Hasta La Gadget!

Verizon put Sprint and T-Mobile on notice today with a version of the HTC Snap smart phone that’s cheaper and more flexible than their two competitors’. The HTC Ozone will sell for as little as $49, and features both CDMA and GSM networks for global roaming.

The Ozone looks a lot like T-Mobile’s Dash 3G, or Sprint’s HTC Snap. That’s because all three are based on the same platform: a non-touch-screen, Windows Mobile 6.1 device with a 320×240 LCD screen and both 3G and Wi-Fi networking. Yes, it’s a Verizon smart phone with Wi-Fi. Unlike the Sprint version, the Ozone lacks HTC’s special Inner Circle key which lets you quickly access your most frequently used contacts. 

But Verizon added a far more powerful twist to the Ozone: CDMA/GSM world roaming. The Ozone works on Verizon’s CDMA Rev A network here in the US, and on GSM/EDGE networks abroad. The phone comes with a SIM card with relatively high roaming rates, but you can get the SIM slot unlocked if you’ve been a Verizon customer in good standing for 60 days.

The Ozone is also available at a killer price: $49.99 (with a two-year contract, after a $70 mail-in rebate.) That’s $100 less than Sprint is charging for their model – and Sprint’s model doesn’t have global roaming.