An exciting new Android powered device is making it’s way to US Cellular by way of LG. The LG Genesis is one of the few Android phones with two screens, and a physical QWERTY keyboard that exposes itself once the sites front-facing screen is flipped open.
The Genesis is now up on the LG Website but it hasn’t yet been announced by the US Cellular officials. We’re guessing this isn’t the way this phone was meant to be shown to the public for the first time, but everyone is convinced that US Cellular WILL BE the carrier that the phone ends up with. Here are some pictures of the phone…
We’re guessing the phone will show up on the US Cellular website by the end of the week. They were probably trying to coincide the actual release of the phone in the stores with the website release and a communication error cause LG’s early release.
The website does boast some pretty solid technical numbers according to LG’s site. The camera has Wi-fi, 3G coverage, 5 megapixel camera, and two 800×480 resolution screens. We’re still waiting to hear about the battery life from the 1500 mAH battery. The phone will run Android 2.2 Froyo, so we’ll be watching for a 2.3 update at some point.
Right now the expected cost is $249.99 with a renewed or new contract.
With the recent acquisition of T-Mobile by AT&T, Verizon is now the #2 biggest mobile carrier. Verizon has been the top dog for quite a while now and as we move closer to a mobile universe almost completely controlled by 2 carriers, one has to wonder if Verizon may try to gobble up some smaller carriers to make sure they don’t lose any more ground.
I’m not hoping for this type of merger, but it’s definitely a possibility. The advantages are better phones, and a new 4G network in some places (which currently wouldn’t be available for most US Cellular users anyways), but you’d lose the great customer service, and cheaper cell plans with US Cellular phones. As the number of companies become fewer and fewer, so does the competition which raises prices. There’s no doubt AT&T and Verizon would still be competing with each other, but it wouldn’t take much work for the companies to work together on pricing to fleece customers.
With cell phone plan pricing already skyrocketing, the talk about raising prices again is already on the table. Verizon has recently stated that they would soon lose their $30 unlimited plan, and move towards a tiered data plan which is really just “company-speak” for wanting to charge customers more. It won’t be long until many people are paying $200 a month for their phone plan which just seems crazy to me.
There’s nothing official out there about this possible merger, but I wanted to bring it to your attention just in case it does pop up. I can almost guarantee within the next year US Cellular will become a target by one of the two big companies, but whether they want to sell is another issue. US Cellular may decide that this is their opportunity to be the third option for people wanting to get out of the big-box stores and lower pricing. If you’re reading any of the other mobile blogs and forums out there, you can already see customer satisfaction is dropping, and if people get pushed much further you may see a migration away from the big duopoly.
It’s been a while since I’ve written an update, but their just hasn’t been that much going on since the big Christmas push. New phones will be hitting the shelves soon, but until that happens I figured I’d post a quick hands on video with the US Cellular Samsung Mesmerize. This is still the most popular android powered phone that US Cellular has in their arsenal so I thought it made sense to go back and feature it while we wait for the new stock. Here’s the video:
With the new Froyo update, this phone boasts the newest Android OS on the market which should keep it relevant for quite a while. If you need a phone right now, I really wouldn’t stress much about picking this one up even thought it’s been out for a while. The updates will keep coming, and this Samsung Galaxy series has been well received by most consumers.
That’s it for now, but check back soon as we’re checking for daily news updates on what’s next for US Cellular Phones.
May 24th, 2011 
joshmv 
