>> Bonnie: Hi, I'm Bonnie Cha, Senior Editor at CNET.com and today we're taking a first look at the HTC Ozone for Verizon Wireless; this is basically Verizon's version of the HTC Snap which has also been released on Sprint and TMobile. It's a Windows Mobile based messaging Smartphone and Verizon probably offers the best deal for the device in terms of price. But first let's check out some of the design and features. The Ozone is much more similar to the Sprint Snap in design but at least the back has a soft-touch finish so it doesn't feel quite as plasticy and flick. Fortunately, the Ozone doesn't go with the same keyboard as the Sprint model. Instead it's like the TMobile Dash [inaudible] and it has larger rectangular buttons. They have a nice curve to them so they're easier to press. The display is the same on all three devices. It measures 2 point 4 inches and while it's easy enough to read I'd like to see slightly larger and sharper screen. It's not as vibrant or crisp as the BlackBerry Tour's. Feature wise the Ozone beats out the Sprint HTC Snap with a couple of additional features. First it offers WiFi and second it offers dual [inaudible] and functionality which means you can use the phone overseas. Verizon ships the phone with a SIM card so you can get voice and data coverage in different parts of the world, but just be aware that roaming charges will apply and the phone doesn't support international 3G bans so you'll be getting slower edge speeds. Verizon also offers VZ Navigator and visual voice mail services on the Ozone but they'll cost you extra. With the full QWERTY keyboard there's plenty of messaging support. The Ozone works with Exchange and personal email accounts and it also ships with instant messaging clients for AIM, Windows Live and Yahoo. Unfortunately the Ozone doesn't support HTC's Inner Circle feature which helped us better manage our email on the Sprint HTC Snap. All things considered though the HTC Ozone is a great messaging Smartphone and it delivered with good call quality and snappy performance. And all of this is made better by an incredibly affordable price. The Ozone is available now for $49.99 with a 2 year contract, which is a really great value for what you're getting so if you can't afford the BlackBerry Tour the Ozone is a great messaging Smartphone alternative. I'm Bonnie Cha and this has been your first look at the HTC Ozone for Verizon Wireless.
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