The Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE is due to release on Sprint for $200 on August 19, but there’s also a budget-friendly slider arriving on the Now Network on the same date. The Kyocera Rise offers a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, 3.5-inch HVGA display, 1GHz Snapdragon processor, 3.2 megapixel rear camera, 3G connectivity and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. It certainly leaves a lot to be desired for high-end Android enthusiasts, however, it costs just $19.99 (with two-year agreement and after $50 mail-in rebate) and could be a decent entry-level smartphone for current feature-phone users looking to make the transition. The Rise will also be available without a contract at Virgin Mobile starting Friday, August 31 for $99.99.
FAST FACTS
· Four-row slide-out QWERTY keyboard with large separated keys for quick, easy typing
· Powered Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich
· 3.5–inch IPS HVGA touchscreen
· 1GHz MSM8655 QUALCOMM Snapdragon® processor for quick downloads and app performance
· Sprint ID, offering an innovative way to personalize an Android smartphone with apps, widgets, ringtones and more all in a single download
· Kyocera’s “Eco Mode” software to better monitor and conserve battery power
· Dedicated capacitive menu button for easy access to application-specific features
· Mobile hotspot capability for up to five Wi-Fi enabled devices (additional fee required)
ENTERTAINMENT/PRODUCTIVITY
· 3.2MP camera with an LED flash and 30 frame-per-second camcorder
· Google Play™ with access to hundreds of thousands of apps
· Google Mobile™ services including Google Play,™ Google Search,™ Google Maps,™ Google Talk,™ Google Calendar,™ Google +,™ Google Latitude,™ Gmail,™ and YouTube™
· microSD™ memory card support up to 32GB (2GB card included)
· Stereo Bluetooth® 2.1+ EDR capable
· Wi-Fi® b/g/n enabled
· Corporate (Exchange ActiveSync) and personal (POP3 & IMAP) email support
· Media player and high-quality video streaming at 30 fps
· Accelerometer, Proximity Sensor, Ambient Light Sensor, Digital Compass
· Voice recognition – speaker independent
· GPS capable
SPECIFICATIONS
· Dimensions: 4.4×2.4×0.56 inches, weight: 5.54 oz.
· Display: 3.5-inch HVGA IPS LCD touchscreen (320×480 pixels)
· Removable 1,500mAh Lithium-ion battery for up to 8.62 hours continuous talk time
· External memory: supports up to a 32GB microSD card (sold separately, 2GB SD card included)
