Sanyo

As we discovered back at its CTIA intro earlier this year, Kyocera’s (and Sanyo’s) Zio isn’t the neatest Android phone you’ve ever seen — nor the most technically impressive — but at $230 without a contract after $20 discount, it’s pretty hard to argue that you’re not getting what you pay for. Regional carrier Cricket had been promising the Zio for some time, and at this time it’s in this place, just the latest in the company’s newfound push into the smartphone space — a space it’s traditionally avoided in the past — with the recent launch of the Curve 8530 (for the same price as the Zio, coincidentally). Trackballs are officially passé at this point, but considering the budget monthly outlay that Cricket offers, we’ve no doubt they’ll find some takers.

Cricket starts offering Android-powered Zio for $230 originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Thu, 26 Aug 2010 18:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

A new device launch never fails to warm the cockles of our hearts, and today’s treat comes in the form of the Sanyo Zio by Kyocera on Cricket. We’d heard earlier this year that Cricket was prepping to launch this set in July for ’round about $300 — and yes they missed that date but they’ve exchanged tardiness for better pricing, gotta love ‘em, right? The Zio ships with a 1GB microSD, features a 3.4-inch touchscreen, 3.2 megapixel cam, WiFi, Bluetooth, and all that running in the land of Android 1.6. Pricing is set at $249 with a $20 online rebate thrown in and of course a bit of fine print requiring you grab the $55 a month Android plan. Sadly, the Zio is listed as backordered on the site so getting one today might be a stretch, but estimated ship date is August 26th, and what’s five days between you and your new cell pal? We had a chance to play with the Zio back in March and came away feeling a little underwhelmed, so why not give it a quick read before you dive in? Follow the read link to see the rest of the goodies.

Cricket launches Sanyo Zio by Kyocera originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Sat, 21 Aug 2010 16:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

We’d wondered what had happened to Kyocera’s low-end Zio with Android after its March announce at CTIA… and lo, in this place it is. Cricket declare today that the phone is indeed in the pipe for 2010 — a little later than earlier unverified information that we’d see it in July — marking just their second smartphone after their branded version of the BlackBerry Curve 8530, which ships later this week. Pricing for the Zio hasn’t been declare, but the Curve 8530 will run $279.99 after discount — pricey, yes, until you consider that you’re getting that devoid of a pesky contract. Cricket’s excited to trumpet that its unlimited BlackBerry plan runs just $60 a month in total, which means that voice, text, and data are all off the meter. Not bad — but considering Cricket’s positioning as a regional value brand, we’d expect no less.

Cricket launches BlackBerry Curve 8530, says Kyocera Zio is in the cards originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Tue, 03 Aug 2010 19:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.