Mobility Watch

Motorola’s QA4 has now finally gotten fully official and, well, there it is. Now formally dubbed the Motorola Evoke QA4, this one packs a decently-sized 2.8-inch WQVGA touchscreen, along with quad-band CDMA connectivity (plus EVDO Rev A), a 2 megapixel camera, 256MB of internal memory, a microSD card slot for expansion, aGPS, stereo Bluetooth, and, of course, that stylish sliding keypad.

From Mobile WhackLooks like the Motorola A455 is just another middle order CDMA handset with a QWERTY keypad added in, making it more of a mid-range messaging device more than anything else. The previously used moniker of RUSH2 is dropped in favor of “Rival,” which sounds pretty absurd when it looks it won’t be competing with any other handset in particular. Other tidbits leaked include dual-band CDMA support with EV-DO Rev A., stereo Bluetooth, a paltry 2-megapixel camera, microSD/SDHC support, an mp3 player with a a 3.5 mm headphone jack, and USB 2.0 connectivity.

The Evoke QA4, in spite of having a somewhat spacious touchscreen display, is a sleek slider falls into the same category as the Rival, and fails to evoke much enthusiasm in us. Features are somewhat analogous to the A455 and include a 2mpx camera, microSD/SDHC support, mp3 player, Bluetooth with A2DP, and voice recognition capability.

No info on a release date or pricing could be found, but as always, we will keep you posted when that happens.

The Evoke, which will ride on CDMA networks when it becomes available in the second quarter on low-cost carrier Cricket, certainly has a lot going on in the features department. It includes a an HTML browser, threaded-style text messaging, and support for integrated widgets for real-time access to social networking sites, RSS feeds, and more. The quick-launch YouTube shortcut is another nice touch, as is the ability to upload pics taken with the Ev0ke’s 2-MP camera directly to Picasa.

Motorola’s long lived A1200 MING gets a successor: A1210

In a time when most of the mobile phone makers are rather focused on coming to the market with handsets based on some of the most popular operating systems available on the market, Motorola is now reported to plan on launching a new device that would be powered by a custom Linux platform, though the company also announced plans to release mobile phones based on Windows Mobile or the Android platform in the near future.

The new handset, Motorola A1210, is targeted at the mobile phone users in China, and will be added to other Linux-based devices that the American maker has released in the country. Yet the new A1210 model is reported to be the successor of Motorola A1200 Ming, a cell phone that saw the light of day about three weeks ago.

The new handset has been slightly modified, and now it comes with a 2.8-inch display that is able to provide users with a 240×400 pixel resolution while also featuring touchscreen capabilities. Motorola A1210 also sports a 3.1-megapixel photo snapper, and includes tri-band 2.5G GSM (900/1800/1900 MHz)/EDGE connectivity, although no 3G capabilities can be seen.

The handset is powered by a TI OMAP850 processor and includes 64MB of internal memory space, coupled with a microSD memory card slot for additional storage capacity. The new flip Motorola A1210 also features FM Radio, Bluetooth connectivity and USB slot. The device measures 102 x 53.8 x 20.5mm and weighs 125g.

For the time being, it seems that China is the only market that the new Motorola A1210 will be available in, yet we might be able to see it come to other areas as well at some point, taking into consideration the fact that its predecessor was available in Europe too, with the mobile phone carrier TIM. No word on the pricing of the device is available for now.

Engadget says it boasting what appears to be the same 2.8-inch touchscreen, along with a tri-band CDMA / EVDO radio, aGPS, Bluetooth 2.0, a camera (we’re assuming the same 2-megapixels), and a microSD card slot for expansion. Somewhat interestingly, there’s no indication of that rumored accelerometer in the user manual, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not still tucked in there somewhere.

Intuitive User Interface: No hidden menus, speed scrolling, tactile
feedback on the touch screen, and a soft QWERTY
Immersive Experience: Customized Content at your fingertips with
intelligent, built-in accelerometer which displays your content how you
want see it
All Access: Always stay connected at blazing DOrA speeds with
access to Email, IM, Blogging, Email, and your social network. Full
HTML supports makes internet access a breeze.
Music: Powerful Music Experience with up to 8GB microSD support
and USB2.0 HS
Ultra Sleek Design: Optimized Slim and Powerful Touch Slider
Device Specifications

