The metaphorical ink on the just-leaked Motorola (NYSE: MOT) Motus spy pic hasn’t yet dried and were already hearing rumors that the Android handset will sport some really unique features. If you thought the form factor was a bit odd, you’re going to want to sit down for this. Word has it that the Moto Motus will feature a “reverse flip keyboard,” and (as if that isn’t crazy enough) something called a “rear directional touchpad.” Of course, the Motus is also rumored to be packing the usual assortment of smartphone features.
All this is completely unconfirmed at the moment, but Android And Me are saying that the Motus will feature a 3.1-inch touchscreen, a 5-megapixel camera (with LED flash), 3G data, WiFi, GPS, and Bluetooth 2.0. Android 1.5 OS should be running the show with Motorola’s social network-savvy Motoblur UI skinned atop. As for the geeky specs, were expecting a 528 MHz Qualcomm (NSDQ: QCOM) MSM7201A CPU, 512 MB ROM / 256 MB RAM, quad band (850/900/1800/1900Mhz) GSM radio, and a never-been-done-before quintuple (yes, thats five bands) WCDMA radio pulling down 3G service on the 850Mhz, 900Mhz, 1700Mhz, 1900Mhz, and 2100Mhz bands! For those of you keeping score, that would mean the Motus can hop on any 3G network in the world (even T-Mobile (NYSE: DT) USAs wonky 1700Mhz 3G network) and work as the mobile gods intended.
The “reverse flip keyboard” kinda, sorta, makes sense, given the quirky looking keyboard in the spy pic. That “rear directional touchpad,” however, is just plain confusing. A touchpad on the backside of the touchscreen? Your guess is as good as ours. Whatever it turns out to be, we’re hoping it changes the way we think about interacting with touchscreens.
You see the handset in this here blurry spyshot? It’s apparently the Motorola (NYSE: MOT) Motus that was rumored in a leaked roadmap not too long ago. We know, it looks like it was taken by Mr. Blurry-cam’s drunken step-brother after a booze-fueled night of fun, but Engadget Mobile has confirmed that what we’re looking at is another Android-powered smartphone from Motorola.
The Motus looks like a respectable smartphone from what we can see in the spy pic, but we’ll have to wait until we put hands on it to really get a feel for it. That keyboard might prove to be a sticking point, but, again, that’s us just talkin’ to the wind. The Motus has a lot to live up to…
TELUS (NYSE: TU)’ MiKE network is currently running a promotion that will be of interest to anyone looking for a new Motorola (NYSE: MOT) iDen device. From now ’till December 31st, you can save $50 on the Motorola i9, i365, i365is, Clutch i465, i576 and i580.
The rebate form itself is quite specific. Make sure you use black or blue ink and scribe CAPITAL LETTERS only now! Also, include your original store-identified sales receipt with the purchase price circled. After that, give me 5 laps, 20 push-ups and hit the showers.
After MetroPCS, we have another carrier offering the Motorola (NYSE: MOT) Quantico. The rugged clamshell doesn’t impress with its specs sheet, but that’s usually the case with such devices that are primarily made to work under all conditions. In that sense, the military specs-certified Quantico is made from the combination of chrome, glass and rubber – to survive extreme temperatures, dust, shock, and tough weather conditions.
Back to the specs – the Moto-made phone comes with a Bluetooth connectivity support, 2.2-inch 176×220 pixels screen, 1.3-megapixel camera, GPS, music player, 3G radio, large battery (1140 mAh), and a microSD memory card slot. As for the size, it measures 56×94x25 mm (2.2×3.7×1.0 inches) and weighs 119 grams (4.2oz).
U.S. Cellular is asking $99.95 for the Motorola Quantico after a two-year contract and mail-in rebate.
This one’s for our German Android fans. The country’s O2 (NYSE: TEF) subsidiary is offering the Moto Milestone aka Droid for a symbolic price of 1 EUR. Of course, your signature on a two-year contract is required, but you’ll be able to get what many people think is the best smartphone on the market for a friggin’ 1 EUR coin. Don’t expect to have a 10 EUR/month monthly bill, though, as the Milestone price will be included in the monthly bill. Actually, the device costs 480 EUR, and during the course of 24 months (duration of the contract), you’ll pay 20 EUR every single month on top of your monthly bill for your brand new handset. That’s actually a neat way of selling high-ticket items adopted by a mobile operator. We like it.
I’m not sure what’s all the fuss with the Motorola (NYSE: MOT) Debut. It’s superbly mediocre device, which honestly doesn’t deserve a special press release. Still, we keep covering it and I’m one of the guys to blame for that.
On the other hand, I’m guessing since it’s a decent looking iDEN phone, it does need some attention, considering just how ugly iDEN phones can be.
