Here's the biggest bonus--with the Blast you can send and receive e-mail for the same cost as a text message. No data package is required! With a basic voice plan and text messaging option, the Blast becomes your ultimate communication device with text, picture, video, and instant messaging as well as email--without the monthly cost of a data plan.
The Blast also is the first phone to feature compatibility with T-Mobile's myFaves service, which allows you to call up to five of your most common contacts--on any network, even landlines--without using any of your minutes. Blast users who are myFaves subscribers can now also send an audio postcard--a photo accompanied by a voice message--as well as send an e-mail or launch an IM client, in addition to a text message, right from the myFaves home screen.
Compatible with IMAP4, POP3, and SMTP email protocols (including integrated access to AOL email, Yahoo! Mail and Gmail), the Blast makes it easy to check in with your inbox. It also includes access to instant messaging--with built-in support for AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), ICQ, Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger services--in addition to SMS text, MMS multimedia/picture messaging. For added convenience, email messages on the Blast can be read and responded to for the same pricing as text and picture messagesÑmeaning there's no required data package to purchase.
The bright TFT display has a 176 x 220-pixel resolution and support for up to 262K colors. Below the screen resides a four-way navigation pad and dedicated shortcut and T-Zone keys, with the numeric keypad available by sliding phone's front upward. The QWERTY-like keypad provides ample space to let fingers move at a faster pace, making typing more intuitive, with greater control over the letters and words being entered.
The
1.3-megapixel
camera shoots
still photos in
seven
resolutions
(from 176 x 144
to 1280 x 1024
pixels) and it
offers up to a
4x digital zoom,
self-timer,
multi-shot
capability, and
five picture
modes (auto,
daylight,
incandescent,
fluorescent, and
cloudy). It can
also capture
video clips in
two
resolutions--176
x 144 (QCIF) and
128 x 96
pixels--at a
length dependent
upon the
available space
on an inserted
MicroSD memory
card. The
digital audio
player supports
playback of MP3
and AAC files
saved to memory
card. 