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Samsung's e-ink texting Alias 2 now on sale at Verizon Wireless

by Tim Stevens posted May 11th 2009 @ 7:29AM

Samsung's e-ink toting Alias 2 now on sale at Verizon Wireless

Electronic ink ain't just for readers. Samsung's Alias 2 is here, making use of a cleverly segmented display to make a mighty-morphing, e-ink keypad, which you can now get thumbing at Verizon Wireless -- right on time, no less. The price with a two-year contract is $129.99, but another $50 instant discount brings it down to a tick under $80. Go get your text on.

[Via PhoneArena]

Video: Samsung's Alias 2 dynamic E-Ink keypad in action

by Thomas Ricker posted May 8th 2009 @ 4:54AM

JenJen, a forum jockey over at HowardForums, was lucky enough to coax a Verizon sales rep into selling her Samsung's new Alias 2 a few days early. Fortunately she did as any of us would and posted a video of her fresh out of box experience to YouTube. While this featurephone isn't much of a looker, it's nice to finally see the dynamically changing E Ink keypad in action. Check it after the break.

[Thanks, Mike M.]

Continue reading Video: Samsung's Alias 2 dynamic E-Ink keypad in action

Samsung Alias 2 and Motorola Rival a445 appear in the wild

by Nilay Patel posted May 7th 2009 @ 1:13PM

Got enough electronic ink yet this week? Hope not, cause here's the Samsung Alias 2 in the wild, complete with that segmented E Ink keypad. Apparently mode changes happen smoothly and quickly, so our usability fears now just boil down to feel -- those buttons do not look fun to press. We'll see when it launches on May 11.

Oh, and teenyboppers on the V might want to check out the blurry pic of the Motorola Rival a445 / Rush 2 after the break -- it's not going to blow your mind, but we hear you're into the colorful QWERTY slider scene these days. You scamps.

Continue reading Samsung Alias 2 and Motorola Rival a445 appear in the wild

Samsung Alias 2 launching on May 11, E Ink confirmed?

by Chris Ziegler posted May 1st 2009 @ 9:35AM

We're hearing that the Alias 2 is on track for a release in less than two weeks from now -- May 11, to be exact -- which would mean that we're just a few short days away from seeing the very first E Ink handset launch in the States. Yes, that's right, we said it -- after all the heated debate over the technology powering the Alias 2's configurable keypad, our tipster tells us that new information floating down from corporate confirms that the device is using E Ink, which would explain why it's able to maintain state even with the power off. We still think it's one awfully ugly phone, but this might be one of those all-too-frequent cases where cool tech ends up winning our hearts anyway. As for pricing, the tipster thinks it may come in at $79, which seems improbable even with deep contract discounting and a big mail-in rebate -- but if by some miracle it does end up being accurate, they're going to be selling tons of these to text-heavy geeks like ourselves.

[Image via PhoneArena, thanks ehjun]

Can you do that? Verizon renames year-old Samsung U740 to "Alias"

by Chris Ziegler posted Mar 6th 2008 @ 12:10PM

After a full year on the market, Verizon's apparently looking to give its dual-hinged U740 textmeister a swift kick in the pants. How? By hooking it up with a slick, marketing department-approved name, of course. The U740 will heretofore be known simply as the "Alias," which we don't really think has anything to do with the phone's physical characteristics, but maybe we're just totally missing something here. The specs obviously haven't changed, but at the very least, we think we can probably expect the phone to be on the market for a while yet seeing how they've invested this little smidge of effort into its revival. 80 bucks will land you a shiny new Alias on contract, if you're so inclined.

[Via phoneArena]