Promising 10 more Androids for the coming months, Motorola's La Jolla sounds like a cheap PAYG at most. Unearthed in source code of the Cliq, the existence of the Motus, Morrison and Zeppelin were confirmed, along with a new one to us—La Jolla. Specs appear to include a Qualcomm 7201A proessor, MAX7359 keyboard and Kionix accelerometer.

Thanks to the newly-released Android 2.0.1 SDK, manufacturers are now able to use differently-sized screens, like the 240 x 400 resolution WQVGA the La Jolla supposedly has. While it won't break any records or wow with its beauty, the La Jolla will help attract the lower-end of the market to Android, thus making it more popular. [AndroidAndMe via PhoneArena]

Unlike the Open X or the Plastic Surgeon before it, the ZipIt is battery operated, so it should be able to make quick work of blister or clamshell packaging with almost no physical effort. It costs a lot more than the other versions, but if you are willing to pay a laziness premium, the ZipIt can be had for $25. [wrapragerelief]

As we reported yesterday, Sony is but one of several big name companies that have pledged an end to wasteful, destructive clamshell product packaging. Others include Amazon, Microsoft and Best Buy.

Maybe with the money they save on packaging Sony can make a better video about how much they also hate clamshells. And maybe a new office. A beach volleyball court, guys? Really? Maybe this recession thing is real after all. [Sony via Kotaku]

The phone measures 105 x 53 x 17mm, and weighs roughly 110 grams. It comes with a .3MP camera, a 2.6-inch screen with a 240 x 320 resolution, the ability to play mp3s and mp4s and some “built-in” games.

Also note the plastic “brushed aluminum”, almost-but-not-quite Macbook Air look and the adorable Apple icon on the front. It lights up! You can see the exact amount of LEDs underneath! How cute! It can be all yours for roughly $100. How's THAT, economy? [Shanzhaiji]

Apparently over 6,000 Americans per year make hospital visits because of injuries (cuts, mostly) sustained by opening the damn clamshells. The design was created to curb theft, so it's no problem for Amazon to implement it; it's awfully tough to shoplift from an online store. But when Microsoft decides to sell its Explorer mouse at Best Buy in an easily-opened zipper package, you know times are a'changin.

Sony is implementing a package, for use at Best Buy and Walmart, that is easily opened but emits a loud noise, like Velcro tearing, to deter in-store thieves. Mike Fasulo, chief marketing officer for Sony, said, "None of us intentionally tried to make this a hassle for consumers," which is pretty nice for a total non-apology apology. Death to the clamshell! [NYTimes]

Samsung i770 "Saga"
- Quad-Band CDMA, EV-DO
- 2.55" 320x320 display
- full QWERTY keyboard
- Bluetooth 2.0 and Wi-Fi
- optical mouse navigation button
- MicroSD(HC) slot (up to 16GB)
- Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional

Samsung Renown
- Quad-Band GSM, "Global Mode"
- Visual Voicemail
- Bluetooth 2.0
- 2.0 MP camera
- 240x320 TFT display

For now it's limited to a small number of items from makers like Fisher-Price, Mattel, Microsoft and Transcend, but ultimately Amazon wants its whole catalog in easy-open packages. And that sounds a heavenly idea, and as long as it is a greener solution, it should get the environmentalists happy too. The press release below explains more.

SEATTLE—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Nov. 3, 2008—Amazon.com has launched "Frustration-Free Packaging," a new initiative designed to make it easier for customers to liberate products from their packages. Amazon is focusing first on two kinds of items: those enclosed in hard plastic cases known as "clamshells" and those secured with plastic-coated wire ties, commonly used in toy packaging.

Frustration-Free Packaging is being launched in the U.S. with 19 bestselling products from leading manufacturers including Fisher-Price, Mattel, Microsoft and electronics manufacturer Transcend. The product is exactly the same - Amazon has just streamlined the packaging. The project will expand across Amazon's international sites beginning in 2009.

"I think we've all experienced the frustration that sometimes occurs when you try to get a new toy or electronics product out of its package," said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. "It will take many years, but our vision is to offer our entire catalog of products in Frustration-Free Packaging. We'd like to thank Fisher-Price, Mattel, Microsoft and Transcend for working with us in this effort - we truly appreciate it."

