The Motorola CLIQ, the first Android-powered handset to come from Motorola, is now available nationwide from T-Mobile for a price of $199.99 after an instant discount of $200 dollars and a new two year agreement. To celebrate the launch of the new handset, T-Mobile also launched a new T-Mobile Motorola CLIQ Challenge today to build the largest college fan club on Facebook.

For those of you not familiar with the CLIQ, here are the main features and specs:

• MOTOBLUR – Stream your social networking feeds to your handset in real time, providing instant access to the latest happenings and messages from your friends.
• 3.1 inch HVGA full touch-screen display
• Support for Android Market
• 5 megapixel camera
• 3G network and Wi-Fi connectivity
• Visual Voicemail
• Bluetooth support
• Full slide-out QWERTY keyboard
• Built-in GPS
• microSD memory slot
• Built-in music player
• Built-in video capture and playback support
• 3.5 mm headset jack
• 6 hour talk time and 13.5 day standby time
• Measures 4.5 x 2.3 x 0.61 inches
• Available in two colors – Titanium and Winter White

The CLIQ is also available with T-Mobile’s new Even More Plus plans (which are contract-less plans) for a price of $399.99.

To help promote the launch of the new CLIQ, T-Mobile launches the T-Mobile Motorola CLIQ Challenge. The goal? For T-Mobile fans to help create the largest Facebook fan club out there. Fans can simply visit www.facebook.com/tmobile to rally together and vote for the four-year college or university of their choice to win the ultimate grand prize.

The school with the highest # of votes in its clique by Nov. 30th will be awarded with an exclusive free concert by Weezer. In addition, T-Mobile will also award the winning school $1 dollar for every vote up to $25,000 for college enrichment.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Motorola CLIQ, T-Mobile

Those of you that absolutely must have the new Motorola DROID next Friday will want to head over to Best Buy now to pre-order the handset. Best Buy will be selling the DROID for $199.99 along with a new two year agreement from Verizon Wireless.

Why buy from Best Buy you ask?

If you purchase from Verizon Wireless directly, you’ll have to mail in a rebate form for the $100 dollar credit which means the checkout cost will initially be $299.99. Buy the phone from Best Buy and Best Buy will instantly credit you the $100 dollars at the point of sale. No forms or checks to deal with. Sounds like a good deal to me.

Technorati Tags: Best Buy, Motorola DROID, Verizon Wireless

After a week or so of teaser announcements, Verizon Wireless officially unveiled the new DROID smartphone by Motorola – the first smartphone powered by the new Android 2.0 OS (which Google just recently released the SDK for). So let’s get down to the features shall we? According to VW, here’s what you’ll be able to do with the DROID:

• Multi-window browser
• Large touch-screen display  (3.7 inches) with an incredible resolution of 854 x 480
• Access thousands of apps over at the Android Market
• Voice-activated search delivered via Google
• The first device to feature Google Maps Navigation (Beta) which provides turn-by-turn voice guidance as a free feature of Google Maps. Use voice shortcuts and simply say “Navigate to [destination]” and you’ll be on your way. You can see live traffic, street view, or satellite imagery to view your route
• Built-in apps include Google Maps, Gmail, YouTube, Google Talk, Android Market, Calendar, Amazon MP3 store, and Verizon Wireless Visual Voice Mail.

The specs to the DROID are as follows (and according to BGR, this is absolutely the fastest Droid-powered handset yet!):

