Motorola V860 Barrage – the Rugged Push-to-talk Clamshell Handset

Currently available from Verizon Wireless, the Motorola V860 Barrage is a solid clamshell phone that brings out its best even under extreme environments. By integrating Motorola’s push-to-talk (PTT) technology and a set of functional elements into a rugged form factor, it guarantees Verizon customers both durability and versatility.

The highlight of the Barrage is no doubt its push-to-talk function, as it is one of the few Motorola handsets to offer PTT outside Nextel’s network. By pressing the dedicated PTT button, you can turn the phone into a walkie-talkie and make group calling instantly.

The flip phone sports with a dual-screen design. While the 2.2-inch internal display supports 65k colors and 176x200 pixels, the external one measures 1.6 inches and shows 65k colors. The latter one works with the touch-sensitive music controls underneath for accessing the music player. Playable formats include AAC, MP3, MPEG-4, WAV, WMA, WMV and more.

As for messaging features, apart from SMS, MMS and instant messaging, its Mobile Email connects to services like Yahoo, MSN Hotmail, AOL and Windows Live. You can attach video clips to multimedia messages after shooting with the 2.0-megapixel camera and camcorder, which has 8x digital zoom and brightness adjustment capabilities but no flash.

In addition, the Barrage supports Verizon’s full range of 3G services, including V CAST Video on Demand and V CAST Music with Rhapsody. The phone is also preloaded with GPS-based VZ Navigator and the Bing search application. Other useful functions include stereo Bluetooth, WAP 2.0 Web browsing, USB mass storage, PC syncing, voice commands, a 2.5mm jack and a 1,000-entry phone book. It offers 125MB of user memory and accepts an external microSD card up to 16GB.

The Barrage has a solid and sturdy construction, which is tested to resist shock, drop, vibration, solar radiation, extreme temperatures and other tough conditions. Its waterproof quality even allows it to survive when submerged in water. It may be a little bit big by measuring 2.09 by 3.78 by 0.96 inches, but is still portable at 4.2 ounces.

In general, the Motorola V860 Barrage is an affordable, functional and most importantly, solid media phone that not only matches your toughness, and also helps you get through unfavorable situations.

Tags: Motorola Barrage V860 Accessories, Up To 16GB microSD Memory Card, Bluetooth Headset, Motorola Handsfrees, Motorola Barrage V860 Cases, Car Charger For Motorola Barrage V860

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Samsung’s Strong Handset Sales Help Boosting its Q3 Profits

Samsung Electronics announced its third-quarter financial results for the ongoing year, registering a record-high quarterly net profit partly as a result of its strong sales in the cell phone division.

The South Korean handset maker said its July-September operating income for the telecommunications unit was $871 million, 23 percent up compared to the year-ago quarter. The company sold 60.2 million cell phones in the quarter, giving it a 16 percent year-on-year increase from the 51.8 million units shipped in Q3 2008.

The surge in sales was mainly brought by the touchscreen and keyboard devices introduced into developed markets, as well as the key models within emerging markets. They helped pushing its global handset market share from 19.2 percent in the previous quarter up to 20.8 percent – placing it on the No.2 position following only behind the Finnish manufacturer Nokia.

According to Strategic Analytics, this was the first time a vendor other than Nokia has sold more than one-fifth of the world’s handsets since Motorola’s heyday with its RAZR series in 2006.
On a company-wide basis, Samsung posted the highest quarterly profit of $3.14 billion, tripled from a net profit of $1.0 billion a year earlier. It has now recorded three consecutive quarters of net profit after suffering its first loss during the last quarter of 2008 due to the global economic slowdown.

For the last quarter of the year, Samsung expects even stronger sales supported by seasonal demand for consumer electronics and demand from emerging markets. The company said its "outlook is positive for further growth as the economic recovery continues into 2010". Other than low-end handsets, Samsung plans to focus on high-end AMOLED touchscreen devices, which run on Google’s Android and Microsoft’s Windows Mobile 6.5 operating systems.

Still, increasing competition from rivals such as Nokia and LG in the mid-range to low-range markets may pose threats to Samsung, as this can lower the average selling price and the profit margin of its handsets.

Tags: Samsung Accessories, Nokia Accessories, Motorola Accessories, Motorola RAZR V3 Accessories, Motorola RAZR2 V9 Accessories, LG Accessories

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