Phonedig

Motorola officially announced that it will reveal their Android smartphone(s) at the September 10th event at San Francisco. Could it be the rumored Motorola Morrison or Sholes that’s been leaking around the web? We’ll just have to wait and see.

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Blockbuster announced plans to provide movie download rentals to Motorola phones. They were mum on other details so we’re still in the dark as to the launch date, pricing, and movie distribution method. My question is why would they limit themselves to just one company? Maybe it’s just me but a struggling company tied to another struggling company does not success make.

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I just got done reading an article in Biz Week about Motorola’s move to the Android platform.  The once dominant cell phone manufacture has fully signed on to the OS and has plans to pretty much reinvigorate their cell phone business using the open source platform.  So it’s no surprise that images of the company’s first Android handset have leaked out to the press.

Called the Shules, or Sholes - no one really knows, but it’s a terrible name, like the shoe inserts - it’s a slide out QWERTY handset with a 3.7-inch 480×854 resolution touchscreen.   There is also a 5 megapixel camera, a 3.5mm headphone jack, GPS, EVDO Rev A connectivity, WiFi, Bluetooth and a microSD card slot.  The Motorola Shules is expected to land this October on Verizon Wireless.

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Maybe it was the lack luster sales of just about every Motorola handset on the market or the cost to manufacture, but in either scenario Motorola’s Ivory E18 got a full serving of kabash before it could see the light of day.

Looking long and slender, the E18’s chassis was crafted of stainless steel and as you can see had some sort of dual action slider that slid 30% open to reveal a set of function keys and then the remaining 70% to expose the keypad.  The whole idea seems rather cumbersome seeing as the slider only serves to protect not enhance the function of the phone.  Other specs include a 3 megapixel camera and probably some sort of scratch resistant screen.

Cost to you was set to be a mere $2k+, which isn’t bad when you consider some of Nokia’s Vertu line of phones.  In any case, I think I’ll hold onto my 2000 green backs and opt for a set of Caribbean vacations instead.

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Today, Sprint announced that Nextel will introduce the Motorola Clutch i465 sometime later this summer.  It will cost $39.99 after a 2-year contract signing and $50 mail-in-rebate.  The Clutch i465 is a rugged iDen phone that features a full QWERTY keyboard and is resistant to shocks, spills, dust and more.  Since it’s geared towards the construction worker with its push-to-talk functionality, don’t expect these things to flood the pockets of young America.

Full release after the ‘leap’ …Continue reading: Motorola’s Clutch i465 iDen Phone Hitting Sprint Later This Summer

Starting June 28th AT&T customers will be able to pick up the Motorola Karma. I know, I know, it’s far from exciting, but it does look to be a solid midranged QWERTY keyboarded phone. Other features include a 2 megapixel camera, GPS, a 3.5mm headphone jack, 100mb built-in storage with microSD card slot and quick short cuts to the popular social networking sites. When it does go on sale in a few days it will cost $79.99 after a 2-year and $50 mail-in-rebate. If you’re interested AT&T has put together a video walk through.

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Verizon Wireless officially introduced the Motorola A455 Rival today.  Available in Tin Silver and Purple, the Rival is a full QWERTY phone with a 2.2-inch 176×220 display, media player, 2 megapixel camera, GPS and Bluetooth.  Total talk time is rated at 320 minutes while standby time is 510 hours, which is about 21 days.  You can grab one now for $99.99 after a $50 instant savings and 2-year contract signing.

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Motorola announced the Moto W7 Active Edition, a slider phone specifically designed for the fitness crowd and able to sense movements, orientation, and hand gestures. So what does that mean? Well, for example, you can shake the phone twice to launch a favorite app or flick it to skip to the next song.

Other features include:

• Step pedometer 
• Bluetooth A2DP (for wireless stereo headsets)
• MP3 playback/built-in FM radio
• MicroSD slot
• 2 megapixel camera

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Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha confirmed a Q4 release of their upcoming Android devices. To make this year’s holiday season, they’ll need to ship the devices sometime in November. They were wise to focus on the Android platform but could it be too little, too late? With a loss of $509 for the quarter, it’s pretty much a do or die situation for the once high-flying Motorola. Let’s hope they can get their act together and produce some innovative products.

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Most companies probably cringe at the thought of ‘leaked news’, but if I were Motorola I might be jumping for joy.  Why?  They need all the press they can get.  Today leaked images of two upcoming Android based phones appeared.

First up is the Calgary (pictured above).  It sports a slide out QWERTY keyboard that is a mix of touch and chicklet, a touchscreen and some sort of software with a focus on ’social networking’. This phone will be out in Q2.

Next up, is the Motorola Iron Man, which sounds so stupid it probably isnt’ even real.  This one sports a slide down QWERTY keyboard and the usual smartphone features one has come to expect.  This phone will be out in Q3.

So, yeah, all we really have are some crappy pictures of rumored handsets.

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Read - IronMan