Mon dieu! Sagem launches horde of handsets

French manufacturer Sagem stamped its entry into the Australian market this week with the launch of no less than fifteen mobile phones, four flat-screen TVs, two digital set-top boxes, four routers, two photo printers and seven multifunction devices.

The onslaught of products from the French-based company, which also specialises in defence electronics and communication systems, coincides with Sagem's first television advertising campaign in Australia, themed "Irresistibly French".

Of the fifteen phones unveiled, highlights included the SG343i, which Sagem claims is the first i-mode slide phone in Australia, and the back-to-basics Vodafone Simply, a bare-bones phone with big keys, a large screen and easy-to-use features, such as shortcut buttons above the screen and a manual key lock switch on the side of the handset. Sagem stated its marketing campaign would also focus on the myC4-2 compact clamshell phone and the candybar-style myV-76, which is also exclusive to Vodafone.

Sagem hopes the newly-launched raft of handsets will help propel the company up from sixth position into the top five mobile phone vendors in Australia, alongside Nokia, Motorola, Samsung and LG. Sagem is currently the largest mobile phone supplier in France and seventh worldwide, according to Francois Romanet, managing director of Sagem Australia.

While Sagem is predominantly known to consumers for its mobile phones, four flat-screen televisions were also introduced. The 45-inch (114cm) Axium HD-D45 and the 65-inch (142cm) HD-D56B are both DLP rear projection models, which have Piano Black edging and retail for AU$3999 and AU$5499, respectively. The 27-inch (68cm) Axium HD-L27 and the 32-inch (81cm) HD-L32 are stylish LCD sets, which cost AU$1,999 and AU$2,999. Accompanying the televisions in the home theatre department are Sagem's AU$99 standard definition (SD) ITD 66 digital set-top box and the PVR 66160T, a personal video recorder with a 160GB hard drive, dual SD digital tuners and a 4-in-1 card reader at the font.

Model	Features	Price
Sagem myV-76	Tri-band; 1.3-megapixel camera; 176x220 pixels, 262K colour, 2-inch TFT; SMS/MMS; WAV/MP3/AAC player; 3 pre-loaded games; 10MB internal memory; microSD card slot; white and aluminium case; 110 x 47 x 19mm; 104g.	AU$499
Sagem myC2-3	Dual-band; 101x80 pixels, 4096-colour TFT; polyphonic; WAP/GPRS; SMS/MMS; silver body, blue flip; 73 x 42 x 21mm; 75g.	TBA
Sagem myC3-2	Dual-band; 128x128 pixels, 65K-colour main display; WAP/GPRS; 96 x 64-pixel B&W sub-display; SMS/MMS; polyphonic ringtones; silver case; 77 x 41.7 x 22.7mm; up to 3 hours talk time; 75g.	TBA
Sagem myC4-2	Dual-band; VGA camera; 128x128 pixels, 65K-colour main display; 96 x 64-pixel, B&W sub-display; white and silver case; 3.7MB internal memory; polyphonic, MP3 ringtones; 77 x 41,7 x 22,7; up to 3 hours talk time; 75g.	AU$299
Sagem myC5-2v	Dual-band; polyphonic, AAC, MP3 ringtones; black and silver, blue and silver case; 82.2 x 42.7 x 23mm; up to 3 hours talk time; 85g.	TBA
Sagem myX5-2v	Triband; VGA camera (640x480); MP3 ringtones; infrared; 128x160 pixels, 65K colour display; MMS/SMS 106 x 46 x 19; up to 4.45 hours talk time; 97g.	TBA
Sagem myX2-2	Dual-band; 101x80 pixels, 4K-colour display; SMS/MMS; polyphonic ringtones; 106 x 47 x 21mm; up to 3 hours talk time; 93g	TBA
Sagem myX6-2	Triband; 1.3 megapixel camera; Bluetooth; infrared; microSD card slot; 176x220 pixels, 262K-colour display; , TFT; 110 x 47 x 19mm; up to 4 hours talk time; 104g.	TBA
Sagem my300x	Dual-band; 128x128 pixels, 65K-colour display; Java games; polyphonic ringtones; SMS/MMS; 105 x 46 x 14mm; up to 4 hours talk time; 88g.	TBA
Sagem myW-7	Tri-band; MP3 player; megapixel camera; Bluetooth; infrared; 176x220 pixels, 65K-colour; MP3/AAC ringtones; 110 x 46 x 19mm; up to 4 hours talk time; 85g.	TBA
Vodafone Simply (VS1 / VS2)	Tri-band; 128x160 pixels, 65K-colour display; polyphonic ringtones; SMS/MMS; 123 x 53 x 25 mm; up to 4 hours talk time; 110g.	AU$249
Sagem myX-8	Tri-band; 1.3-megapixel camera; MP3 player; Bluetooth; miniSD card slot; designed by Ora Ito; QVGA 240x320 pixels, 256K-colour display; 115 x 47 x 20.8mm; up to 4 hours talk time; 121g.	TBA
Sagem SG343i	Dual-band; slider design; i-mode; VGA camera (640x480); polyphonic ringtones; 128x160 pixels, 65K-colour display85 x 42 x 23mm; up to 3 hours talk time; 85g.	AU$349
Sagem myZ-5	Tri-band; slider design; VGA camera (640x480); MP3 ringtones; 128x160 pixels, 65K-colour display; SMS/MMS; 81 x 41 x 24mm; up to 3 hours talk time; 85g.	TBA
Sagem myZ-55	Dual-band; slider design; VGA camera (640x480); 128x160 pixel, 65K-colour screen; USB connectivity; polyphonic ringtones; 81 x 41 x 24; up to 3 hours talk time; 85g.	TBA