China made TORQUE phones are fast becoming a staple in the Asian market. Not only are they cheap, they’re pretty efficient as well. The D100 is TORQUE’s latest mobile handset that, not surprisingly, retails for less than $100. It’s most highlighted feature is its DUAL SIM network compatibility, thus making this the cheapest dual SIM phone in the market.

I’d really love to know how much dual SIM technology costs. As I was told, the most expensive component thus far for mobile phones is the WiFi chip that extends to about USD $10.00. With the phone retailing for about $70.00, I wonder how much fo that went to the dual SIM technology —- and if it is cheap, why isn’t the adoption of the two SIM phone not as rampant today?

[image c/o author]

Post from: Cellphone9

The Glofiish X610 brings home the bacon when it comes to cheap. At (more or) less than USD $400.00, it is one of the cheapest Windows Mobile devices ever to be manufactured. In fact, it is even cheaper than the Verzio’s Windows Mobile device, the Envii when it first came out.

The X610 doesn’t support 3G connectivity, but it does house WiFi, a 2MP camera and 64MB of RAM (128MB flash ROM). It comes with Windows Mobile 6.1. The non-presence of 3G brings about mixed reactions from potential buyers depending on the region they are from. In some cases, not having 3G is a non-issue as WiFi can be more prevalent as a reliable connection option.

[photo c/o author]

Post from: Cellphone9

With the great success of Motorola’s first low end music phones in the W230 and W270, Motorola has unveiled a slightly upgraded version for 2008 Q3 release, the Motorola W388. This phone will be priced higher than the W230 and will cost roughly PHP 3,200.00 or roughly USD $80.00. Note that this is an estimated price based on the press conference and not the real SRP. The main difference between the W388 and the W230 is the inclusion of a VGA camera and a bigger memory bump.

We must note that the VGA camera does not come with video capabilities. Phone memory has been increased to 7.5MB for 750 SMS and 1,000 contacts to be saved on memory. There isn’t really a huge upgrade to the previous phone and quite frankly, Moto may have a make or break for this particular model. It really depends on how much more people are willing to pay for a camera and bumped up memory when the previous model already served them well.

Other features:

FM Radio
2.5mm audio jack
MP3, MIDI, imelody, AMR compatibility
VGA camera (no video)
CrystalTalk Technology

Post from: Cellphone9

For roughly a little bit more than a hundred dollars, Alcatel, a minor player in the mobile phone industry has introduced the OT V770. The slim phone with an attractive futuristic keypad design comes with a 1.3MP camera, Bluetooth, microSD expansion and music playback.

Ah, the influx of affordable phones. This brings into question whether consumers will buy phones because they are cheap regardless of who made them, or because a reputable phone brand manufactured a cheap phone (”oh finally, Motorola came up with a cheap version of so and so … it SHOULD be good).

Are you a brand loyalist when it comes to mobile phones? Does “selling it cheap” make a phone more tempting regardless of who made them? Or do you pay top dollar regardless of the brand and features?

Image and source c/o TechnograPh.

Post from: Cellphone9

Months ago, LG launched the cheapest 3G phone. Last week, Motorola launched the cheapest music phone. We’ve also seen a relatively cheap mobile TV phone as well. For smartphones we have the Palm Centro.

So, any thoughts on the next cheapest technology? I’d personally want the cheapest BlackBerry device with WiFi.

Post from: Cellphone9