Anyway, the Debut i856w is now available on Sprint (NYSE: S)-owned Boost Mobile, which is offering the device in “stylish ivory coloring and flattering front and back.” Apparently, it’s designed for “fashion savvy consumers” and if that’s the case, I’m super proud to say I’m not one of them.
Specs wise, the Moto Debut comes with a 1.3-megapixel camera, media player, Bluetooth, push-to-talk functionality, GPS, and a microSD memory card slot. The price is $149.99…
So, a lot of Motorola (NYSE: MOT) droid owners haven’t been too happy with the 5 megapixel camera’s autofocus. In fact, it’s the single biggest complaint about the Android handset to date. All of a sudden, many have been reporting a drastic improvement in the camera, and attributing a silent over-the-air update, but as it turns out, the bug actually had a built-in (but unexpected) fix. Google (NSDQ: GOOG) Engineer Dan Morrill explains:
There’s a rounding-error bug in the camera driver’s autofocus routine (which uses a timestamp) that causes autofocus to behave poorly on a 24.5-day cycle. That is, it’ll work for 24.5 days, then have poor performance for 24.5 days, then work again.The 17th is the start of a new “works correctly” cycle, so the devices will be fine for a while. A permanent fix is in the works.
Like some demented techno-werewolf, the autofocus on the droid will go feral in another 24.5 days, unless you manually set the date back to the clean period. Weirdest. Bug. Ever.
Black Friday is just around the corner (November 26th), so with that in mind I’m going to do my best to keep my ear to the ground for any deals. This morning I happened to come across what appears to be a list of devices to go on sale at ‘The Shack’ (er, ‘Radio Shack’ for those that prefer) on the 26th. Nothing really too crazy here, but one device that does look like a half-decent buy is the Motorola CLIQ. Having launched on T-Mobile for $199, bringing the price down to $79.99 is a great opportunity for those that may have been on the fence. One has to figure the pricing on the CLIQ will drop before the end of the year anyway… But hey, $79.99 ain’t that bad (yeah, the same 2-year contract applies).
Other Black Friday deals include the BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) Curve 8520 and Samsung Instinct for free (on 2-year contract), plus… Both the Palm (NSDQ: PALM) Pre and Pixi will be up for grabs at $99.99 on the same 2-year deal.
Note: Tagged this one as rumor for now. While I see no reason for these prices to be off… I’ll believe it when I see it
Looks like Jimmy Kimmel has been busy pimping out the Motorola (NYSE: MOT) Droid in one of his patented ‘Advertorials’. It’s good for a laugh for sure… check it out below:
‘Search for monkey pictures please’… Brilliant.
For Jimmy Kimmel, Droid DOES pay the bills. And then some.
Droid Does. That’s the slogan that Verizon (NYSE: VZ)’s ad campaigns for the Motorola (NYSE: MOT) Droid have been hammering into our heads for the past several weeks. With $100 million reportedly invested into the marketing push to turn struggling Motorola’s Droid the de facto alternative to the iPhone 3GS, Verizon and Motorola are betting big on the new Android phone. Turns out, the Motorola Droid did damn well in its first week of sales. A new report estimates Droid sales hitting 250,000 during its launch week!
The analytics gurus at Flurry track over 10,000 iPhone and Android apps, which Flurry says gives it an eye into usage patterns for two out of every three iPhones on the planet. They used that data to estimate that a quarter million Droid handsets made their way into customer pockets this past week. Thanks to the power of a $100 million advertising campaign, Verizon’s 90 million-strong subscriber network and a far-reaching 3G network, Flurry says the Droid is the “fastest-selling Android phone to date.”
Droid nay-sayers will be quick to point out that Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) pushed out 1.6 million iPhone 3GS units in the first week of sales, but it would be good to remember that Apple launched the iPhone 3GS in eight countries around the world. There were also 27 million installed iPhone users around the world pushing the iPhone 3GS on their friends. The Droid obviously can’t live up to the iPhone’s numbers, but 250,000 handsets sold in the first week is still an impressive number.
It’s not going to stop there either. The Droid may be the most visible Android handset of late, but there are some incredible Android offerings coming down the pipeline in the near future.
The metaphorical ink on the just-leaked Motorola (NYSE: MOT) Motus spy pic hasn’t yet dried and were already hearing rumors that the Android handset will sport some really unique features. If you thought the form factor was a bit odd, you’re going to want to sit down for this. Word has it that the Moto Motus will feature a “reverse flip keyboard,” and (as if that isn’t crazy enough) something called a “rear directional touchpad.” Of course, the Motus is also rumored to be packing the usual assortment of smartphone features.
Droid Does. That’s the slogan that Verizon (
