Kyocera Wild Card Comes to Virgin Mobile

With a sideways clamshell design, the Wild Card packs a full QWERTY keyboard and secondary display inside, plus the ability to play streaming music for 25 cents per song.

Fashion phone news flash: blade names are out, casino names are in. Witness the Samsung Blackjack and now its Virgin-Mobile-based competitor, the Kyocera Wild Card, which just appeared on the network. Like the Blackjack, the Kyocera sports a full QWERTY keyboard and a reasonable price, plus streaming music capability.

Based on the older Kyocera Switch_Back, the four-ounce phone has an LCD and ordinary numeric keypad on its outside face for voice use, but flips open sideways to reveal a wider screen and full keyboard for texting. Virgin Mobile customers will be able to take advantage of unlimited texting for $19.99 per month, or tap into Headliner – a resource for music information like tour dates and discography – for $2.49 per month. Streaming songs will be available for 25 cents apiece.

The Wild Card has already been rolled out in some retail stores, but will reach online availability on October 24. It will sell for $99.