Kyocera debuts Rio touch-screen phone for Cricket

The Kyocera Rio offers Cricket Wireless customers a candy bar design with a touch screen and midrange features.

Kent German Former senior managing editor / features

Kent was a senior managing editor at CNET News. A veteran of CNET since 2003, he reviewed the first iPhone and worked in both the London and San Francisco offices. When not working, he's planning his next vacation, walking his dog or watching planes land at the airport (yes, really).

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Kent German

Nov. 17, 2010 5:17 p.m. PT

Kyocera yesterday released a new cell phone for Cricket Wireless. The Rio E1300 can't quite match Kyocera's recent Zio M6000, but it's no basic handset, either.

The candy bar device's 2.8-inch touch screen will be your primary interface point. Below are a few physical controls including dedicated music player buttons, but there's no physical keyboard for messaging. Features include a 1.3-megapixel camera, a music player, a microSD card slot, stereo Bluetooth, links to Cricket Navigator, a speakerphone, voice dialing, 1GB of internal memory, messaging and e-mail, a personal organizer, and support for Cricket's MyBackup service.

The Rio is available now for $129, or $109 if you buy it online. That may seem pricey, but keep in mind that Cricket doesn't require contracts.

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