T-Mobile Bets on Phone Chic

LAS VEGAS -- Embracing the notion that people want mobile phones that express their personality, T-Mobile has unveiled several super-stylish handsets at the CTIA Wireless show here.

The new phones range from gleaming metallic-colored Motorola PEBL flip phones to a Samsung phone so slender that it gives new meaning to the term "candy-bar" as a cell phone design format.

The color PEBLs, in green, teal, and orange, are due in May, T-Mobile says. (Motorola showed off additional colors in its booth, but didn't say which carriers would offer them.) The phones use a dual-hinge mechanism that supports single-handed opening via a slide and flip motion.

The extraordinarily skinny Samsung t509, also due in early May, is a mere .38 of an inch thick and otherwise has the dimensions of a small chocolate bar. Somehow, however, Samsung has also packed a VGA camera, speakerphone, and Bluetooth into this tiny package, a tri-band GSM phone with EDGE support.

Shiny Slider

For a more upscale crowd, T-Mobile has the Nokia 8801, a gleaming and sleek stainless steel GSM slide phone with EDGE support, built-in FM radio and MP3 player, support for AOL and Yahoo instant messaging services, and an SVGA still/video camera. T-Mobile will offer the phone in June.

Finally, T-Mobile will introduce its version of the BlackBerry 8700, the 8700G, in late May. This is the most phone-like BlackBerry communication device, with enhanced Yahoo integration, including real-time delivery of Yahoo mail messages.

The company declined to provide estimates on how much the phones will cost.