Published June 2, 2007
in mobile.
Sorry, Shine hopefuls, the VX8700 will have to hold you over for at least a bit longer. After some buzz had suggested that the FCC-outed VX8550 would be a true Shine slider for Verizon, we now have word from sources that it’ll actually be a facelift to the year-old VX8500 Chocolate. For what it’s worth, the changes are definitely for the better — we’d dare say LG’s been listening to the VX8500’s critics — with properly placed Send / End buttons, Lock switch on the side, and what appears to be a true 3.5mm headphone jack (still an all-too-rare feature on handsets). Some are reporting that the d-pad is considerably easier to use and possibly “used differently” than its predecessor, though what that means remains to be seen. Documents suggest that it’ll hit in black, red, and blue, though if the original is any gauge, we can expect a full rainbow of hues hitting over several months. No word on a release date or price, but with press shots in the pipe, we figure it might show up in time to commemorate the VX8500’s one-year anniversary.
Published June 2, 2007
in mobile.
iPhone owners might be putting their treasured handsets into accessory detectin’ mode right out of the gate thanks to a plethora of accessories outed in iLounge’s iPod accessory guide, which at well over one hundred pages makes it pretty much the be-all, end-all bible of iPod add-ons. As we might expect this early in the game, the goodies are strictly standard fare — cases, FM transmitters, and the like — though Belkin’s Acrylic Case (pictured) looks like a winner thanks to its ability to support the iPhone on it side for more relaxed widescreen video viewing. Another gem is Crystal Film, which’ll cover the entire front of the device with a thin, transparent static cling layer; good idea from a protection standpoint, but we can’t help but wonder how that’s gonna affect the feel of the screen.
In the first quarter of 2006, there were 53,328 subcompacts sold. In the first quarter of this year, 107,942 little engines that could have tootled off of dealer lots. That’s a 95.1% increase. At the current pace, according to Ward’s Auto, B-segment vehicles will nearly double their last year’s sales of 274,272 units. That would put them at levels not seen since 1995.
Until recently, sales of subcompacts consistently declined. In 1998, 120,216 only of them were sold, which was a 26-year low, and a huge drop from the 567,210 cars sold just three years prior to that. It’s a small market compared to other segments, but it’s a noteworthy trend because of the multitude of factors that could be driving it. A Global Insight analyst said that “auto makers missed the ball when they aimed the latest crop of B-cars at the youth market,” because Gen Y would rather have trucks or SUVs. (Has anyone told Scion or Honda that?) But if that’s the case, who’s buying them and why?
[Source: Sema via Winding Road]
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