In addition to making packages easier to open, a major goal of the Frustration-Free Packaging initiative is to be more environmentally friendly by using less packaging material.

One of the first products to launch with Frustration-Free Packaging is the Fisher-Price Imaginext Adventures Pirate Ship, which is now delivered in an easy-to-open, recyclable cardboard box. The new packaging eliminates 36 inches of plastic-coated wire ties, 1,576.5 square inches of printed corrugated package inserts and 36.1 square inches of printed folding carton materials. Also eliminated are 175.25 square inches of PVC blisters, 3.5 square inches of ABS molded styrene and two molded plastic fasteners.

Small items, such as memory cards, are also good candidates for Frustration-Free Packaging. Typically encased in oversized plastic clamshells to deter shoplifting, memory cards are then placed inside larger cardboard boxes for shipment to customers. Working with Transcend, Amazon has eliminated the hard-to-open clamshell and the need for an additional box. Instead, the cards will now ship inside recyclable cardboard envelopes which use less material. Amazon is working to shrink the envelope size even further.

Customers can order select items from Fisher-Price, Mattel, Microsoft and Transcend in the new Frustration-Free Packaging for immediate delivery. The current collection of Frustration-Free products can be seen by going to www.amazon.com/packaging.

RIM Introduces the First BlackBerry Flip Phone

New BlackBerry Pearl Flip Brings The Industry’s Leading Mobile Messaging Solution To Consumers Who Prefer Flip Phones

Waterloo, ON – Research In Motion (RIM) (Nasdaq: RIMM, TSX: RIM) today unveiled the BlackBerry® Pearl™ Flip 8220 smartphone, the first BlackBerry® phone to come in the popular flip form factor.

The new BlackBerry Pearl Flip provides flip phone fans with all the power of a BlackBerry smartphone in a fun and familiar design. One quick flip of the handset opens up a world of possibilities with the industry’s leading mobile messaging solution and a wide range of impressive Internet and multimedia capabilities, all in one powerful yet approachable smartphone. You can send a message to your friends or family, make a call, browse the web, snap a picture, watch a video or listen to your favorite song. It’s all in your control with a simple flip.

The quad-band EDGE based BlackBerry Pearl Flip smartphone presents a sophisticated look with a sleek design and a chrome-finished frame surrounding its smooth, luminescent face. Packed with an abundance of powerful features, it weighs only 3.6 ounces and measures approximately 3.9” x 1.9” x 0.7”. Featuring two high-resolution, light-sensing color displays, the external LCD makes it easy to preview incoming emails, text messages and phone calls without opening the handset, while the large, 240 x 320 internal LCD displays messages, videos and web pages with impressive detail and contrast.

“The popularity of BlackBerry smartphones has grown tremendously around the world and the introduction of this exciting new flip phone will help extend the reach of the BlackBerry platform even further,” said Mike Lazaridis, President and Co-CEO, Research In Motion. “The BlackBerry Pearl Flip is a full-featured smartphone with a unique and friendly design and it is a natural choice for flip phone users who want to start doing more with their phone than just talk.”

FIRST CLASS PHONE

The BlackBerry Pearl Flip smartphone is a top of the line mobile phone that flips open and cradles the face naturally and comfortably during phone calls. It delivers exceptional voice quality and includes many premium phone features, including Speaker Independent Voice Recognition (SIVR) for Voice Activated Dialing (VAD), support for mp3 ring tones, smart dialing, conference calling, speed dialing, call forwarding, voicemail attachment playback and enhanced background noise cancellation. It also features a speakerphone and Bluetooth® 2.0 for use with hands-free headsets, stereo headsets, car kits and other Bluetooth peripherals such as a GPS receiver. The removable/rechargeable 900 mAhr battery provides four hours of talk time and over 14 days of standby time.

