pcd

U.S. Cellular has just announced the PCD Wrangler, which isn't as exciting as its name makes it out to be.

This basic clamshell phone won't wow anyone with its features and design--it only has a 2.2-inch QVGA display, a 1.3-megapixel camera, a microSD card, a speakerphone, GPS, stereo Bluetooth, and not much else.

But it does have one important thing going for it, and that's durability. The Wrangler has apparently been designed to withstand water, extreme temperature, dust, shock, poor weather conditions, and scratches to the screen.

There's no word on pricing and availability just yet, but since the phone has already made an appearance in U.S. Cellular's online store, we're sure it'll be any day now.… Read more

PCD is no stranger to the basic clam shell, and it has just come out with yet another model for U.S. Cellular.

Dubbed the CDM8635, this entry-level phone has a 1.5-inch mono external display, a 2.2-inch color internal display, a 1.3-megapixel camera, voice-activated dialing, text and multimedia messaging, dedicated keys for a speakerphone and zoom, and not much else. We're not sure of pricing just yet, but we do know it' will be available starting June 1 (that's Tuesday) on U.S. Cellular.

Verizon Wireless has just announced the Verizon Wireless Razzle, a phone that can tilt and swivel to fit both your messaging and music-playing needs. Developed by PCD, the phone's lower half twists to reveal either a full QWERTY keyboard or external music controls.

It has a 2.2-inch color display, a 1.3-megapixel camera, stereo Bluetooth, voice commands, a speakerphone, a microSD card slot, and access to Verizon Wireless' V Cast Music with Rhapsody. However, it doesn't have EV-DO and won't support over-the-air song downloads. The Razzle is available starting October 6th for $69.99 with a … Read more

World phones are typically of the smartphone variety, like the RIM BlackBerry Tour for example, but Verizon Wireless has laid that theory to rest with the new Verizon Wireless Escapade.

Developed by PCD, the Escapade has dual-band CDMA 1x as well as quad-band GSM/GPRS with a preinstalled SIM card. You'll only be able to use the SIM card overseas though, as Verizon does not have roaming agreements with AT&T and T-Mobile USA.

The Escapade is decidedly middle of the road, with simple features like Bluetooth, mobile e-mail, a 2-megapixel camera, and VZ Navigator support. That sits … Read more

When we first saw the TXT8026 at the PCD (Personal Communications Devices) booth at this year's CTIA, we thought for sure it would be a successor to the Verizon Wireless Blitz--they're both square and slightly chubby, with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard.

Now it appears regional carrier Cricket has first dibs at the little messaging phone, and they've dubbed it the TXTM8, pronounced "textmate"--get it? Features include a 1.3-megapixel camera, stereo Bluetooth, voice recognition, a music player, and a microSD card slot. You can get it now for $159.99 without a contract.… Read more

PCD didn't have any major announcements at CTIA, but it did give us a brief sneak peek at what we can expect from them this year. All of the offerings appear to be messaging phones, with full QWERTY keyboards for easier texting. I apologize in advance for just taking photos of posters; they didn't have any real hardware on hand at the booth.

The first handset we saw was codenamed the TXT8026, which has a 2.2-inch color screen with a 1.3-megapixel camera, a microSD card slot, Bluetooth 2.0, an MP3 player, and measures around 3.… Read more

The Verizon Wireless CDM8975 is one of a few Verizon Wireless phones that has push-to-talk capabilities, and we managed to test it out recently. It has quite a lackluster design, but we do like its roomy keypad, colorful screen, and external music player controls. We also like that it has EV-DO Rev. A, which makes downloading music and loading Web pages quite speedy. Other features include a 1.3-megapixel camera, a music player, A-GPS, stereo Bluetooth, and access to Verizon's V Cast broadband services. Check out our full review of the Verizon Wireless CDM8975 for more details.

AT&T introduced a slew of messaging phones recently, like the Pantech Matrix, the Samsung Propel, and the Pantech Slate. But its most popular announcement by far has been the AT&T Quickfire, a touch-screen and QWERTY keyboard hybrid that promises more than just the normal messaging phone. And we had the chance to get our hands on it this week.

Despite a few design quirks, we have to say we're pretty impressed. The Quickfire is definitely the bulkiest messaging phone we've seen; it's even thicker than the T-Mobile Sidekick. We're not exactly fans … Read more

In case you've forgotten, the AT&T Quickfire is officially on sale Monday. Made by PCD, the Sidekick wanna-be was actually unofficially in stores a couple days ago, so some of you might have gotten yours already. The touch-screen phone comes with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard and features 3G/HSDPA, GPS, a music player, and a 1.3-megapixel camera.

The Quickfire is available for $99 with a mail-in rebate and a two-year contract. We're trying to get our hands on a review unit soon, and we will let you know when we're done.