Sprint launches Sanyo Katana Eclipse X, basically an Eclipse with One Click UI

print today announced the availability of Sanyo Katana Eclipse X, a new clamshell that’s actually an improved version of the Katana Eclipse released back in August.

The improvement is represented by Sprint's One Click interactive user interface. This allows users to customize the phone’s home screen and to include easy access shortcuts for the features they use most, like Sprint’s Now Network, Google search, email, music, messaging and so on.

Sanyo Katana Eclipse X also has a unique illumination feature, which lets you assign various lighting schemes to incoming calls, messages and alerts.

Here are the main specs of Katana Eclipse X from Sprint:

• 2.0 inch TFT internal display with 176 x 220 pixels
• 1.0 inch external display
• GPS & Sprint Navigation
• Sprint Mobile Email
• Sprint TV
• Sprint Music Store
• MP3 player
• Stereo Bluetooth
• Wireless Backup
• 1.3 MP camera with video recording
• 256MB MicroSDHC card
• Weight: 3.4 oz.
• Dimensions: 3.6 x 1.9 x 0.7 in
• 840 mAh battery for a talk time of up to 4.6 hours

Sanyo Katana Eclipse X can be bought for $99 (2-yr contract agreement required) from all of Sprint’s retail channels, in two color versions: Hypnotic Pink (pictured above) and Nightlife Black.
All credits and information was found by unwiredview.

Hands-on with Sanyo's Katana Eclipse X for Sprint

The clamshell styled Katana Eclipse is a 3G CDMA handset for Sprint that offers a 1.3 megapixel camera with video recording, Bluetooth stereo support, an MP3 player, and speaker independent voice activated dialing - among many other things.

Using Sprint's EV-DO network, the handset supports Sprint's applications such as Sprint Navigation, and also features Sprint's new One Click menu system, which was not avalable on the original Eclipse. One Click provides quick access to most everything you will need right at your fingertips, including call logs, web browsing, music, and messaging. It even has a dedicated Google shortcut that will take you right to Google's Gmail client and Maps.

Our pink review unit feels quite light in the hand and seems to be solidly constructed. Offering two color displays and external music keys, the Eclipse X will be sure to please those looking for a media device on a budget. The handset's main visual attraction is its ability to light up for various functions. With lighted racing stripes down its front, the Eclipse illuminates with bold colors down when certain functions are set in motion, such as receiving a message or phone call or even dialing a phone number. Users will be sure to never miss a meeting or call as long as the lights are enabled.

The inside of the Eclipse X features a large keypad with with rectangular keys that seemed a bit stiff during use. The phone offers dedicated back, speaker, and camera buttons, but it should be noted that none of the keys located around the d-pad cluster can be read in the dark, even when the backlight is on. That makes the phone a bit harder for novices to use when the lights go down.

In terms of call audio, the Eclipse seemed a bit muddled during our test calls and wasn't as clear as we had hoped. The speakerphone, on the other hand, provided us with audio that was easily as good as we heard on non-speakerphone calls. 3G browsing data rates on the Eclipse X were fairly slow, typically coming in at about 350Kbps. But the Eclipse's browser performed poorly not only in speed, but also did not format sites correctly, even many mobile specific sites.

Overall we found Sprint's Katana Eclipse X quite enjoyable in terms of aesthetic features, like the ultra cool lighting effects and quick access to media related functions. But under its hood, the Eclipse seemed to fall short of the mark.

Sprint's Katana Eclipse X by Sanyo is available now in Sprint retail shops, including Sprint.com, for just $99.99 with a two-year service agreement and $50 mail-in rebate.

All credits and information was found by mobileburn.

Sanyo Katana Eclipse X Phone (Sprint)

Released for Sprint, the Katana Eclipse X is enhanced with One Click, allowing consumers to access functions they use most. One Click can personalize the home screen to organize options such as text messaging, Google search, Sprint Navigation, email, favorite Web sites, music and call log. It can access Google or add shortcuts to websites on the home screen. Scrolling its customizable carousel-style menu offers status alerts - for example, the number of new messages appears. The Katana Eclipse X is compatible with Sprint TV for live and on-demand content, Sprint Music Store for full-length tracks, Sprint Radio with more than 150 channels and an integrated MP3 player with microSD card slot supporting up to 8GB (256 MB card included). Additional features include stereo Bluetooth technology, external music navigation controls and a 1.3-megapixel camera with zoom and video camcorder.

All credits and information was found by mobiledia.

First earphone microphone from Sanyo and NS-ELEX

Do you hate missing important part of speech while in a conversation over the cellphone. That often happens to those working at places like construction sites, in law enforcement, reporters in crowded scenes, or passing through the crowds and noise. Sanyo and NS-ELEX utilized to sell its first earphone microphone, which it just launched to solve the very purpose. It hopes for a hot welcome due to its noise canceling capability and eventually voice amplification for better conversation. If you could do that otherwise with your mobile, then use these for the radio, music or anything that supports microphone. It may sound a bit costly with a price tag of $355, but the wireless version powered by Bluetooth technology allows some relaxation with a cost of $530. It will be available as early as April 2008.
All credits and information was found by gizmowatch.

Panasonic to acquire Sanyo

Panasonic has apparently reached to a preliminary agreement to buy Sanyo Electric Co. and presidents of the two companies will hold a press conference on November 7th to announce details of the acquisition.

The world’s largest maker of consumer electronics plans to keep the Sanyo brand, most of its employees, and make the company a subsidiary by around April next year. To accomplish this task, they will buy Sanyo’s preferred shares from Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp., Daiwa Securities SMBC Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

The deal would create a mega-corporation with revenues over ¥11.2 trillion, which is around $110 billion.

The world is in the economic crisis and smart companies with tons of cash are in the buying spree. I would expect to see more similar deals taking place in the near future. Stay tuned…

All credits and information was found by intomobile.

Sanyo's laser could bring 12x Blu-ray burners and 100GB discs

While Sony and others compete with Blu-ray burners of a paltry 8x, Sanyo's looking ahead with a new laser that could enable write speeds of up to 12x. More impressively, the 450 milliwatt diode (twice that of current burners) could read and write through four 25GB layers. If you're not so good at math (it's okay, we had to break out the calculator) that means discs of up to 100GB burned in 10 minutes or less! But don't go running down to your local Blu-ray emporium looking for double-digit speed drives just yet; new standards will be needed for discs that big and drives that fast, which could mean a year or two before production begins. If speculation of Blu-ray's impending demise is to be believed, that may be cutting things a bit close.

All credits and information was found by engadget.

Sanyo M1 launches on Sprint

Sprint has launched another music phone, the Sanyo M1. While the recent trend has been to launch music oriented handsets with limited memory (relying instead on a memory card slot and user upgrades), the M1 sports an impressive 1GB of internal memory. That's the most internal memory of any phone on a national carrier, but there is no expansion slot. At 23mm thick (.9"), the phone is a bit chunky when compared to other recent music phones.

The Sanyo M1 has a solid feature set for a high-end feature phone:

• QVGA display with 262k colors
• EV-DO data (PowerVision)
• Bluetooth with A2DP stereo support
• 2.0 megapixel camera
• Music player with external controls (MP3, AAC, AAC+) and stereo speakers
• Speakerphone.

All credits and information was found by mobiletracker.