Samsung Glyde SCH-U940
The latest in a now-crowded field of Verizon messaging phones, the Samsung Glyde is a slender, attractive handset. Though its touch screen could be smoother, it's a good addition to Verizon's lineup of text-centric devices.
I'm going to eschew the often-made iPhone comparisons for this handset. Sure, the Glyde has a big touch screen, but it really doesn't feel like an iPhone at all. It's long and lozenge-shaped, with a 2.8-inch, 240-by-440-pixel touch screen on the front. A single "hard" key takes you straight to the home menu. At 4.1 by 2.0 by 0.7 inches (HWD), the Glyde is both shorter and narrower than the hunky LG VX10000 Voyager, which it somewhat resembles. But rather than flipping open like the Voyager, the Glyde's hidden full QWERTY keyboard slides out. Even so, you still use the main touch screen when entering text with the keyboard. The Glyde doesn't have an accelerometer, but the screen rotates automatically (and snappily) when you pop open the keyboard.
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Home screen buttons offer quick access to the dial pad, main menu, contacts and messaging, and you can jump to a customizable shortcut screen for things like e-mail. The Glyde uses animated wallpapers that react to your touch, which is fun. Touch-screen buttons are thoughtfully chunky enough for fingers, though there were instances when I had to stab them a few times to get the phone to respond. Like the LG Voyager, the phone vibrates slightly when you press a touch button to confirm that you've touched it. You navigate through scrolling lists (such as your contacts) by swiping your finger up and down the screen. It...
