Mobility Watch

Moto RAZR owners who are disappointed that the handset lacks EDGE data capability - Moto has a RAZR for you.  Or it will have, in the fourth quarter of this year.

The MOTORAZR xx promises HSPDA and EDGE technology for broadband-like data and download speeds, Bluetooth stereo headset and 2-way video call capabilities.  Aside from new metal finishes and colors, the xx looks about the same as the original RAZR.

If you’re looking for something more music-friendly, the MOTORAZR maxx (pictured at left) adds external, touch-sensitive music player control keys and microSD memory (up to 2 GB).

And just so the CDMA-types don’t feel left out, Motorola’s new MOTOSLVR L7c (pictured at right) puts high speed EV-DO capability in its “sliver” form factor.

Get the idea?  Moto’s putting the latest features in familiar, already-popular packages.  All promised for fourth quarter 2006.  Prices and carriers to be announced later. 

[via Mobile Whack, Motorola]

It’s not often that the carrying case for a device looks as cool as the device itself.  This one comes pretty close.  Brando Workshop made this case for the new Motorola Q out of aircraft grade aluminum, with a neoprene lining inside as a shock absorber.  The case has holes in all the right places so you can get at all the important controls.  And it comes with the obligatory swivel belt clip so your Q will be handy (and proudly on display!).

It’s a cheap insurance policy against droppage, at only $28. 

[via Mobile Mag]

Not everyone wants, or can afford, a RAZR, PEBL, SLVR, etc.  Cingular is rolling out Motorola’s C139 as the Model T of cell phones - for $39.99 you own it, without a contract.  You even get a $10 Cingular GoPhone card included so you can start talking.

A Pay As You Go phone like this can really make sense for kids or Grandma - anyone who needs to communicate but wouldn’t be a heavy wireless user.  Cingular has plans that include free mobile-to-mobile so calling home or other family members wouldn’t cost extra.

Cheap may be ugly, but it sure can be beautiful.

[via Mobile Tech Review]

Motorola now controls more than 20 percent of the global handset market.  It’s been almost ten years since the last time Moto could make that claim.  And according to Crain’s Chicago Business, the guy behind the cool RAZRwire Bluetooth shades can claim a lot of the credit. 

Ed Zander showed up at Motorola two and a half years ago.  Moto’s RAZR was already in development, but Zander brought the company’s marketing efforts into the 21st century, and led the way for followup phones like SLVRs, PEBLs, Qs, and the newest Canary (pictured at right).

We hear from Mobile Guerilla and Engadget that Canary (or KRZR) will be offered for sure by Verizon Wireless.  A GSM version for Cingular may hit by September.  This new bird looks longer and slender-er than the RAZR with a black case somewhat resembling the new LG Chocolate phone.  Expect an evolutionary rather than revolutionary feature set including stereo Bluetooth and 2 megapixel camera.  

Back in February, Nokia announced a joint venture with Sanyo to produce CDMA handsets in North America and Japan.  Now Nokia is backing out, deciding it would rather not go head-to-head with Motorola, Samsung and LG in this category.

(CDMA is the wireless phone system used by roughly 25 to 30 percent of mobile subscribers worldwide, including Verizon Wireless and Sprint in the U.S., and is also popular in Japan.  GSM is the “big dog” technology used by about 70 percent of subscribers worldwide, including Cingular and T-Mobile in the U.S..  Less popular technologies such as iDen used by Nextel make up the rest.) 

That doesn’t mean Nokia’s brand won’t be showing up on CDMA handsets.  The Korean handset maker Pantech has manufactured handsets under the Nokia brand before, and that’s a probable option going forward.  But it probably means one fewer manufacturer creating high-end cutting edge CDMA handsets, and that’s a blow to CDMA carriers generally.

This all goes back to a nasty spat between Qualcomm and Nokia over CDMA licensing fees.  (Not a problem for Nokia’s GSM handsets - Nokia helped develop GSM technology in the first place.)

Nokia’s stated goal has been to increase its worldwide handset market share to 40 percent, from about 35 percent currently.  That’ll be tougher to accomplish now.  But Nokia has other fish to fry, after its just-announced merger with Siemens.  And it’s a blow to Sanyo, which hasn’t had much good news in this business lately.     

[via Reuters]

Wrigley Field is the second-oldest Major League baseball park (the oldest is Fenway in Boston).  Flat-earth traditionalists in Chicago campaigned against lighting for night games at Wrigley until they lost the fight in 1988. 

So it’s ironic that, tonight at Wrigley, Cubs coast Dusty Baker will be using the first wireless dugout to bullpen phone system.  A special closed circuit system using Motorola i580 wireless phones will allow managers and pitching coaches to connect to bullpens with the touch of one button.  The phones can be clipped onto uniform belts and they’ll vibrate as well as ring.  (This is the same model being offered by Sprint Nextel for outdoor use; designed to withstand wind, rain and dust.)

The original landline phones to the dugout will still work; a wise idea in case someone forgets to charge their battery.

[via USA Today]

Consumer behavior studies are often so predictable it’s hard to figure why invest the money in doing them.  Example:  comScore Networks’ latest wireless phone study lists the phone models that we spend the most time researching, that is, the ones me spend the most time drooling over over.  Here’s the top ten, during the first quarter of 2006:

1] Motorola RAZR V3C
2] Palm Treo 650
3] Motorola E815
4] Palm Treo 700W
5] Motorola RAZR V3
6] Samsung A900
7] Motorola Pebl
8] Sony Ericsson Z520A
9] Nokia 6101/6102
10] LG C2000

It’s mostly the higher-end phones on this list.  Although the Motorola Q came out too late to be ranked, comScore indicates the Q’s product page on the Verizon Wireless website got more than 100,000 unique visitors in the second half of May.