• Arm Cortex A8 processor 550 mHz
• 3.7″; WVGA (480 x 854 pixels); 16:9 widescreen
• 5 megapixel camera with 4x digital zoom, dual LED flash and auto focus
• Built-in music player with support for AAC, H.263, H.264, MP3, MPEG-4, WAV, WMA, eAAC+, OGG, AMR WB, AMR NB, AAC+, MIDI file formats
• Audio/video streaming support
• Video capture at DVD quality (720×480 resolution) up to 24 fps capture; up to 30 fps playback
• 1400 mAh Li-Ion battery with 385 minute usage time  and up to 270 hour standby time
• Email support – Corporate (Exchange 2003 and 2007), Gmail, IMAP, POP3, Attachment and browser document viewer (Microsoft Office and pdf)
• MMSG, SMS, IM, voicemail
• Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR support with HFP, HSP, A2DP, AVRCP, PBAP, and OPP profile support)
• Synchronization support for Corporate calendar, email and contacts (Exchange 2003 and 2007), Google contacts, calendar and Gmail, Facebook contacts
• 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi
• microUSB connector
• aGPS along with Google Maps, Google Maps Navigation Beta, Google Latitude, Google Maps Street View, eCompass
• Built-in web browser
• 3.5 mm headset jack
• Speakerphone
• Advanced speech recognition, Automatic redial, conference calling, emergency dial, noise reduction, speed dial, vibracall, voice dialing, phone book
• Haptic feedback
• Light-responsive display
• QWERTY keyboard
• Measures 2.4 x 4.6 x .5 inches
• Weighs 6 oz
• Built-in accelerometer
• Network support includes: CDMA 1X 800/1900, EVDO rev A
• 16 GB microSD pre-installed; supports up to 32 GB microSD expandable
• Sensors include Proximity, ambient light and eCompass

OK.. enough about features and specs – what about pricing and availability?

The DROID will be available starting next Friday November 6th in the U.S. exclusively at Verizon Wireless Stores and online for $199.99 with a new two-year customer agreement after a $100 mail-in rebate. Customers will receive the rebate in the form of a debit card which they can use as cash anywhere debit cards are accepted.

Customers will need to subscribe to a Nationwide voice plan and an Email and Web for Smartphone plan. Nationwide voice plans begin at $39.99 for monthly access for 450 minutes and an Email and Web for Smartphone plan is $29.99 for monthly access.

Finally, if you want to see a preview of the DROID handset, makes sure to head over to the Boy Genius Report where they’ve got an excellent preview of the handset. Those of you waiting for a solid iPhone competitor to arrive for Verizon Wireless might finally have their handset.

Here’s a video of the DROID handset courtesy of Verizon Wireless:

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Verizon Wireless, Motorola DROID,

If you were watching the baseball playoff games this past weekend you probably noticed an interesting new commercial clearly poking fun at the Apple iPhone. The commercial starts with a series of statements emblazoned across a white screen (playing prodding at the stereotypical iPhone commercial) complete with cutesy music in the background.

“iDon’t have a real keyboard

iDon’t run simultaneous apps

iDon’t take night shots

iDon’t allow open development

iDon’t customize

iDon’t run widgets

iDon’t interchangeable batteries”

Everything iDon’t”

There’s a quick fade fade to black (along with some funky transition effects that look like they came out of a Transformers movie) and then you see:

I have to admit.. I was salivating to a certain extent at this point. I mean.. holy cow.. this is the first time I actually was excited about an Android-based smartphone – and guess what? It’s coming to Verizon Wireless.

Yes my hatred for AT&T is so vast that I’m quite willing to ditch my iPhone for something that is somewhat comparable.

If you head on over to DroidDoes.com (which redirects you to http://phones.verizonwireless.com/motorola/droid/?cmp=OTC-Droid-redirect1), you’ll see a web version of the commercial along with a list of features for the handset which include:

• Directions
• Videos
• Tunes
• 10K+ apps
• Multitasking
• High-speed
• Hi-res
• 5 megapixels
• Android 2.0
• Speech recognition
• Notification panel

Sweet huh? Want some more sweet stuff?

Head on over to the Boy Genius Report then. The awesome folks at BGR have published a hands-on with the new Droid phone (it’s from Motorola BTW) along with plenty of pictures.. and man.. I’ve got full-on drool going on here now.

Here are some comments in the hands-on:

• “It’s thin. Just slightly thicker than an iPhone 3GS and the thinnest QWERTY-slider we’ve ever seen.”
• “It is the fastest Android device we’ve ever used.”
• “Have we mentioned this phone flies? It’s the Android device to beat, and easily the most impressive.”

