Communications Briefs

BELLEVUE, WASH.— Danger rolled out the color-screen version of its wireless-phone/entertainment device through T-Mobile and AT&T affiliate Triton PCS. The device, dubbed Sidekick by T-Mobile and Hiptop by Triton, is available through T-Mobile stores and CompUSA at $299. At T-Mobile, unlimited data service costs $20/month on top of standard voice plans or $29.99/ month for unlimited data service with 20-cent/minute phone calls. AOL has begun offering the Sidekick at $200. On August 1, AOL will discontinue sales of its Mobile Communicator, an AOL-brand version of the RIM BlackBerry. The QWERTY-keyboard-equipped GSM/GPRS device features color Web browsing, AOL Instant Messenger service, AOL e-mail, PIM functions, games and optional camera attachment.

HELSINKI, FINLAND — Nokia shipped the industry's first dual-mode GSM/W-CDMA phone that hands off calls between GSM and W-CDMA cell sites. It's available to carriers in Japan and Europe. The company expects about 20 GSM operators worldwide in the second half to light up W-CDMA cell sites. The 6650 phone, which receives data at speeds up to 384Kbps, operates on overseas 900MHz and 1,800MHz GSM networks and isn't slated for U.S. sales.

SAN DIEGO — LG Mobile Phones launched what it called its biggest brand campaign since entering the U.S. market in 1998. The multi-million-dollar campaign includes national and local print ads, broadcast TV, movie theater ads and billboards and will expand to local network TV late this year. LG will place ads in Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone, Cosmopolitan, Premier and InStyle. Billboard ads will be placed in Los Angeles and New York in airports and major shopping centers. TV-screen ads start in June in New York and Los Angeles. The campaign is targeted primarily at 18- to 24-year-olds and positions the brand as "culturally stylish."