Then there’s the list of phones we actually get.  Here’s that top ten list, based on first quarter 2006 online orders:

1] Sony Ericsson Z520A
2] Nokia 6101/6102
3] LG C2000
4] Motorola RAZR V3C
5] Motorola RAZR V3
6] Nokia 6061
7] Samsung SGH-X497
8] Samsung SCH-A950
9] Motorola  V276
10] Motorola I870

More of the low-cost or no-cost phones do well here.  According to comScore, phones like the #1 Sony Ericsson Z520A went to customers free more than two thirds of the time.  Same goes for the #2 Nokia 6101/6102s.

By the way, Motorola scored the highest market share of any manufacturer in this survey at 38 percent.

[via comScore]

Dolce & Gabbana’s website is dripping in sexual imagery and high fashion.  Not the kind of place I’d check out for the latest thing in mobile phones.  (It looks and feels like those R-rated ads for perfume in Vanity Fair.)

Well, check it out.  Motorola’s RAZR V3i has gotten the high-fashion treatment from D&G.  (Motorola’s come a long way from those old bag phones, eh?)  This one comes with its own D&G ring tones, screen savers and wallpapers.

Not included are the gold eel skin carry case, gold stereo headphones and matching Bluetooth H700 headset.  But it’s like owning a Barbie doll - you can’t have the doll without all the fabulous outfits and accessories that go with it, can you?

Now, where would you go to get this uber-fashionable toy for the rich and famous?  Well, I’m not sure where they would get it, but I found it on eBay going for between $300 and $700 (current bids may vary).  And if you’re stuck with an ever-so-unfashionable ordinary V3i, eBay was also offering a D&G gold faceplate for $50 or a vinyl lookalike “skin” for about $7.50.  How gauche. 

Motorola’s taking it to the streets of Chicago to generate favorable buzz for its new Q - it’s opening a “pop-up” retail location, “Destination Q”, at 666 North Michigan Avenue in Chicago.  Says Motorola’s Ron Garriques:  “Destination Q is the first in a series of experiential locations we will bring to consumers, giving them an ‘all-access pass’ to the Motorola brand and its products.”

Favorable buzz will be something Motorola could use as the Q goes up against BlackBerry and Treo; one of the first and most widely-circulated reviews (by the Associated Press’ technology writer, Peter Svensson) says the Q is hobbled by inferior software and pricey Verizon service plans.  PC Magazine echoed the warnings about expensive service.  And David Colker at the LA Times was only slightly more charitable.

I get the feeling no one’s trading in their BlackBerrys for Qs just yet. 

Motorola will be releasing its much awaited Q smartphone. Motorola and Verizon announced that the Q will be available through the Verizon Wireless Web site beginning May 31, 2006.

The Q is positioned to grab a portion of the “blackberry” market. Currently, the motorola Q is the “the world’s thinnest QWERTY device” and it run on Windows Mobile 5.0 OS.

With Q, corporations can bring mobile email to their entire organizations while mobile professionals can be confident they can be productive by having a quality phone and email experience in an innovative and stylish form factor. Q leverages Microsoft’s familiar and trusted Windows Mobile software and is among the first devices to run on the new Windows Mobile 5.0 platform which delivers scalable and cost-effective mobile messaging support with Exchange 2003 out of the box. This enables the device to work overtime to leverage existing corporate investments in infrastructure, training and support while continuing to protect office networks, data and applications.

[ via motorola.com ]

Motorola RAZC V3C quick Review

PROS:

Nice design, 3G support, excellent voice quality and reception

CONS:

No mp3 player, not so good speakerphone quality

Some Key Points of Motorola RAZR V3C

• At 3.5 ounces, its a bit heavier than the original RAZR. But you won’t notice the difference.
• No camera flash
• Other features include a vibrate mode, text and multimedia messaging, a calculator, voice dialing and commands, an alarm clock, a notepad, a world clock, a voice recorder, and a calculator.
• Razr V3c has an improved camera with a resolution of 1.3 megapixels. You can take pictures in four resolutions (1,280×1,024, 640×480, 320×240, and 160×120)
• Personalization won’t be a problem since you can have a variety of wallpaper, screensavers, display themes, and sounds for the motorola razv v3c.

Motorola Razr v3c specs for the Techies

EVDO high speed data access

• Video clip capture and playback : MPEG4 (15 fps)
• 1.3 megapixel digital camera : with 4x digital zoom
• 72 polyphonic sound engine
• Picture and video messaging

Messaging Features

• MMS (Picture / photo + text + sound)
• SMS
• EMS 5.0

Lifestyle Features

• PIM functionality
• Integrated Speakerphone
• Advanced speech recognition
• Bluetooth® wireless technology enabled : connectivity Class 2

Performance Features

• Bands : CDMA 1X and EVDO with aGPS 800/1900
• Standby Time : up to approximately 200 hours
• Talk Time : up to approximately 188 minutes

Data Features

• BREW : 3.1
• Connectivity : Mini-USB
• WAP : 2.0
• Internal Memory : up to 30MB of available end user memory

Technical Specifications

• Form Factor : Clamshell
• Antenna Dimensions (H x W x D) : 53 x 98 x 14.5 mm
• Weight : 99 g
• External Display : 96 x 80 CSTN display
• Internal Display : 176 x 220 TFT color display