Main Display: 2.8” 240×400 65K TFT
Camera: 2.0MP
Bluetooth: Stereo, BT 2.0
Music: 8GB microSD, USB 2.0 High Speed
Modes:CDMA1x-EVDO Rev A
Customizable WidgetsInstantly access live weather,
stock market, news, pictures
and social networking sites
You decide what widgets sit
on your home
Main Menu
One Touch Access to all Applications and Settings
Social Networking:
Alerts you to updates
Capture and upload photos and
videos in seconds
Text, IM or Email your friends easily
with the soft QWERTY keypad
Device Specifications
Main Display: 2.8” 240×400 65K TFT
Camera: 2.0MP
Bluetooth: Stereo, BT 2.0
Music: 8GB microSD, USB 2.0 High Speed
Modes: CDMA1x-EVDO Rev A
Bands: 800, 1900MHz and 1700/2100MHz

via engadget: Rough morning for Nokia. After having its trio of new music-oriented handsets leaked, Gartner goes and releases a set of unflattering sales figures related to Nokia’s beleaguered smartphones. While smartphone sales overall increased 3.7% in Q4, Nokia’s share slid from 50.9% to “just” 40.8% on 15.6 million units. While many, including Samsung and HTC gained, it was RIM and Apple that made the biggest advances. RIM increased its share of the lucrative market to 19.5% (7.4 million units) from 10.9% while Apple more than doubled its share, up from 5.2% to 10.7% (4.1 million units). Keeping things in perspective: smartphones accounted for only 12% of all mobile device sales for the quarter. There’s a method to Nokia’s mid- to low-end handset madness.

And from Nokia’s own editorial board:

Industry and Nokia outlook (January 22, 2009)

Nokia expects industry mobile device volumes in the first quarter 2009 to decline sequentially to a greater extent than the seasonal sequential decrease in the first quarter of the past few years.
Nokia expects its mobile device market share in the first quarter 2009 to be at approximately the same level sequentially.
While noting the extremely limited visibility, Nokia now expects 2009 industry mobile device volumes to decline approximately 10% from 2008 levels. Nokia expects the decline to be greater in the first half than in the second half of the year. This is an update to Nokia’s earlier estimate that industry mobile device volumes would decline 5% or more from 2008 levels.
Nokia continues to target an increase in its market share in mobile devices in 2009.
Nokia now targets its full year 2009 non-IFRS operating margin in Devices & Services to be more than 10%, rather than in the teens, as previously targeted.
Nokia targets its annualized non-IFRS operating expense run rate in Devices & Services to be lower than EUR 6 billion by the end of 2010. This would represent a reduction of more than EUR 700 million to the annualized run rate at the end of 2008. Nokia targets that a majority of the reduction will happen during 2009.
Nokia and Nokia Siemens Networks continue to expect the mobile infrastructure and fixed infrastructure and related services market to decline 5% or more in Euro terms in 2009, from 2008 levels.
Nokia and Nokia Siemens Networks continue to target for Nokia Siemens Networks market share to remain constant in 2009, compared to 2008.

Ben Patterson from Yahoo Tech: Buzz up!on Yahoo!I have to say, it’s been years since I bothered to test a handset as basic as the Renew. Then again, it’s not every day I get to review a cell phone made out of recycled water bottles.

Announced during CES and available now on T-Mobile ($9.99 with a two-year contract, or $59.99 without), the three-ounce Renew is not exactly, how shall I say … packed with features.

No Bluetooth. No GPS. No video player. No camera. Wi-Fi? Please. Oh, by the way—2002 called, and it wants its 1.6-inch, 128 by 128-pixel display back.

That said, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a greener handset than the Renew, starting with its brown cardboard package (made from post-consumer recycled paper) and ending with its plastic, green-and-black casing, which is both molded out of recycled water bottles—there’s a first—and also “entirely recyclable,” according to Motorola.

And while the Renew’s features are indeed basic—just a bare-bones WAP browser and MP3 player, a few low-tech games, a basic calendar and address book—Motorola clearly took pains to get the basics right.

Example: Call quality on the CrystalTalk-enabled Renew is notably impressive, with callers sounding loud—way loud, actually, especially over the speakerphone—and clear. I didn’t notice any echoing or drop-outs during my tests, although your mileage may vary depending on local coverage (and I’ve certainly heard my share of complaints from T-Mobile subscribers). Moto promises a whopping nine hours of talk time on a single charge, and yes—the Renew works with T-Mobile’s MyFaves plan (good for unlimited calling to any five friends).

