c/o one brave anonymous tipster.



Specs thus far for this upper entry-level (I think) handset:

2.2" QVGA display
Bluetooth
VGA camera
3 full hours talk time and 7 days standby
(purportedly an extended battery will be available, too)

The source claims it'll be priced around $100 after rebates with a targeted "mid-to-late summer" release date.

Nice!! thanks! Nice how Sanyo is keeping up with styling cues, while still maintaining "phone first" attitude.

All I did was post the info. Thank the brave, anonymous soul who was willing to stick his or her neck out for us.

^^ ditto that

That's great but slim phones are old news. I'll keep my 9000 over that.

Vibrant, I was hoping Sanyo getting back into the game would show you that miniaturization is the way of the future. The slim phone era has barely begun and there's a chance of more than one Katana coming from Sanyo this year. Why exactly would people start requesting handsets the size of the 9000 once they recognize that its features can fit into the A900's case?

Looks a bit photoshopped to me!

i don't understand why people are scared to post pics like that? am I missing something?

Has everthing to do with possible job loss as a result of posting material not intended for public release.

That it does, but I wouldn't mind actually seeing the finished product. As of now this one isn't really reaching out to me... I don't want to judge to early though, I may love the released version.

For the most part technology never works right when put into such a small vehicle to operate (the original Startac, A900, recall of the RAZR). That might be one reason. People like phones that work, and like it or not bigger means better functionality.

very true corey, although i am a huge fan of the 9000 the two things the 9000 has over the 900 is the expandable memory and longer battery life, in return the 900 does have bluetooth though. i've had too many customers to count who've come from another provider to sprint soley to get the blade. once sanyo releases the katana, a slightly lower tier version of the blade, that will open up a whole different market for lower income consumers who want a slim phone.

sorry to get a bit off of topic here, vibrant i've been hearing some rumors about a new sanyo 9000 with bluetooth and external mp3 buttons. sanyo 9100? heard anything about it?

I gotta disagree with you there. The first run Razr was the best run of them, I had one and saw several. I got a newer production run unit, and it just felt different the first time i picked it up. Not horrible, but different somehow. The phone has been out for just about a year and a half, one bad batch isnt that bad.
The Startac is revered by many as the best phone ever, not featurewise of course, but as a phone. My Timeport, despite its age, still puts many modern models to shame. They are on oposite ends of the Motorola quality debacle that was the triplets series, Startac and Timeport before, Razr after.
I think the biggest problem with the a900 is it was rushed to market without proper testing, many people are saying the updates fix almost every issue with the exception of BT and battery life. The RF is finally up to snuff with Samsung, if they waited a little while longer to release it it might have been near perfect besides battery and BT.

Me like what me see. I see myself return to the Sanyo side of the force.

Those are the same slides that David Bressler (sales VP) from Sanyo was showing at the recent 'Sprint School' convention. I find it hard to get too excited about the katana, It is going to lack many of the highend features we love in the a900/a920. (IE no power vision, VGA camera, etc) I think it will sell much better among sprint's cheaper customers. Or they could market a non camera version as a kind of modern startac: sleek, simple and voice centric.