Sprint Fusic Phone Sports FM Transmitter

Sprint has rebranded the LG's LX550 phone as the Fusic: oddball name, but it's got a 1.3 megapixel camera, microSD expansion, and an FM transmitter for your car or stereo.

Mobile operator Sprint has launched its new Fusic (pronounced fyoo’ zik), a rechristening of the LG LX550 phone to be available May 28, 2006. The appeal of the Fusic is supposed to be that it looks and feels like a music player, down to the iPod-like wheel control on the front, and with instant over-the-air access to the Sprint Music Store so users can load up the phones with their favorite tunes.

Nonetheless, the Fusic has a few things going for it besides it oh-so-hip name, most notably a built-in FM transmitter for sending music from the phone to car or home stereo systems. The Fusic also features swappable faceplates (blue, pink, green, and black are available). Also on board: Bluetooth stereo support, a 1.3 megapixel camera, 64 MB of microSD storage (expandable up to 1 GB), a ringtone composer (why pay for ringtones when you can hum them yourself?), a stereo headset, and (natch) support for Sprint’s EV-DO data and media services.

Danny Bowman, vice president of product marketing for Sprint, said: “Sprint is seeing significant growth in the demand for music on mobile phones. In fact, since launching the Sprint Music Store last fall more than three million songs have now been downloaded. Fusic delivers the best in mobility and Sprint Power Vision services in a single device. It is designed to enhance the overall mobile entertainment experience for customers and offers a variety of personalization options.”

The Fusic will run you $329.99, or $179.99 after rebate with a two-year service contract.