Yeah I’m excited.. (the lil kid inside of me is jumping for joy right now at the sheer thought of moving back to VW)…

Ok.. enough.. go check out the Boy Genius Report and know that VW will be giving more info about the phone at the end of the month. Below are some pictures from BGR.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Motorola Droid, Verizon Wireless, Android Smartphone

With the holiday season fast approaching, T-Mobile has decided to announce their upcoming holiday lineup of 3G-enabled mobile phones – including several Android powered headsets from the likes of HTC, Samsung, and Motorola. The new upcoming phones are as follows:

T-Mobile myTouch 3G Fender Limited Edition:

The myTouch 3G Fender Limited Edition is the latest Android powered handset to come from T-Mobile’s myTouch family. Slated to come out later this year and designed for music lovers out there, the 3G Fender features a guitar-inspired wood-grain finish, integration of Google web services, a 3.5mm headset jack, a pre-installed 16GB microSD card, and exclusive pre-loaded audio/video clips from iconic musicians out there.  No word on pricing as of yet.

Samsung Behold II:

The Samsung Behold II is the first Android-powered handset from Samsung and T-Mobile and features a 3.2 inch AMOLED touch-screen display, Samsung’s TouchWiz user interface, and support for T-Mobile’s 3G network. The handset comes with Samsung’s exclusive cube menu user interface with easy access to features such as photos, music, videos, the web, Amazon MP3, and YouTube services. Other specs include built-in Google mobile services. Wi-Fi support, support for email and corporate email with Exchange ActiveSync, IM support, text/picture/video messaging, a 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and flash, five shooting modes and video capabilities, visual voicemail, a built-in MP3 player, up to 16GB of external memory, assisted GPS, and Bluetooth 2.1. Expect the Behold II later this year.

Motorola CLIQ with MOTOBLUR:

Yes – T-Mobile’s got another first for this holiday season and it’s the MOTOROLA CLIQ. The CLIQ is Motorola’s first Android-powered handset and features Motorola’s MOTOBLUR solution which manages and integrates communications – from work email to social networking activity – all to the CLIQ’s home screen. You’ll get synchronized updates from source such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Gmail, and personal/work email. Other features include a full slide-out QWERTY keyboard, a 3.1 inch HVGA full touch-screen display, and two color options- winter white, and titanium. Pre-sales for the CLIQ will begin on October 19th with nationwide sales to begin on November 2nd. The CLIQ will be available for $199 along with a new two-year agreement.

T-Mobile Tap:

The T-Mobile Tap is a stylish, attractive, and affordable touch-screen phone featuring support for T-Mobile 3G network, T-Mobile web2go web browsing, a 2 megapixel camera with video capture and playback, a built-in music player, GPS for location-based services powered by TeleNav, stereo Bluetooth support, and support for personal e-mail, SMS, MMS, and IM. Due out later this year, the Tap will be available in two colors – berry and midnight blue.

Nokia 3711:

Finally, the Nokia 3711 is a flip-phone with a unique hidden-until-lit external display. Features include support for T-Mobile’s 3G network, T-Mobile’s web2go web browser, built-in GPS for use with Nokia Maps, a 2 megapixel camera with video capture, stereo Bluetooth, Series 40 OS, and support for IM and email. The phone will be available in the coming weeks in a sable finish color. No word on pricing for either the Nokia 3711 or the T-Mobile Tap.

Technorati Tags: T-Mobile, T-Mobile myTouch 3G Fender Limited Edition, Samsung Behold II, T-Mobile Tap, Nokia 3711, Motorola CLIQ

The Motorola CLIQ, the first Android-powered smartphone from Motorola, will be available for pre-sale to existing T-Mobile customers starting on October 19th. Eligible T-Mobile customers will be able to pick up the CLIQ for $199.99 (along with a new two year agreement).

