Motorola's New Q Cell Phone

Less than two weeks after announcing its version of Motorola's new Razr 2, Verizon Wireless today followed up with the successor to another trend-setting Motorola handset, the Q PDA-cell phone hybrid.

The silvery Q, one of the first super-skinny Windows Mobile handsets with a QWERTY keyboard and a wide aspect-ratio screen, targeted business users, but the new version, called the Q music 9m, was created to entice a younger crowd that wants multimedia as well as messaging. It looks dramatically different, with a dark soft-touch surface with reddish accents, and a redesigned keyboard (no more Treo-esque elliptical keys). Here's a Motorola-supplied image:


And here's a close-up of the new keyboard, courtesy of PC World photographer Robert Cardin:

The Q-9m has two screen faces. A red keyboard button on the lower right toggles between the traditional Windows Mobile interface and a Motorola-designed multimedia player screen from which you can play music or run videos. Here's the Windows Mobile screen:

The Q-9m has two screen faces. A red keyboard button on the lower right toggles between the traditional Windows Mobile interface and a Motorola-designed multimedia player screen from which you can play music or run videos. Here's the Windows Mobile screen:And here's the multimedia interace (note that you can still get to your contacts and the start menu from bottom-screen entries activated by the handset's left and right touch keys):

Motorola says this is one of the first QWERTY-keyboarded devices that can access Verizon's VCast store for music downloads (which should go fairly swiftly as the device support's Verizon's fast EVDO data network). Another unusual feature: The SD card slot on the side can support large-capacity SD cards (4GB+); most handsets with SD support can only handle up to 2GB because of file-format issues.

And just in case you want to do real work as well as listen to music or watch videos with your handset, the handset comes with the Windows Mobile version of DataViz's Documents to Go productivity suite, a much more capable mobile productivity package than the Mobile Office apps that come with the OS.

The Q 9m is available online from Verizon starting today; it should appear in retail stores beginning next Monday. It goes for $350 with the usual two-year contract (a $50 mail-in rebate is available).

Ultra-thin MOTO Q Handset launched in India by Motorola and Tata

On August 1, Motorola together with Tata Teleservices announced the launch of the much-awaited MOTO Q in the Indian market. This ultra-thin handset has been custom-built especially for people who multi-task in today’s fast-paced business environment.

The MOTO Q hand-held device is based on a QUALCOMM Multimedia Platform chipset and runs on the Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 OS.

Motorola’s MOTO Q handset features built-in multimedia functionality and Bluetooth stereo music streaming. It also features a 1.3 mega pixel camera that also offers a video mode. This phone features a user-friendly thumbwheel that makes navigation easy.

The MOTO Q also offers other features including integrated Bluetooth 1.2 wireless technology with stereo profile support for communicating with other Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones.

Another feature of the MOTO Q is that it offers fast downloads of data, email and large attachments, making it a perfect companion in the workplace. It also offers synchronization with email, a calendar, contacts and task entries. Perfect for business, the MOTO Q also allows for integration with Windows Mobile 5.0 and access to Yahoo!, Hotmail and other POP3 services.

What’s more, this handset even has a QWERTY keyboard, making it easy to type out long emails and work-related documents. The MOTO Q also supports standard desktop views including Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Adobe Acrobat.

According to Malcolm Dawe, Vice President & General Manager, Motorola India Mobile Devices, “The MOTO Q is a real must-have device that enables true seamless mobility by liberating all of us from the constraints of our office and living rooms.”

The MOTO Q handset that was launched by Tata Teleservices in India can also be availed on the exclusive Business Platinum 649 plan, under which subscribers will get to enjoy free monthly data usage of up to 512MB. Besides, they will also get Rs.150 worth of free local calling.

This exclusive package that includes the MOTO Q, the Business Platinum 649 Plan and a 512MB miniSD card with preloaded content carries a price tag of Rs.19,999. Preloaded content on the miniSD card includes full-length Bollywood movie ‘Dus’, five MP3 songs and customized wallpapers.

Is the Motorola MOTO Q q9 coming to AT&T

There's not too much to say except that Engadget Mobile received a grainy (looking) Photoshop rendering which shows a Motorola MOTO Q q9 with an AT&T logo on the back.For sure, we have seen live photos of a Motorola MOTO Q q9 with a Vodafone logo before as well (but haven't heard any official announcements yet) so it might be just a Motorola rendering for a AT&T presentation, how such a customized device can look like.Some might think now, that it doesn't makes sense for AT&T to launch another keyboard-styled Windows Mobile Smartphone (the previously mentioned SMT5700) together with the Motorola MOTO Q q9, on the other hand, the SMT5700 seems to support 2.75G (EDGE) only, while the q9 supports UMTS as well as HSDPA so both devices definitely targets two different markets with (I'm sure) different price points.

In addition, Engadget Mobile got the word from its anonymous tipster, that the AT&T version won't be called the Q when it comes to the US' largest GSM network, though whether it retains the "q9" branding remains to be seen.
Time will tell but and therefore, no release date is given yet.