This is the result of the fact that Sanyo isn’t very well known in the cell phone market, so it’s not able to compete against many other famous companies. Unfortunately, clamshells like the Katana series, that managed to create sensation when they appeared, didn’t manage to change people’s perception concerning the Sanyo cell phones.

However, the latest device to hit the American market these days is the SCP-2700 which available right now via Sprint on an exclusive basis. It’s just that you’ll be able to find it at stores from all over the West Michigan and Northeast Indiana.

The features of the SCP-2700 include a full QWERTY keyboard, threaded text messaging, a 2.2 inch color LCD screen, a 1.3 megapixel camera, access to Web and email, an integrated speakerphone, a dedicated emoticon key that will help teenagers insert the smiley faces they like most when writing text messages or emails. Parents, on the other hand, will be happy to experience the Bluetooth connectivity, the Sprint Family Locator, Sprint Mobile Email Work and the GPS Navigation functions.

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“This phone makes it simple for families to stay connected through voice, text and email”, says William Derrick, the General Manager at iPCS Wireless, which is the Sprint PCS affiliate in Michigan and Indiana. “Its compact design, full features and great looks will appeal to teens and sophisticated users alike. Best of all, at its low price point and inexpensive rate plans, we’ve eliminated any barriers for people seeking a simple messaging device”.

Available in two color versions, Impulsive Pink and Deep Blue, the Sanyo cell phone can be bought for free in a package of two (two devices, you got it right) with new-line activations and signing a contract agreement for two years on two Individual Plans with messaging or a Family Plan, also with messaging.

(Source: Coolest-Gadgets)

Other cool features in the Sanyo Katana Eclipse specs list include live on-demand TV, over-the-air downloads, GPS navigation, web browsing and games. You can add more of these if the phone’s memory is not sufficient, by inserting a microSHDC card of up to 8GB of storage capacity. The media supported includes music, videos, images and contacts back-up.

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The cell phone has speakerphone, Bluetooth wireless technology, dedicated controls for the music player, Sprint Radio with 150 channels where you can listen to your favorite tunes, and downloadable screen savers, ringtones, applications and games.

You have 40 different lighting effects for each of your contacts and you can choose from several playing music modes like blink, pulse, echo and multi-color patterns.
The built-in 1.3MP camera with 12x zooming and video recording capability is not a high-end digital model, but it’s enough to capture funny moments on the go and send them to your friends.

Sanyo thought also in your productivity so it added GPS turn-by-turn directions support, stereo Bluetooth, SMS Voice Messaging, voice-activated dialing, Restrict Lock that lets you set limits for the use of the cell phone, and applications like Calendar, Scheduler, To-Do List, world clock and many many others.
You can store up to 500 entries in the phone book totalizing 700 phone numbers, 1000 emails and 500 web sites.

Katana Eclipse measures 3.6 x 1.9 x 0.7 inches at 3.4 oz which makes it a pocketable handset fitting your palm or purse, with an internal 2-inch TFT LCD display of 65K colors and an external display of 1 inch in diagonal.
Its Li-Ion battery lasts up to 4.6 hours of talking until asking for a new recharge.

You can get it from Sprint at a price of $99.99 with a 2-year contract.

Katana LX by Sanyo comes in Pacific Blue, Elegant Pink, and Liquid Graphite colors, has Internet access, email function support, a VGA camera, speakerphone integrated, Bluetooth connectivity for wireless file transfers between two compatible devices, and a large 2-inch main LCD display of 65K colors.

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More than that, the middle-level cell phone supports GPS with Sprint Navigation service for turn-by-turn driving directions, traffic rerouting and over 10 million local listings.
It has also SMS Voice Messaging, voice-activated dialing, modem functionality for laptop connectivity to the Internet, voice memo, contact list wireless backup, and call restriction settings.

Sanyo’s Katana LX measures 3.7 x 1.9 x 0.7 inches at 3.4 ounces and is powered by a Li-Ion battery that lasts up to 4.8 hours of talking until the next recharging.

Supporting Qualcomm’s QChat technology, the EV-DO Rev. A support and Call Alerts for sending repeated PTT Alert to other Nextel Direct Connect subscribers, Sanyo Pro 700 allows you to create groups for connecting with up to 20 users of Nextel Direct Connect via QChat, as well as browse the Internet, send emails, download stuff and read the latest news.

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The cell phone is rugged being certified to military standards for dust, shock and vibration, and these without looking as a rugged heavy model at all, weighting 2.8 ounces at 4 x 1.8 x 0.8 inch dimension.

It supports 1900 MHz and 800 MHz bands, sports a 1.2 x 1.5-inch display of 65K colors, and can operate for up to 5 hours of talk time thanks to the 1050 mAh Li-Ion battery.

Sprint will offer it at a price of $69.99 with a 2-year service agreement and $50 mail-in rebate.

Sanyo Pro 200 and Sanyo Pro 700 will be available for you later this month with Qualcomm’s QChat technology, the EV-DO Rev. A support, Nextel Direct Connect one-to-one push-to-talk communication, Group Connect which allows users create groups and connect with up to 20 other Nextel Direct Connect users via QChat, and Call Alerts for sending repeated PTT Alert to other Nextel Direct Connect subscribers.

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With both cell phone models you could browse the Internet, send emails, download media, read the latest news, and all these at very fast speeds via the Sprint’s Mobile Broadband Network that reaches over 242 million people, 15,325 cities and 1,452 airports.