Not familiar with the CLIQ? Here’s a summary of features and specs:

• Comes with MOTOBLUR which manages and integrates communications from work email to social messaging activity – all to your home screen. Updates to contacts, posts, messages, photos, etc are streamed together and synced from sources including Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Gmail, etc, and then delivered to the home screen in easy to view streams
• Full slide-out QWERTY keyboard
• 3.1 inch HVGA full touch-screen display
• 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity
• 5 megapixel auto-focus camera with video capture
• 3.5mm headset jack
• Built-in music player with pre-loaded Amazon MP3 store
• Other apps include Shazam, iMeem Mobile, AccuWeather, MySpace Mobile, Quickoffice
• preinstalled 2GB microSD memory card
• TeleNav GPS Navigator pre-loaded with free two week trial
• One-touch access to the Google mobile services
• Email support includes Exchange Server, Gmail, Yahoo!, Windows Live Hotmail, POP3 etc
• Available in Titanium and Winter White

The Motorola CLIQ will be available for pre-sale from October 19th till November 1st and will be available in stores nationwide and online beginning November 2nd.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Motorola CLIQ, T-Mobile, Android Handset

The new Motorola Clutch i465 handset will be coming to Sprint this summer for a price of $39.99 after a new two year agreement, a $20 dollar instant rebate, and a $50 dollar mail-in rebate. The Clutch i465 is an iDEN compatible handset with a full QWERTY keyboard that’s great for Nextel customers who are also heavy messaging users.  Specs and features of the i465 include:

• Meets military specification 810F for low pressure, high and low temperatures, dust, shock vibration, and solar radiation
• 1.79 inch 64K TFT display with 128 x 160 resolution
• Digital still and video camera
• GPS support
• Bluetooth
• Java-enabled
• 2.5 mm audio jack
• Support for Nextel Direct Connect push-to-talk technology
• IM-style texting

If you’re interested in the Motorola Clutch i465, head on over to www.sprint.com/clutch where you can register for more information about when the handset will become available.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Motorola Clutch i465, Sprint Nextel, Sprint

AT&T and Motorola announced earlier this week the upcoming availability of the new Motorola Karma QA1 messaging handset. The Karma, due to come out on June 28th, is ideally suited to the messaging crazed individuals out there. Yes that means you’ll be able to text message, instant message, and access social networking websites to your hearts delight with the QA1.

Features and specs include the following:

• Slide out QWERTY keyboard
• IM-style texting with all-in-one view of messages
• Easy scroll navigation
• Support for Yahoo! Messenger, Windows Live Messenger
• CrystalTalk technology amplifies your conversation and reduces background noise
• Facebook and MySpace quick launch icons on homepage for one-click access
• 2.0 megapixel camera
• 3.5 mm headphone jack
• aGPS technology and support for AT&T Navigator for turn-by-turn directions

The Motorola Karma QA1 will be available for $79.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate and a new two year agreement for wireless voice plans of $39.99 a month or higher and a $20 dollar a month data or messaging plan.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Motorola Karma QA1, AT&T Wireless

Motorola introduced the Clutch i465 handset on Friday – their first iDEN capable, full QWERTY keyboard handset providing multiple ways to communicate from a single device. The Clutch features IM style texting which allows you to follow a text message stream similar to an IM message stream. Features and specs of the Clutch i465 include:

• 800/900MHz band/modes
• Talk time of 205 minutes
• Standby time of 100 hours
• Measures 2.1 x 4.4 x 0.6 inches
• 1.79 inch 64K TFT display with 128 x 160 resolution
• SMS, MMS, POP3, message threading, predictive text
• Audio support for MIDI, WAV, MP3, ring tones
• Video capture and playback with support for H.263
• 300K resolution digital camera with 4x zoom
• 20MB user available memory
• Full QWERTY candybar form factor
• Bluetooth 1.2
• microUSB
• 2.5 mm audio jack

Expect the Motorola Clutch in the 2nd quarter of this year.

[Check it out]

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Technorati Tags: Motorola, Motorola Clutch i465

The good ol’ FCC’s coughed up another mobile device. This time it’s the yet-to-be-announced Motorola QA4 slider handset. Information is somewhat scarce at this time but PhoneScoop did uncover the following specs from the documentation at the FCC:

• Touch-screen display
• Tri-band CDMA (850/1700/1900 MHz) support
• EV-DO networking
• Built-in aGPS
• Stereo Bluetooth
• Digital camera (unknown resolution)
• Built-in YouTube and Google Picasa support of some sort
• microUSB port

No word of the device otherwise from Motorola or any mobile carrier but it is compatible with Sprint, Verizon, and MetroPCS.

[Check it out via PhoneScoop]

Read this in Chinese Simplified and French

Technorati Tags: Motorola QA4