Mailbag: YouTube viewer questions answered - April '08, Part 2

Without further ado, I bring you Part Two of April's YouTube mailbag...

Three Questions About LG's enV2 for Verizon:

Q:
Dragon55092
hey noah, do you know when the eV2 is coming out? my birthday is 
coming up and i hope i can i get it in time.  oops, i mean enV2

A:
Hey, Dragon:  Just found out it'll go on sale Wed. April 30th.  Happy Birthday!

Q:
Brack51Productions
do u kno wen u will get the enV (2) for a review

A:
Brack51:  My Verizon rep said she's shipping one out to me and I should have it on Wed April 30.  I'll open it up and start testing and reviewing it as soon as it arrives.

Q:
Hey I just watched your review of the env2, and it was very informative (best I've seen for sure), but I was wondering--with the front part of the phone lacking left/right buttons on the navigation pad, does it make it harder to text? I would think so since you wouldn't be able to move the cursor back back to previous words to make correction, etc.

Any input on this?

Thanks very much,
Tyler

A:
Tyler,

Good question, and something I didn't think to test out when I demo'd the phone at CTIA.  Funnily enough, I haven't been able to find anything out about this.  Strange.  I'll test it out when I get my review unit.

- Noah

* * *

Q:
Hey Noah, I'm researching the Samsung U900 Flip Phone.  I currently have the Samsung SCH-A970 Phone.  The one thing I LOVE about the SCH-A970 is that it has "voice Recognition" so when I send Text Messages, I don't have to TYPE them, just "Speak" them into the phone and send them. Thats the only reason I haven't done away with my current phone. Can you tell me if the U900 has this Feature also?

Thanks
Roger

A:
Roger,

You're in luck.  The U900 "FlipShot" supports speech to text dictation as well as voice-activated dialing and other voice commands.

* * *
Q:
I have a question I was looking at the Samsung Glyde U940 online a couple of days ago and I was wondering did you know how much its going to cost and is it worth buying?

A:
Verizon Wireless hasn't yet announced anything official regarding the U940.  A rumor went around the Web a week ago that the Glyde, as it's called, would be free after contract and rebate through Best Buy, but there's nothing to back that rumor up and I personally don't think it'll come true. 

Based on what I've seen and heard so far, Glyde will be a high-end phone along the lines of LG's Voyager.  So it makes sense to think that U940 pricing would be similar to that of Voyager - around $200-300 after contract and rebate.  But that's just a guess and I have no factual information at this time.

Will it be worth buying?  That depends on a few things:

1. Performance.  Some Voyager owners have complained that the phone's software is buggy and/or not responsive enough.  I've played with the Samsung F700 (on which Glyde is based), but that phone runs a different operating system than Glyde will.  So while we have a pretty good idea of what specs and features Glyde is likely to have, it's impossible to say how "good" the device is until we've been able to try out a production model and get a feel for how the thing actually responds to commands and button presses.

2. What matters to you in a phone?  It looks like Glyde will be a full featured, but rather large device.  Then again, it may lack support for VCAST TV, which Voyager has.  Honestly, I'd say if you're interested in this phone wait until it comes out and go to a Verizon store to try it out in person.  It's hard to get a sense of what a phone really feels like - how big it is, how the keyboard action is, how responsive the touchscreen is - without trying it out for yourself.  If you can't do that, wait for my video review (as soon as I get a review model) - it's the next best thing!

Alright, everyone, keep those questions coming.  Remember, post 'em on the PhoneDog blog comment roll and they'll get answered more quickly.

Thanks for watching and reading!

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