Verizon Wireless on Wednesday announced the LG Enlighten, a new Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) smartphone that will be available on September 22nd for $79.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate with a new two-year agreement. The Enlighten offers a full QWERTY keyboard and a relatively basic feature set given its price. It is powered by an 800MHz processor and has a 3.2-inch touchscreen display with a relatively low 480 x 320-pixel resolution. The Enlighten will ship with a 2GB microSD card and also has a 3.2-megapixel camera, although it lacks a secondary front-facing camera for video chats. Other features include Adobe Flash 10 support, 3G Mobile Hotspot for sharing your 3G connection with up to five Wi-Fi-enabled devices, and Bluetooth 3.0 support. Read on for the full press release.

VERIZON WIRELESS AND LG MOBILE ILLUMINATE WITH LG ENLIGHTEN™

Multi-tasking and Customization are Easy with LG Enlighten on the Verizon Wireless Network

BASKING RIDGE, N.J., and SAN DIEGO – Verizon Wireless and LG Electronics MobileComm U.S.A., Inc. (LG Mobile), today announced LG Enlighten™ will be available online at www.verizonwireless.com beginning Sept. 22, and in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores beginning Sept. 29.

Powered by Android™ 2.3, LG Enlighten is ideal for messaging, email and apps in a slim and affordable smartphone.  Customers can stay connected and up-to-date on news and their social life on the nation’s most reliable network.

Key features:
·         Android 2.3 Gingerbread
·         3.2-inch touch screen display (320 x 480)
·         800 MHz processor for performance and multi-tasking
·         Full QWERTY keyboard with large keys for easy typing
·         Adobe® Flash® 10
·         3G Mobile Hotspot allows users to share a data connection with up to five Wi-Fi-enabled devices
·         Seven customizable home screens with shortcuts to apps, favorites and widgets
·         Customizable apps menu
·         3.2-megapixel autofocus camera and camcorder

Additional features:
·         Support for Google™ Mobile Services, including Gmail™, YouTube™, Google Search™ and Google Maps™, as well as access to more than 250,000 apps available to download from Android Market™
·         Bluetooth® 3.0 Enhanced Data Rate (EDR)
·         Wi-Fi connectivity (b/g/n)
·         Exchange support
·         Suite of messaging options, including text, picture, video and voice messaging and mobile instant messaging
·         2 GB microSD™ card pre-installed

Pricing and availability:
·         LG Enlighten will be available for $79.99 after a $50 mail in rebate with a new two-year customer agreement.  Customers will receive the rebate in the form of a debit card; upon receipt, customers may use the card as cash anywhere debit cards are accepted.
·         Customers will need to subscribe to a Verizon Wireless Nationwide Talk plan beginning at $39.99 for 450 minutes per month and a smartphone data package starting at $30 monthly access for 2 GB of data.
·         Verizon Wireless Mobile Hotspot data plans are available beginning at $20 for 2 GB.

Today, via a press release, Sprint officially announced its ZTE Peel iPod touch mobile-hotspot case. The iPod accessory, which will be available November 14th, will retail for $79.99 and will fit second and third generation iPod touch devices. Sprint will offer a $30, month-to-month hotspot plan for the Peel that will include a 1GB data allowance. The Wi-Fi case will support WEP 64-bit encryption, has a 3-hour run-time, and is comparable with Windows 7, Vista, and XP as well as Mac OS 10.5 and 10.6. The announcement mirrors information we broke about the Peel last week and on Monday. Hit the jump for the full press release.

ZTE PEEL Brings Sprint’s 3G Network Reliability to Apple iPod Touch; Creates Mobile Wi-Fi Hotspots

Unique form factor of ZTE PEEL™ cradles Apple^® iPod touch^® for easy access to Sprint’s 3G data speeds; available Nov. 14

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (BUSINESS WIRE), November 10, 2010 – Beginning on Nov. 14, Sprint (NYSE:S) customers can attach ZTE PEEL™ to their Apple iPod touch and connect to Sprint’s 3G network. ZTE PEEL is a unique device that cradles the second- and third-generation iPod touch with a case-like form factor. With universal Wi-Fi compatibility and support for up to two Wi-Fi enabled devices, iPod touch users will have a virtually anywhere, anytime Internet connection that removes the reliance on a Wi-Fi hotspot for a data connection. Customers simply slide their iPod touch (touch-screen face out) into ZTE PEEL, press down on both sides until it clicks into place, and then press the power button located on the back of ZTE PEEL to connect to Sprint’s 3G network.

ZTE PEEL will be available beginning Sunday, Nov. 14, through Sprint retail stores and direct ship sales channels, including Web sales (www.sprint.com) and Telesales (1-800-SPRINT1) for $79.99 (taxes excluded). The ZTE PEEL $29.99 monthly service plan from Sprint allows up to 1GB of 3G data on the Sprint network (taxes and surcharges excluded) with no annual contract required.

“ZTE PEEL unlocks the wonderful user interface and Web experience of Apple’s popular iPod touch and transforms it into a powerful mobile device using the Sprint 3G network,” said Fared Adib, vice president-Product Development. “When combined with Sprint’s 3G network, ZTE PEEL turns an iPod touch from a portable device limited by the availability of Wi-Fi to a mobility tool free to browse the Web and use applications anytime, anywhere while on Sprint’s 3G network.”

