AT&T finished the week by rolling out an upgrade to one of its core messaging phones. Pantech’s Pursuit II switches to a vertical QWERTY slider design instead of the original’s side slider, but its changes revolve mostly around its use of Qualcomm’s Brew MP platform. The OS is built for basic feature phones but gives it more smartphone-like apps and a more accurate HTML-capable browser.
Home screen widgets for social networking help justify both the OS and the keyboard.
The messager’s center of attention is still a 2.8-inch, 240×320 touchscreen. A two-megapixel fixed-focus camera provides photos and video. The phone leans on microSDHC cards for storage but can talk to a computer directly through USB to help load up on music or other content.
Pantech’s phone will come in bright green and pink hues on July 17, when it will ship for $50 for those who can land a $50 mail-in rebate.
