which already support video chat on mobile phones, is further out on the horizon.

Using ODI makes the VPhone’s path to market a bit weird. ODI devices don’t use Verizon’s stock service plans. Instead, Saygus wants to make deals with big-box retailers, who will offer their own service plans that use Verizon’s network and mirror Verizon’s own prices. They’re still working out who would provide product and tech support for these plans, Riker said.

The phone may also appear on other carriers in the future, Sayers said.

Under the Hood

The VPhone was built for Saygus by a nameless Chinese device manufacturer, and it feels like it. It’s chunky at 4.6 by 2.3 by 0.8 inches (HWD) and inelegant, but packed with features. The phone is thicker, but lighter than the Motorola Droid, and entirely wrapped in cheap-feeling black plastic. The 800×480 screen is sharp, and the keyboard is nicely well-spaced and much clickier than the flat, limp Motorola Droid keyboard.

The phone was a very early unit, so I couldn’t say much about performance or test the video-calling capabilities. But I got a general sense that this was a highly capable, although somewhat bulbous phone.

The VPhone runs Android 1.6, though Riker said they’re going to try to put 2.0 in there if the timing is right. They’ve tweaked 1.6 with some open-source extensions that seems to be borrowed from HTC, altering the home screen style and allowing for unlimited, expandable home screens. They’re still negotiating with Google about getting the Google apps onto the phone. Multi-touch support will come with the Android 2.0 upgrade, Riker said.

Under the hood, there’s a 624 Mhz Marvell PXA312 processor. We’ve seen that before on Verizon’s Samsung Omnia, but it has never appeared in an Android phone. That’s roughly equivalent to an ARM11 processor, so it may not be as fast as a Motorola Droid’s Cortex-A8 processor.

The phone has a 5-megapixel camera on the back and a VGA camera on the front. Both cameras can record 640×480 video at 30 frames per second. Bluetooth, GPS, and an FM radio are also on board, according to the phone’s spec sheet. The phone will get 3-4 hours of video calling and 6-7 hours of talk time on its chunky 1500 mAh battery, Sayers said.

I’ve seen a lot of small, new cell-phone companies say they’re going to crack the U.S. market, and they rarely do. Heck, even Nokia has trouble finding room in our closed, clubby, carrier-run world. Sayers said they have a former LG sales manager, Ash Darwish, helping them negotiate the rapids and shoals. That puts them ahead of companies such as Logic Wireless and Zer01, which don’t have mobile insiders playing major roles.

It’s unclear how much the VPhone will cost. Verizon has previously said they won’t subsidize ODI phones, but Sayers said they’re working on figuring out some sort of subsidy arrangement whether it’s through Verizon or their retailers. The VPhone is slated to come out early next year.

[Source: PC Mag]

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The CDMA-ready V1 has just cleared the FCC, and looking at Saygus’ own Website, you could get the impression that it’s the mysterious third Verizon smartphone submitted through the carrier’s Open Development program.

On its site, Saygus mentions the “mystery third Verizon Android device” article, which reiterates how the Open Development program is designed to make it quick and easy to get devices onto Verizon’s CDMA network.

[Source: gizmodo]

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