Gizmodo: world phone

Motorola RIZR Z6c Has Dual-Band GSM and CDMA

Jason Chen — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 14:20:58 EST

If we're reading this correctly, the Motorola RIZR Z6c has both GSM and CDMA, meaning you can take this phone from CDMA networks in the States (Sprint/Verizon) onto GSM networks all over the world (or onto AT&T/T-Mobile). The phone's just hit the FCC so we're not sure what Motorola's plans for this are in terms of carrier distribution other than Verizon, but we do know it has EV-DO rev. 0, so that may be a hint as to which providers this is heading to (maybe Sprint?). World phones are becoming more and more popular—see BlackBerry 8830—so it means Moto wants to get in on this James Bond globe-trekking market as well. [Phonearena]

National Geographic Travel Phone: Cheap Phone, Roving Number

blongo3 — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 18:12:48 EST

National Geographic is getting in to the phone market with their unlocked Quad band GSM cell phone. While the thing looks like it just popped out of 1998, it actually seems pretty useful.

What sets this guy apart, aside from only being $199? It lets you use the same UK based number no matter what country you're in. Usually you have to pop in a new local sim card when you change borders, which is accompanied with a different number. The only thing that's going to hurt is the flat $.90/minute outgoing calls. I guess it will be like calling from a hotel, where you just ask the person to call you back instead of racking up a huge bill.– Ben Longo

Nat. Geo. Announces Affordable Global Cell Phone Coverage Solution [Yahoo!]

Samsung IP-830w on Sprint: World Phone, Smart Slider, First Look

Charlie White — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 10:30:47 EDT

If you're a world traveler, you might want to take a look at this Sprint IP-830w "world phone," a sliding Samsung smartphone with a 320x240 touchscreen, an SD memory card slot, and a 520MHz Intel PXA 272 CPU. Our buddy Dave at Mobility Today took a First Look at it and liked what he saw. He also grabbed lots of close-up shots for you cellphone-porn lovers.

In case you didn't see Jason's astute assessment of the phone when Sprint introduced it a couple of weeks ago, this one will compete with the crowd of smartphones populated by the likes of the Treo 700wx and Motorola Q, but there's a major difference: it runs on Sprint's CDMA network and you can also use it on almost any GSM/GPRS network anywhere in the world as long as you have a prepaid SIM.

It's not bad looking, either, but it is a bit heavy at 6.4 ounces. No word on pricing or availability yet. – Charlie White

First Look: Sprint IP-830w Worldphone [Mobility Today]