MESSAGING POWERHOUSE

Featuring a large SureType® QWERTY* keyboard that makes typing messages and dialing numbers fast and easy, the BlackBerry Pearl Flip, like all BlackBerry smartphones, provides integrated access to the industry leading BlackBerry wireless services. Users are able to easily access up to 10 supported personal and work email accounts, send and receive text and instant messages, and connect on popular social networking sites with friends, family and co-workers. The DataViz® Documents to Go® software suite is also preloaded, allowing users to edit Microsoft® Word, Excel and PowerPoint files directly on the handset. The BlackBerry Pearl Flip is supported on BlackBerry® Internet Service, BlackBerry® Unite!, BlackBerry® Professional Software and BlackBerry® Enterprise Server, which provides tight integration with corporate email systems and the security and IT policy controls that enterprise customers require to confidently allow smartphones in their organization.

MULTIMEDIA TO GO

With an advanced media player for displaying pictures, listening to music and watching videos, the BlackBerry Pearl Flip is the perfect on-the-go entertainment center. Videos play smoothly on the large internal display, playlists can be managed directly on the handset and there’s an equalizer with 11 preset filters – including "Lounge", "Jazz" and "Hip Hop" – for customizing audio ranges when using headphones or external speakers. The BlackBerry Pearl Flip works with the new BlackBerry® Media Sync application that makes it easy to sync iTunes digital music collections with the smartphone*** and it also features a conveniently accessible microSD/SDHC memory card slot that supports up to 16GB** for plenty of storage. High Speed USB 2.0 support allows files to be quickly transferred between a desktop computer and the smartphone and the BlackBerry® Desktop Manager software includes Roxio® Media Manager for BlackBerry® to help users easily manage their music and video files. Roxio Photosuite® 9 LE is also included for creating photo albums and editing pictures.

FULL FEATURED FLIP

The BlackBerry Pearl Flip packs an impressive range of features into its compact design, including phone, email, messaging, organizer, browser and multimedia applications, and it can also support thousands of other mobile lifestyle and business applications. It features a 2 megapixel camera with flash, zoom and video recording**** to capture memories while on the move, and includes BlackBerry Maps to deliver maps and step-by-step driving directions quickly and easily. An enhanced HTML browser displays web pages beautifully in either “Column View” or “Page View” and different emulation settings allow users to choose between desktop-style HTML content and the mobile version of web pages. The browser also supports RTSP for watching online streaming video from sites like m.youtube.com. In addition, the BlackBerry Pearl Flip smartphone features built-in Wi-Fi® (802.11 b/g) with support for UMA (unlicensed mobile access), extending wireless email and data coverage and supporting carrier enabled voice calls over home Wi-Fi networks, enterprise wireless deployments and Wi-Fi hotspots.

ACCESSORIES

The BlackBerry Pearl Flip comes with a variety of accessories including a stereo headset, travel charger and USB cable. Additional accessories for BlackBerry smartphones, including holsters and totes, charging pods, premium earphones, Bluetooth headsets and the BlackBerry® Remote Stereo Gateway are available through retail outlets or online at www.shopblackberry.com.

AVAILABILITY

The BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 smartphone will be available from wireless carriers around the world beginning this fall. The BlackBerry Pearl Flip will be available in the United States exclusively from T-Mobile beginning this fall. Specific availability and pricing details will be announced at a later date.

For more information please visit www.BlackBerryPearl.com

T-Mobile USA customers can check out more details about this new flip phone and register to be notified when the BlackBerry Pearl Flip is available at www.BlackBerry.com/T-MobileBlackBerryPearlFlip

Media can access images and video of the BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 smartphone at http://rim.mediaseed.tv/

About Research In Motion (RIM)
Research In Motion is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of innovative wireless solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market. Through the development of integrated hardware, software and services that support multiple wireless network standards, RIM provides platforms and solutions for seamless access to time-sensitive information including email, phone, SMS messaging, Internet and intranet-based applications. RIM technology also enables a broad array of third party developers and manufacturers to enhance their products and services with wireless connectivity to data. RIM’s portfolio of award-winning products, services and embedded technologies are used by thousands of organizations around the world and include the BlackBerry® wireless platform, the RIM Wireless Handheld™ product line, software development tools, radio-modems and software/hardware licensing agreements. Founded in 1984 and based in Waterloo, Ontario, RIM operates offices in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. RIM is listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market (Nasdaq: RIMM) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: RIM). For more information, visit www.rim.com or www.blackberry.com.