Specs:

POWERUSAGE TIME (CONTINUOUS)*up to approx. 9 hours
STANDBY TIME*up to approx. 18 days
MESSAGINGMULTIMEDIA MESSAGING (MMS)2TEXT MESSAGING (SMS)2Store up to 500 SMS text messages
FORM FACTORCandy bar
MATERIALS AND FINISHPost-consumer recycled plastic
REMOVABLE MEMORY1up to 2 GB removable memory
ANTENNA TYPEInternal
GSMNETWORKS2Dual Band GSM 850/1900
CONNECTIVITYDATA ACCESS4GPRS Class 10
CONNECTOR TYPEMini USB port
MUSIC AND VIDEOMUSIC ENABLED3MUSIC PLAYERMP3
ACCESSORY COMPATIBILITYHEADSET JACK2.5 mm

Via Engadget and Dustbowl on Wordpress, this unique idea using Lasers to define Biking lanes.

Other parts of the country may have a pleasant interaction between Cyclists and Motorists, each sharing the road, giving each other the right of way, smiling as they wave back and forth under rainbow colored skies.

Meanwhile, back in reality in Seattle, there is such a bone of contention between Cyclists and Motorists. Motorists believe Cyclists belong on the sidewalk (they don’t: law states they must use the road) and Cyclists believe Motorists are road hogs that go out of their way to ‘run over cyclists’ at any given moment and opportunity (they don’t: they’re just bigger and it looks that way).

Having these Lasers on the roadway itself would define the areas Bikes belong, thus solving all sorts of problems.

True, this post isn’t about PDAs, cell phones or smartphones, but it is about mobility and the cool use of Lasers. Light Lane’s company, Altitude, and developers Alex Tee and Evan Gant may be on to something. If they could figure out a way to lower the cost that is currently $5000 to 50,000 per mile, more ciites may be willing to adopt this unique strategy, although, i’m not sure if the lanes are beamed down from the bike or installed into the pavement. Either way, this idea is brilliant.

Around a week ago, Motorola launched the RAZR2 V8 mobile phone in India and this new model which belongs to the RAZR series looks like it’s going to be quite another hit in the market. It only measures to be 11.9 mm thick.The Motorola RAZR2 V8 comes with a flap style and it has two displays that measure 240 x 320 pixels each. The internal display is around 2.2 inches while the external display measures 2 inches. However, what is quite interesting is that the external display has been made to be scratch resistant. Hmmm… Now I really would like to own this phone!

Ray Roman is the company’s senior VP for worldwide sales of their mobile devices and on the Motorola RAZR2 V8, he shares, “This device takes the world’s best-selling feature phone to the next level. Combining groundbreaking new features and an even slimmer exterior than the original icon, the RAZR2 is capable of giving Indian consumers the ultimate mobile experience.�?

[Via TechGadgets.in]
[Image from BlogHipp News Update]

It does look like Nokia is on a roll. According to the most recently report about the industry, Nokia still owns the greatest amount of share in the whole market. The report which was released last Thursday talked about just how much Nokia was able to hold firmly to the number one spot with a market share of 37%.

Motorola which used to own the 2nd spot now moved lower and would now have to live with being in the third place. It is Samsung who moved upwards and took over the second spot. Motorola was able to achieve 13% while Samsung took on 13.7%.

Coming in at the fourth spot is Sony Ericsson who holds 9.1% and LG Electronics finds 7% and takes on the 5th rank.

These mobile phone makers’ industry shares are moving quite unpredictably and we sure would like to know next time who’s going to be ranking first and who’s going down to the very last.

[Via Info World]
[Image from c|net]

Xiao Jinpeng, a Chinese man, lost his life when his mobile phone exploded. According to reports, the mobile phone was in his chest pocket. Xiao is a metal welder and he was working in the Yingpan Iron Ore Dressing Plant when the incident occurred. Some people at the scene said that it just seemed like the mobile phone just exploded.

Of course, the company who created the mobile phone, a Motorola unit, was asked for their opinion on the said case. However, a spokesperson from the company did state that they are in doubt whether it was really the mobile phone which was at fault here. They even did disclose that they are looking at a fake battery which may have been used on the device. This, of course, may be true for there are already reported cases of mobile phones that exploded because of fake batteries. Said a company’s spokesperson, “We are aware of an accident that occurred in Gansu at a welding operation. Up to now, preliminary evidence suggests it is highly unlikely that a cell phone caused this accident. We are working with the Chinese authorities to determine and investigate the root cause.�?

[Via cellular-news]

[Image from City of Westminster]

I honestly adore Motorola products. I find them fashionable, handy, and very functional. And here is yet another piece of news from the company.

In South Korea, the mobile phone market has just welcomed the new Moto Razr2 which Motorola, Inc. dubs as their “next generation mobile phone�?. Although this mobile phone has not yet been launched in the whole industry, the company has decided to send off its entrance to the market in South Korea.

“We’re releasing our new phone in the Korean market first in recognition of tech-savvy and fashion-aware Korean consumers,�? explains the company through a statement that they released on this new mobile phone.