The Sanyo Pro 200 handset is a clamshell-style model measuring 4 x 1.7 x 0.7 inches at 3.4 ounces, sporting a main 1.2 x 1.5-inch display of 65K colors, with Bluetooth, email, and is powered by a standard 1050mAh Li-Ion battery which lasts up to 4.9 hours of talk time.

It will be available at a price of $49.99 with a 2-year service agreement and $50 mail-in rebate.

Sanyo has targeted the Japan market with a new handset called IPX7 with waterproof capability, planed to be released next month
It is waterproof but don’t imagine swimming with it and taking pictures all daylong in the ocean.

The cell phone can resist under water for up to half an hour and at 1 meter deep.
More than that, it supports 1-Seg and KDDI EV-DO, coming with a large 2.8-inch display with a resolution of 240 x 400 pixels, and sporting a built-in 1.87MP camera.

The internal memory is expandable up to 2GB via a microSD card.
It is a small clamshell measuring 51 x 106 x 19.5mm with 138 grams weight and a battery working time of up to five hours.

Sprint has announced in its press release the new cell phone from Sanyo called S1 that will operates on the telecommunication company’s network.
The future users will have access to useful services including Internet and e-mail.

Sanyo S1 comes with a nice 24mm speakerphone, Bluetooth wireless, a large and impressive 1” x 1.3” TFT LCD display, and voice-activated dialing capability, but besides these cool features, the phone will bring Wireless Backup for contact lists, which saves data in case of losing the cell phone, it was stolen or suffered important damages.

The ultra-sleek model of 11 mm thick weights just 2.5 ounces and comes in a nice and silky material with a soft-touch finish, measuring 4.4” x 1.8” x 0.4”.
Other features of Sanyo S1 include modem capability, parental controls for restricting calls and Vision services access and productivity applications such as scheduler, to-do list, world clock, stopwatch, alarm.

The battery is a standard Li-Ion with a working time limit of 3.5 hours.

Sanyo launched an ultra-resistant cell phone at CES 2008 and it’s the first phone from the company to adhere to Military Standard 810F for vibration, dust and shock, being designed for people that work in tough environments such as construction and maintenance departments.
It is called Sanyo SCP-7050 and has a textured anti-slip rubber grip wrapping around its back and sides providing the best surface protection.

It is easy to use even if the user is wearing gloves or the outside light is very bright. On the outside it features a 1-inch LCD with a high contrast clear visibility in the sunlight, while when opened it shows a 2-inch color display and blue-backlight keys.

The technologies integrated in this model include advanced GPS-based Java applications, Bluetooth wireless technology, and others. The autonomous GPS captures the location information even if the phone is off the wireless network.

Gearworks etrace, Comet TrackerTM by ActSoft, TeleNav TrackTM and Xora GPS TimeTrack are advanced applications that offer GPS tracking, location-intelligent timecards, job dispatching, configurable forms, geofencing and others.

The phone is available through Sprint at the suggested retail price of $99.99 with a 2-year plan, and provides all Sprint services including the Wireless Backup that stores a contacts backup automatically on a secure Sprint server, very useful in case your phone is lost or stolen.
Sanyo SCP-7050 works for up to 4.4 hours until it requires a new battery charge and comes with an optional USB cable plus Sprint Vision Connection Manager software to add notebook modem functionality after choosing the right Sprint service plan.

“The ultra-rugged, military spec design of the SCP-7050 is a great feature, but its true strength comes from a combination of capabilities that include Java MVM support, autonomous GPS, and enhanced Bluetooth capabilities,” declared Andy Kodera, senior vice president and general manager of SANYO Fisher Company’s Wireless Communications Division. “Many of our phones already support GPS navigation, but this is really the first rugged CDMA phone from Sprint that supports Sprint’s more advanced GPS business applications. The SCP-7050 finally makes these applications available to Sprint’s many CDMA business customers who need a durable phone for their field personnel.”

NS-ELEX is a company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, focused on designing, manufacturing, installing and maintaining different IT related systems and electronic equipment.
Together with Sanyo, NS-ELEX has been working on developing the industry’s first earphone microphone for people that work in very noisy environments such as construction platforms.

As the other similar professional devices, the earphone microphone is amplifying the voice and cancels the noise coming from the surrounding environment, allowing the person that wears it to communicate easier and clearer.
It can be used with a cell phone but not limited at this. Its use is extended to radios and other devices equipped with mike slots.

Because it is an advanced device, the standard model is priced at $360 while the wireless version reaches $550, both planned for release in spring 2008.

Sanyo SCP-7050 has an unappealing design but it features a number of elements that make it easier to use under any circumstances. The phone’s back is covered in rubber, thus is provides a remarkable slipping prevention.

The sizes are also considerably large, havng 91.4 x 50.8 x 27.9 mm and 116 grams in weight. However, the ultra-rugged design that adheres to Military Standard 810F for dust, shock and vibration certainly makes up for any drawback.

Sanyo SCP-7050 is also GPS-enabled, useful for when there are no solutions to finding your way. Also, it supports GPS applications coming from Sprint, such as Sprint Navigation, Actsoft Comet Tracker, Gearworks etrace, TeleNav Track, Xora and others.

Some security features are also available, such as Limit Use, which allows the user to pre-determine the allowed incoming and/or outgoing phone numbers. Furthermore, Remote Lock permits the user to erase important personal information in case the handset gets lost or stolen.

And that is not all, as the user can browse the web through a WAP 2.0 browser and also make Bluetooth connectivity. Calendar, alarm clock, stop watch and world clock are available as well.

Sanyo SCP-7050 is available for purchase at Sprint for the price of USD 150 with a two-year contract.