* Keyboard also available in AZERTY and QWERTZ configurations to support different language groups.

** MicroSD/SDHC memory cards are available today in configurations of up to 8GB and the BlackBerry Pearl 8220 smartphone will support upcoming 16GB microSD/SDHC cards.

*** Certain music files may not be supported, including files that contain digital rights management technologies.

**** Video recording requires microSD card, which may be sold separately.

[BlackBerry]

The top/bottom touchscreen difference has the interesting effect of bringing some new features such as actually drawing out a number on the touchpad, rotating and old school dial (?), simulating a T9 dialpad, or even having both sides of the touchscreen active at once for some crazy control.

What's the point of this? Besides new features, apparently many people HATE the candybar form factor and won't even consider a phone a real phone unless it's a clamshell. Like Jack Bauer, for instance. [Unwired View]

1.4 128 160 px 65K Color OLED display
Measures 90 48.6 16.4 mm
Weighs 87.5 grams
GSM850/900/1800/1900, GPRS/EDGE
2 megapixel camera (no autofocus, no flash)
1.8 QVGA 240 320 px 262K color internal display
MicroSD memory card slot
MP3 player
USB and Bluetooth stereo connectivity
Touch-sensitive keys.
But hey, I'm just a disgruntled Motorola user, so what do I know? [PC Pop via Unwired View]

Earlier: The Helio Fin is a Magnesium-Cased Samsung Ultra Flip Phone!

Two videos after the jump, one with a Euro-kitty in the bathtub.

–Brian Lam

Howard Forums [via New Launches]

Other than the extremely long battery life, there's not much else to the phone. There's a 1.3-megapixel camera, 18MB of internal memory, GSM Tri-Band, and a secondary outside OLED display. Great if you just want a phone, but mediocre if you want to do anything beyond calling.

– Jason Chen

New Philips Xenium 9×9s clamshell. 30 days on stand-by too [UnwiredView]

VCSp Revisions 7 [Via Kotaku]

Nokia 6085 Clamshell Announced [Mobiledia]

Looks like it's stoked for tunes with a pair of stereo speakers, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile), a slot for a microSD flash memory card, and it even gets to keep Samsung's user interface instead of its predecessor's lame Sprint UI. Samsung's also added a OLED external display.

This looks like a worthy candidate to fight the battle against the Razr juggernaut, fighting over who will be Prom Queen of the thinness derby. But look out everybody—here comes Apple. No pricing or availability info was forthcoming yet. – Charlie White

Samsung M610: Pictures & New Details [PCS Intel]

Sony Ericsson W43S Clamshell [Mobilewhack via TechEBlog]

Sure, this is a pink phone, but the CKT 6689 also even more girly than that, showing the ladies when they'll get their next monthly visit from that loathsome crimson companion. There's also a courageous BMI indicator that is brave enough to consistently tell that babe in no uncertain terms whether those shorts she's wearing make her look fat.

Other than those two unique features, this is not much more than a basic clamshell handset from previously-unseen Chinese manufacturer CKT. We're not thinking this menstrual prognosticator is going to be entirely necessary around most households, where mounting tensions usually make it pretty obvious when the bleeding's about to start. Around that time of month, guys, just be sure to answer, "No, those shorts have a pronounced slimming effect, honey—are you losing weight?" – Charlie White

CKT 6689 offers more to women than pink [Mobile Mentalism]

In case you were wondering, the Capri is the purple slider on the far left, and the Canary, a clamshell that's pictured in gray here, is the Motorola Razr's thinner and smaller successor. And what do you know? Compared next to each other here, the Capri and Canary are just about the same size. So take your pick, slider or clamshell. You might want to take a look at this guy's site for dozens more pictures. But we're warning you, it's not exactly safe for work. – Charlie White

Motorola Canary vs. Capri!! Flip or Slide? Its all PIMP to Me! [Bengalboy]