Katana Eclipse by SANYO Redefines Mobile Phone Personalization

Aug. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- The Katana Eclipse by SANYO, the newest entry in the Katana portfolio, gives users an exciting new way to customize their phones using assignable illumination effects. With these effects, users can see at a glance by the color and lighting pattern that is displayed who is calling, or if a text or email message has been received or if an alert has been activated. Users can choose between forty different effects using seven LED colors. The Katana Eclipse also features many other powerful multimedia capabilities including a built-in music player, access to Sprint Music Store with over-the-air music downloads, Sprint TV, Sprint Navigation, a microSDHC memory card slot, integrated stereo Bluetooth and mobile email.

The lighting effects on the Katana Eclipse provide a handy way to identify a caller when in a darkened place or when locating the phone in a purse or briefcase. They also make it helpful to identify a call in a noisy environment, such as a nightclub, or can be used when in a very quiet environment -- a call can still be identified even with the ringers and vibration mode off. In addition to customizing calls and messages, the illumination patterns can be assigned to the music playing mode, just for fun, or can be completely disabled for those times when the feature is not desired.

"Wireless users already love customizing their phones with ringers, wallpapers and screen savers. Now, the illumination effects on the Katana Eclipse provide a unique new way for people to expand on this personalization," said Andy Kodera, president of KYOCERA SANYO Telecom, Inc. (KSTI). "For example, a user can assign a blinking blue light for calls from Mom and a glowing purple light for a text message from a girlfriend. A voicemail from the boss might show up as a red 'echo' effect. Some of the effects are quite subtle while others are flashy. This feature is not only fun, but also very practical in a lot of situations where the visual indication is quite useful."

Like the previous Katana handsets, the Eclipse has stunning design elements, like a thin clamshell shape that is easy to hold in the hand. The external music controls make it convenient to operate the integrated music player. External side buttons control the volume and camera for easy access.

The Eclipse offers excellent music and entertainment capabilities. It has a microSDHC slot that supports memory cards up to 8GB for storing music, pictures, video clips, and voice recordings, and also offers quick and easy access to Sprint exclusive content, including:

• Sprint TV with an extensive selection of live and on-demand programming including Sprint Exclusive Entertainment (SEE), the industry's only made-for-mobile sports and entertainment video programming network.
  
• Sprint Music Store offering over-the-air downloads of full-length songs for just 99 cents each
• Sprint Radio with more than 150 channels
• Sprint Navigation with GPS-enabled audio and visual turn-by-turn driving directions, one-click traffic rerouting and more than 10 million local listings.
• Live Search for Sprint providing easy access to directory information on-the-go, interactive maps and one-touch click to call access.
• Sprint Mobile Email for POP3 accounts including AOL, Gmail, Yahoo! as well as corporate email
  

Other features of the Eclipse include integrated stereo Bluetooth capabilities and a high-quality speakerphone. An integrated 1.3 Megapixel camera with 12x zoom and video camcorder is useful for taking pictures and video on the go. Productivity tools include Wireless Backup to store the contact list in the event the phone is lost or stolen, and Restrict and Lock to restrict calls and limit access to data services.

The Katana Eclipse is available now through all Sprint retail channels including www.sprint.com and 1-800-SPRINT1 for $99.99 with a two-year subscriber agreement and after a $50 mail-in rebate.

For more information about SANYO mobile phones, please visit www.sanyowireless.com.

For more information on Kyocera please visit www.kyocera.com.

SOURCE KYOCERA SANYO Telecom, Inc.

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