Chubby Blitz will keep your wallet plump, too

December 27, 2008 12:35 am

PERHAPS the days of the anorexic cell phone are coming to an end.

For years, consumers have paid big, fat prices for the skinniest new phones available. The trend of tech-fashion heroin chic was parodied in the 2005 film "Zoolander," in which Ben Stiller's prominent-cheekboned supermodel character did a lot of profiling sporting a thumbnail-sized fashion phone.

Now comes a phone that can help us all have a more positive body image.

The only thing that's thin about the short and chubby--but cute--Verizon Wireless Blitz is its price: a minuscule $66. It should be a hit with teens and college students, in part because of that tiny price, but also because it's a great messaging and media phone with a nice, slide-out QWERTY keyboard, a vibrant display and good call quality.

Great for typing, yet very affordable, it's being called "a BlackBerry for the rest of us." Even though it's not a smart phone in the BlackBerry sense, it's certainly a smart phone in terms of practicality.

The squat form--sure to turn heads and produce smiles--stems from the fact that the keyboard slides in when not messaging. The Blitz is 3.5 inches long by 2.6 inches wide by 0.7 inch thick.

It also may be a trend-setter in terms of pricing, as sales of consumer electronics items, which were expected to remain relatively solid, even in a bleak economy, took a double-digit hit in holiday shopping. That means that simple but functional and inexpensive devices like the Blitz could begin to dominate the market over the next year or so.

The Blitz lacks an EV-DO high-speed data connection, so you can't download songs from Verizon's V Cast Music over the air. You have to tether the Blitz to your PC to download songs with a USB cable, but that's a more affordable way of doing that, anyway, so it makes sense for those who want an economical phone.

If many consumers-- like me after packing on pounds during Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners and parties--are pairing the words "cute" and "chubby," it should be very effective marketing.

The Blitz is a fat little phone that will keep your wallet from becoming anorexic.

Michael Zitz: 540/846-5163
Email: Mikez@freelancestar.com