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Virgin Mobile lands Kyocera Switch Back

Virgin Mobile lands Kyocera Switch Back

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).
Kent German
Kyocera today confirmed what we expected by announcing that Virgin Mobile will carry its new QWERTY keyboard phone. Originally called the Strobe and first introduced at CES last January, the offers a full QWERTY keyboard, dual 65,000-color displays, e-mail, instant messaging, a VGA camera, a speakerphone, 256MB of memory, gameplay, and a wireless Web browser. Armed with exclusive MTV and other youth-oriented content, Kyocera is positioning the Switch Back as an alternative to the T-Mobile Sidekick II. In our opinion, though, the phone is certainly useful, it's not the prettiest mobile on the market. The Kyocera Switch Back will be available late this month for $149.