After following the tech trends for a while you begin to get inured to marketing terminology, but sometimes an incongruity leaps out and spanks you in the forehead.  One such example is in Verizon’s press release for the Samsung SCH-u550, fresh to the network today; apparently it’s available in “trend-setting brown”.  Having looked at the photo, however, I have to say that the only trend I can see starting up for this colour is flushing.  Scatological sarcasm aside, the u550 appears to be – despite Verizon’s desperate insistence that it’s “hip” – a basic clamshell featuring GPS via VZ Navigator, an IM client and 1.3-megapixel camera. 

Access to Verizon’s V CAST service – in both Video and Music flavours – offers clip downloads, games and over 2.7-million audio tracks for purchase; it’s also integrated with the GPS to allow for location-based services.  Touch-sensitive music control shortcuts on the front of the clamshell let you change track without needing to open the u550 up.  Meanwhile, VZ Navigator has the usual mixture of spoken and on-screen directions, points-of-interest and bookmarks, and there’s a speakerphone, Bluetooth and speech recognition for hands-free use. 

The SCH-u550 weighs 3.35oz and measures 3.77 x 1.93 x .64-inches; it’s available today for $69.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate and dependent on a new two-year contract.