If you are in Korea and you are interested in this phone, then you can own this one for around 580,000 Korean won. You can find this at the SK Telecom Co. I don’t think they have made this mobile phone available with other dealers.

[Via TechWhack]
[Image from BetaNews]

Well, the media monster is the newest product from Motorola, Inc. whose real name is the MOTO Z8. It is a slider and it has been made available in Spain. Why ‘media monster’? Well, the company behind this gadget says that this product is a total entertainment package in just one gadget. See, aside from the usual stuff that a mobile phone is supposed to offer, this mobile phone also allows you to use it for mobile TV as well as for watching videos and music.

Allan Burnes is the corporate VP and general manager for the Motorola Mobile Devices for EMEA as well as for India and he shares, “We are excited to deliver our media monster to mobile entertainment fans around the world, beginning with Spain. With the Z8, consumers can listen to music, download video, create blogs and record and store memories all from the best multimedia platforms available today.�?

Hmmm… This one’s pretty interesting. I think it would soon be available in Asia as well as in Europe.

[Via CNNMoney.com]
[Image from Computing News]

I know. We are pretty much curious - what mobile phone did Rod Baber, the man who made the very first mobile phone call atop Mount Everest, use in his feat?

Well, our prayers have been answered. The first Mount Everest mobile phone call was successfully done with the help of a Motorola Z8. Most people did think that perhaps it was one of those satellite phones that would allow the user to contact the rest of the world easily for it can be heavy-duty and all. But we thought wrong, I guess.

Interestingly, he did not only make one legendary phone call to his voice mail but he also did call up his wife and his kids. Another first done by Baber was when he sent an SMS to the Motorola saying, “One small text for man, one giant leap for mobilekind - thanks Motorola.�?

Well, that feat is over and done. Would somebody ever try calling us from Mars maybe?

[Via Engadget]

[Image from mobiles.co.uk]

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So you have been dreaming of that day when you would not be spending so much on electricity and you would be able to give juice to your mobile phone using the power of the sun. Well, that dream of yours may soon be true.

You see, Motorola now owns the patent for a technology that they seem to have discovered. According to reports, this technology would allow a mobile phone user to let the gadget soak up the rays and charge up the battery through solar cells that can be found on the LCD screen display.

On this, the company is now saying, “Relatively ordinary and cost-effective liquid crystal display technologies can now be utilized successfully to provide an acceptable display and nevertheless provide an acceptable level of light to a stacked solar cell.�?

If this indeed is true, then I am going to be supporting you all the way. I would be very happy to use such a kind of technology and lessen the time that I would be using electricity.

[Via Electronics Supply & Manufacturing]

[Image from Hardware Vault]

Yes, wouldn’t it be nice to have full length movies right in your own mobile phone?

That may not be too far from reality for Motorola, Inc. is already working on it. In fact, all we have to do is wait for in just a few days, the company is already going to send out this gadget. It comes with a video display and it can play movies and films that are stored on removable storage cards. This is as per an announcement sent out by Motorola’s head Ed Zander.

Zander even does boast, “We are going to show a device next week. It is a media monster.�? He also does add, “We are working with another company to deliver movies on SD cards. You can start watching unbelievable quality movies.�?

Now if such a creation does become a hit, it sure would mean that there would be more ways of distributing films and movies.

[Via zeenews.com]

[Image from ZDNet]

Just like people, mobile phones also have their own set of stereotypes. Here are some of the mobile phones, the stereotypes behind the gadget, and which celebrities own them as given from this site:

Chocolate LG Pink - for stay-at-home moms and parents, loves success, looks for harmony. Owned by Rihanna, Jessica Alba, Hugh Hefner, Mariah Carey, and Girls Next Door.

Dolce & Gabbana V3i RAZR - means uniqueness. Owned by Sharon Stone, Reese Witherspoon, and Hillary Duff.

Motorola Magenta RAZR - for the fashion conscious, less than 24 years old, looks for fun and individualistic, for the “it�? girls. Owned by Maria Sharapova, Denise Richards, Rachael Bilson, Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, and Mischa Barton.

Nokia - for the one who loves the family, managers who are middle aged, conscious about health. Owned by Jennifer Lopez and Mary J. Blige.

Sidekick 3 - likes exclusivity, loves making people think what you are doing. Owned by Hillary Duff, Lindsay Lohan, and Paris Hilton.

Sony Ericson - for young men with ambitions, for professionals, individualistic and looks for success. Owned by Robbie Williams and Helena Christensen.

[Via Yahoo! Tech]

[Image from Gear Diary]