Pantech Introduces $50 Smart Phone

AT&T to launch Discover, with DriveMode app, on January 11

Published: January 10th, 2013

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antech isn't exactly the most high-flying brand of cell phones in America, but that hasn't stopped them from trying to gain some speed. Their latest productis a $50 smart phone that includes a high-quality, rear-facing camera and plenty of other features, and AT&T is launching it tomorrow.

The Pantech Discover will retail for $49.99 with a two-year agreement, and will be available starting January 11. It's the first AT&T smart phone that comes preloaded with the AT&T DriveMode application, an app that is designed to prevent texting while driving.

It's a 4G smart phone and comes with a 4.8-inch 1280x720-resolution screen, and has a 12.6-megapixel camera with 4x zoom on the back. It can also record HD video in 1080p. It comes with dual 3D surround sound speakers also, and near field communication technology allows users to share content, read smart tags, pay for things, and more, from their phone.

As for the DriveMode app, the way it works is by setting it up to auto-reply to text messages received once a car starts moving 25 mph. It sends all calls to voicemail, but the user has the option to create a list of exception numbers or turn the app off entirely.

The phone was initially announced in September 2012, and it comes with Pantech's Easy Experience and Standard Experience modes, which are both Android formats of use.

Lest you think you have to sacrifice memory, the Discover comes with 16Gb of on-board memory.

The vice president of marketing and sales at Pantech, Gary Cherner, said, "Pantech is taking 2013 by storm with the launch of Discover."

Do you agree?