Pantech unveils new ‘candy bar’ phone

Pantech Group, the leading Korean handset manufacturer, has launched its S100 handset, a sleek and simple candy bar phone as part of a bid to increase its market share in the high-growth mobile phone market of Mexico.

The new phone will be made available through Telcel, the largest service operator in Mexico, which commands 80% of the mobile phone market with around 38 mln subscribers.

The candy bar phone is mounted with a full-featured digital camera with digital 4x zoom and video recording function as well as an MP3 player and Bluetooth connection.

Recently, the S100 earned plaudits for its trendy and stylish design. It is one of the four Pantech products honored at the prestigious 2007 iF(International Forum) Design Awards for excellence in the design of cellular phones, and it has been included in the iF Gold Selection 2007.

The S100 includes a voice memo function, allowing users to keep a record of their thoughts any time without having to grapple for a pen and paper. Its flight mode function allows users traveling by plane to use handset applications without transmitting a wireless signal, meaning they do not have to turn off the phone while in flight, as is normally required.

Other highlights of the S100 include a 1.8-inch TFT LCD with 260,000 colours, 64 polyphonic ringtones and a speaker phone.

Pantech Group aims to sell more than 1.3 mln units in 2007, maintaining a reliable partnership with the carrier to debut customized-handsets for Mexican customers.