Key features of ZTE PEEL include advanced security through WEP, an internal antenna and compatibility with Windows^® 7, Windows Vista^®, Windows XP^®, Macintosh^® OS 10.5, 10.6. No software installation is required for use.

“ZTE is proud to continue to grow our relationship with Sprint, and we are excited to bring this ground-breaking product to Sprint’s already innovative portfolio,” said Joey Jia, general manager-ZTE USA. “We are committed to providing our partners with products that drive consumer demand and present a competitive edge.”

The nationwide Sprint 3G network provides access to a full range of apps that require internet connectivity to perform, including VOIP, gaming, streaming news and real-time sports updates. With ZTE Peel supporting up to two hotspot connections, users can also enable laptops, tablets and other mobile devices with 3G data speeds.

Reliability from Sprint 3G

ZTE PEEL will operate on the Sprint 3G network, and customers can be confident in their ability to stay connected. According to the results of a 13-city test conducted by PC World on 3G performance, no one has a more reliable network than Sprint. For the second consecutive year, Sprint’s reliability rates were second-to-none.

PC World’s test involved Sprint, AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile in 13 major cities in all regions of the country during December 2009 and January 2010. In all, roughly 9,000 individual tests of Sprint’s 3G service were conducted from 280 testing locations. Testing sessions were one minute in duration per location, and network performance can be highly variable from neighborhood to neighborhood. In laptop-based tests, Sprint tied with another carrier for first in 3G network reliability.²

With the Sprint Free Guarantee, customers can take advantage of ZTE PEEL for 30 days. If not completely satisfied, customers may return the device within 30 days to get reimbursed for the device purchase and activation fee, get the restocking fees waived, and receive a full refund for the monthly service plan charges.¹

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On Friday, we told you about a rumor we were hearing surrounding the release-date and pricing for Sprint’s ZTE Peel; the iPod touch case that provides 3G internet access. Today, we’ve got cold hard evidence to confirm our previous scoop. As you can see from the above screen shot, the ZTE Peel will indeed be hitting the Now Network on November 14th and will retail for $79.99. The plan that Sprint will provide Peel customers is a $29.99, month-to-month, offering that will include a 1GB data allowance; overages will be billed at $0.05 per megabyte. The Wi-Fi case will be able to provide internet access for up to two devices and supports second and third generation iPod touch devices. Although… we do have to wonder if Sprint/ZTE will delay the current Peel as it is not compatible with the fourth generation iPod touch; most notably, the camera is in a different location.

What do you think iPod touch owners, you like?

If you’re a T-Mobile BlackBerry user, and have no plans of jumping off the BlackBerry or T-Mobile bandwagons, listen up. T-Mobile has just announced, via Facebook, that they will be launching the BlackBerry Curve 3G on September 8th. The device runs BlackBerry OS 5 (but is BlackBerry 6 ready), has Wi-Fi, 3G, and a 2 megapixel shooter. The handset will retail for a mere $80 on a 2-year contract and will be available in grey and purple. There you have it.

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FierceWireless is reporting that Verizon Wireless will unveil a prepaid $80 per month 5 GB mobile broadband data plan in the coming months. The plan will complement the company’s current prepaid broadband plans which are $15/day for 75 MB, $30/week for 250 MB, and $50/month for 500 MB. The reported plan, as Current Analysis analyst Deepa Karthikeyan writes, “offers contract-phobic, high-end users with a viable option.” Given Virgin Mobile’s announcement this morning, would you pay double for Verizon’s network?

UPDATE: The new prepaid plans can be found here. The available plans are now: 100 MB (1 day) $15, 300 MB (7 days) $30, 1 GB (30 days) $50, and 5 GB (30 days) $80. Thanks to everyone who sent this in.

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Smart playlists are sooooo 2007 – all the cool kids use genius playlists. Late last month, Kevin Rose shared some Apple rumors with us that have since gained a pretty huge amount of momentum. The iPod nano and Touch revisions are all but confirmed and it looks like pricing will be revisited as well. Then yesterday of course, Apple sent out some invites to a special “Let’s Rock” event to be held on September 9th. Let’s Rock you say? Sounds pretty focused; iPods and iTunes will almost certainly be the talking points. In the meatime however, Rose has handed out a bit more detail with regards to the iTunes 8.0 revision he spoke of in his video last month. Firstly, he described a new music recommendation feature that will be called genius playlists according to reports. Apparently iTunes 8.0 will be able to analyze certain qualities of a song and generate a playlist. It will be like having your own local Pandora; sort of. Less interestingly, Rose describes some new “trippy visualizations” that can accompany playback. It’s hard to care about that but since Rose claims to have seen them first hand it does give his claims some additional credibility.

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There you have it people – a week from today Apple will be holding a special event tagged with “Let’s Rock”. The assumption of course, is that several of the rumors that have been floating around will be addressed. Specifically, the fourth generation of the iPod nano is expected to be revealed along will a slightly revised iPod Touch, new iPod Touch software and a pricing revision that will likely affect several iPod models. We would also venture a guess that a few other rumors will be confirmed at the event, including the possible announcement and subsequent release of iTunes 8.0. As for the rest of the rumors (OS X, MacBook, MacBook Pro), this seems like it will be a fairly focused event so we’ll likely have to wait a bit longer for confirmation on those. In case you didn’t get an invite and you feel like trying to crash, the shindig will take place at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco and it’s scheduled for liftoff at 10:00 am PST.

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