Motorola has released yet another rugged phone, and it’s called the Quantico. Like the Motorola Tundra, it won’t win any design awards for its rough-and-tumble exterior. It’s encased in a shell made of chrome, glass, and rubber that is military-certified to withstand a 30-minute dip in up to a meter of water, extreme pressure, temperature, …

This is the 411, my Q&A column answering all your questions about cell phones and cell phone accessories. I receive plenty of questions about these subjects via e-mail, so I figured many of you might have the same questions, too. At times, I might solicit answers from readers if I’m stumped. Send your questions and comments to me at [email protected]. …

Perhaps the biggest letdown of the LG Chocolate Touch VX8575 from Verizon Wireless is that it’s not the LG Chocolate BL40. After getting teased for months by the sexy shots of the LG BL40, we thought there might be a chance we would see it stateside. Alas, the LG Chocolate Touch VX8575 looks nothing like its European cousin. In fact, …

A new BlackBerry has joined the Verizon Wireless family: the BlackBerry Curve 8530. The 8530 looks a fair bit sleeker than its predecessor, the Curve 8330, thanks to the touch-sensitive track pad and the slanted full QWERTY keyboard. We’re also happy to finally see Wi-Fi capability, which was sadly lacking in the previous Curve. It also has 256MB flash memory, …

We’ve been waiting for months for Verizon to finally unveil the latest in the line of LG Chocolate phones, and it’s here at last. The LG Chocolate Touch VX8575 is officially available today, making it the first touch-screen version of the Chocolate phone lineup. As we suspected, it’s very different from the LG BL40 and looks a lot more like …

Boy Genius Report Aside from the cost of the device and the expensive monthly plan, you might have to face an additional charge just for the privilege of getting a smartphone. According to a document found by the Boy Genius Report, Verizon Wireless has raised its $175 early termination fee to a whopping $350 specifically for “advanced devices,” which probably …

Sanyo SCP-3810 Sanyo In case you’re tired of all the smartphone news lately, here’s an entry-level phone from Sprint that won’t cost you anything at all. The Sanyo SCP-3810 is a basic camera phone with a 1.3-megapixel camera, a “hidden” external LCD, GPS, Bluetooth 2.0, mobile e-mail, and threaded text messaging. And yes, the SCP-3810 is free after rebates and …

Cricket and LG announced the LG Helix Wednesday, making it LG’s first AWS-capable handset. It’s a pretty basic phone with a 2-inch color display plus a small external display. It has a 1.3-megapixel camera, Bluetooth, a speakerphone, and voice commands. The Helix will be available in silver or pink at a suggested retail price of around $139.99 without a contract.

This is the 411, my Q&A column answering all your questions about cell phones and cell phone accessories. I receive plenty of questions about these subjects via e-mail, so I figured many of you might have the same questions, too. At times, I might solicit answers from readers if I’m stumped. Send your questions and comments to me at [email protected]. …

Now playing: Watch this: Verizon Wireless Razzle 2:13 We’ll admit that we had our reservations about the Verizon Wireless Razzle. The swivel design seemed unusual and gimmicky. We weren’t sure if we liked having to swivel the phone all the time when switching between different functions. The Razzle, as you can see, has a QWERTY keyboard on one side, and …