Amp'd goes live, and check out those ads

On the heels of its formal launch last week, new carrier Amp'd Mobile has added a second cell phone to its lineup. The Motorola Hollywood, a revamped version of the Motorola E815, comes in slick black and incorporates the carrier's youth-oriented 3G multimedia features. Other features on the fully loaded handset include an Amp'd-branded menu interface, Bluetooth, a 1.3-megapixel camera, messaging, a music player, and a speakerphone. The Hollywood joins the first Amp'd phone from Kyocera--a slider model available in both black (the Jet) and white (the Angel)--in providing a comprehensive range of EV-DO content and music downloads via Verizon's network. Amp'd is aiming for the under-30 set, so content partners include MTV, Fox Sports, and Comedy Central. Service plans vary, but they follow a traditional contract model, with some services costing extra, depending on your monthly minute usage. For more information, browse the way-too-flashy Amp'd Web site. We'll have a full review of the Jet in the next couple of weeks.

The hipper-than-thou carrier has also embarked on an online advertising blitz that won't fly in your local Sunday school class. One has an image of a man taking a photo of himself with his pants down, another has two women kissing, and another has a Mariah Carey look-alike dressed in a revealing outfit certain to make Mr. Blackwell's list. All three ads have buttons marked Approve or Disapprove--if clicked, they take you to the Amp'd site. I can just imagine the meeting where the ad agency execs presented that campaign.