Mobile Phone News

We normally wouldn’t post news about a Sprint device in the FCC without any juicy details on decent specs, but hear us out — this one’s kind of engaging attention. As our tipster noted to us, the prefix “SPH” on Samsung phones typically means that particular model is heading for Sprint, and an SPH-M920 got FCC approval not long ago. A quick search reveals that the M920 appears to be christened the “Transform,” suggesting that this phone… well, transforms somehow. Of course, that could be as simple as a sliding keyboard or as strange and unique as Verizon’s LG Versa — we really have no idea — but it’s notable that the Transform has a WiFi certification under its belt for 802.11b / g / n, so we can assume the phone’s no slouch and might even fall into smartphone (read: Android) territory. Any educated guesses out there?

Sure seems like it to us. What you’re looking at in this place is the leaked image of the C7’s front (top) compared to the label diagram of a model code RM-718 that just got FCC approval, featuring quadband EDGE, HSPA 850 / AWS / 1900 / 2100, Bluetooth, and WiFi — and if you ask us, the similarities are a little too plentiful to ignore. As a refresher, this should end up slotting in just beneath the mighty N8 while still carrying over the 640 x 360 display and Symbian^3, so it should be a good decrease-cost alternative… you know, if anodized aluminum shells aren’t your cup of tea.

There’s nothing Truly like the harsh lighting of an FCC approval lab to call out a phone’s true colors — if a handset can look good in this place, it can look good pretty much anywhere. Needless to say, Sony Ericsson’s Zylo isn’t looking Truly as slick and put-together in this place as it does in the company’s own press shots; if we had to guess, countless engineers have smudged it up and beat the heck out of it moving it from machine to machine while taking radiation measurements by the time it made it to the camera. Anyhow, the version we’re seeing in this place is quadband GSM plus UMTS bands I and VIII, which works out to 900 / 2100; in other words, there’s not a snowball’s chance you’ll be using it for high-speed data stateside. Not a very big loss, we figure.

Sony Ericsson’s Zylo slider earns FCC approval originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Sat, 12 Jun 2010 10:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.