Blast -- Engadget Mobile

blast posts

Hands-on with the Samsung Blast

by Chris Ziegler posted Aug 31st 2007 @ 3:39PM

As US carriers lean harder and harder on messaging, offering a plethora of QWERTY and otherwise messaging-enhanced (case in point) phones, unlimited messaging plans, and tighter email integration, we're liking what we're seeing. Needless to say, we've come a long way from the early days when BlackBerry 850s and Nokia 9200s ruled a fairly niche market, and the Samsung Blast personifies that reality. Put simply -- and messaging capabilities aside -- this is a very attractive phone. In fact, we got a couple compliments and questions about it just walking down the street with the phone to our ear. Of course, a large part of that can likely be attributed to the Blast's screaming pink backside -- but that backside is real metal, something you don't typically see of a phone at this price point. Besides the metal, other high-end features include a fairly robust email client, an ultra thin package, and the trick SureType keypad. We've never personally been able to get used to SureType, but folks that can should have no trouble adapting to this one; we were initially worried about the size of the keys and tactility issues, but we found that we were able to feel 'em out with our fat fingers pretty easily and we had no mistypes whatsoever. The 220 x 176 display and 1.3 megapixel cam are disappointments, but only because they feel mismatched to the solidity, feature set, and attractive design of the phone -- and for T-Mobile and Samsung, that's a very good problem to have considering the reasonable price point. Check out our full gallery below!

Gallery: Hands-on with the Samsung Blast

T-Mobile launches Samsung SGH-T729 "Blast"

by Chris Ziegler posted Aug 8th 2007 @ 9:59AM

As expected, Samsung and T-Mobile have launched the Blast slider today, a phone that puts a big emphasis on messaging capabilities. The 1.3 megapixel camera and EDGE data aren't going to get any jaws dropping, but the SureType keypad (something Samsung has pulled off in the past), integrated support for popular email services like Gmail and Yahoo, and crazy color scheme just might. What's better, T-Mobile is charging the same rate for email sent and received on the T729 for the same price as text messages -- no data plan necessary (why haven't other carriers thought of this?). Other features include stereo Bluetooth, microSD slot, and -- naturally -- myFaves support. Look for it on store shelves any day now for $99 on a two-year contract.