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A DEath deFYing phone
Moto has launched a hardy handset named Defy, which can cope with life’s little knocks and scrapes in a much more resilient way than most phones.
The Motorola Defy is water resistant and dust proof, where getting sand in the phone, spilling some drink or being in the rain won’t render the phone useless and unusable - according to the manufacturer.
Samsung and Sonim are well known for their existing ranges of tough phones, such as the Samsung Rugby and the Sonim XP series with this being Motorola’s first venture into this market.
The mobile has an IP rating of 67, which means it’s both dust tight and can be immersed in 1 metre of water whilst still being operable - where other mobiles that pride themselves on durability aren’t as invulnerable.
Defty is accompanied by a Corning Gorilla 3.7-inch touch screen display, which is also scratch resilient to a degree and aids in the handset’s toughness as a whole.
On board is the CrystalTalk plus technology that intelligently filters out background noise and amplifies the voice, with the aid of two microphones where there’s no need to shout in noisy environments.
The phone is run from Google’s mobile Android 2.1 ‘Éclair’ OS, with their own MotoBlur overlay to the platform that brings in social networking, messaging and email feeds on to the home screen whilst offering up security measures too.
Motorola Defy is due out in Q4 this year, with no prices as yet announced or any networks mentioned that will be carrying the handset.
 With missing Android overlay
Mobile phone manufacturer Motorola has launched the successor to their second ever Android mobile phone, the Milestone 2.
The new version arrives with a 3.7-inch touch screen, Android 2.2 and also features a slide out Qwerty keyboard, that has been improved since it’s the predecessor. Milestone 2 is now accompanied by Motorola’s overlay to the Google mobile OS known as MotoBlur, which was missing from the original phone.
MotoBlur brings full message notifications onto the home screen, from social networking feeds, text messaging and emails only in a much more seamless way that HTC’s Friendsteam, as it’s thoroughly integrated into Android.
MotoBlur also offers up the ability to have all the phone’s contents backed up into a Motorola online user account, where if the phone is lost or stolen the handset can be tracked and all the contents remotely wiped - then completely restored to a replacement mobile.
Powering the Milestone 2 is a 1Ghz processor, where the original Milestone only ran from a 550Mhz chipset and Android 2.0. The new mobile now has the 802.11n specification, where the phone can also be run as a mobile WIFI hotspot thanks to the new OS.
HD video capture is also possible with the new model from its 5 megapixel camera at 720p, with video content being stored on the internal 8GB memory or on to the accompanying 8GB microSD card.
The Motorola Milestone 2 will be available in the UK and the rest of Europe between October and December. No networks have been confirmed as yet to be carrying the handset, but last time around the online phone reseller Expansys exclusively sold the phone SIM free and unlocked.
Froyo comes to Moto
Mobile phone manufacturer Motorola has unveiled its plans for updating their Android handsets, with news that it will still be sometime before version 2.2 of the Google OS is rolled out - if at all.
Motorola made public their news through their European Facebook account, with a link through to their website’s forum detailing when the latest Android iteration will be arriving around the world.
The Motorola Milestone was the only handset in the UK to be updated to 2.2 and during Q4 of this year, where that very handset shipped at the tail end of 2009.
This news leaves out the Android 1.5 based Motorola Dext from being updated, where it’s been confirmed by the forum post they will not be receiving the update to Froyo or even 2.1.
In America, the Dext is known as Cliq and it will be receiving an update to 2.1 - where Canada and the Asia-Pacific regions could have that version of the Google OS too.
The Facebook status update did actually show for a short period of time the Dext will be upgraded to 2.1, seen here. This message was mysteriously taken down, with no news as to why.
Motorola Facebook
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‘No Jacket Required’
Motorola has taken to ridiculing Apple’s iPhone 4 signal issues, whilst promoting their own handsets at the same time in the USA. Moto has taken to raising the issues that ‘No Jacket’ is required for using their own handsets, as it doesn’t need a case to work properly where just holding their latest Driod X mobile in a certain way doesn’t result in a loss of signal.
The Motorola website now holds this image to your right, which backs this latest campaign of theirs that highlights their Android mobiles do not suffer the same problems as the iPhone 4 and a case isn’t needed for the phone just to make a call.
Moto has gone on to place a large advert in the New York Times newspaper this week that just further mocks Apple, where they really bring to attention the problems over the iPhone 4’s reception faults and in a very not so subtle or understated way.
The advert starts with the very large letters ‘No Jacket Required’, stamping home in the largest possible way their message that a case isn’t needed. The ad then draws attention to the features of the Droid X, whilst highlighting and pointing out around the sides of the phone how it betters the iPhone 4 - in what can only be described as an attack ad of the highest order.
The most obvious nod to Apple is the ‘Dual Antenna design, one at the top of the phone and one at the bottom’, clearly highlighting how better the reception is over the iPhone 4 and the Motorola handset won’t be plagued with the same issues.
It is the statement at the bottom that really digs in knife, and then turns it.
“At Motorola, we believe a customer shouldn’t have to dress up their phone for it to work properly”
“That’s why the Driod X comes with a dual antenna design. The kind that allows you to hold the phone any way you like to make a crystal clear call without a bulky phone jacket”
“For us it’s just one of those things that comes as a given when you’ve been making mobile phones for over 30 years”
All of which is a great and funny way to sell your upcoming phone we believe at One Mobile Ring, whilst at the same time highlighting the flaws of others and possibly having to pay rights to Phil Collins along the way.
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Moto XT720 shipping with HDMI
Motorola’s Milestone XT720 Google OS based handset is now on sale, SIM free and unlocked from a range of on-line resellers. This sequel to their keyboard based Android mobile phone, with HD recording and an HDMI socket has arrived without an exclusive network deal and all below £400.
Retailers from the likes of Expansys, Play.com and Clove have all begun selling the new Moto handset from today which boast a 3.7-inch touch screen, an 8 megapixel camera capable of 720p recording and arrives with a miniHDMI socket, a 550Mhz processor and runs Android 2.1.
The Motorola XT720 initially appears to be their Milestone handset from late last year, only without a physical Qwerty keyboard and solely relying on the touch screen with some notable improvements along the way.
Based on the Moto Roi launched in South Korea early this year, it’s the first handset to arrive on our shores with this high definition socket built-in where the accompanying miniHDMI to HDMI cable is used to play all types of HD video content straight to a compatible screen.
Those resellers mentioned above have started selling the handset from around £360 to £380, although the much beefier 1Ghz processor, 4.3-inch screen Motorola Droid X is due later on this year where the Droid was the Milestone’s brand name in the States.
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Divide and conquer
Motorola has announced that it plans to split into two separate, publically-traded companies during the first quarter of 2011. One part covering Mobile Devices and Home (phones, set-top boxes and digital entertainment) and the other, Enterprise Mobility Solutions and Networks (Radio, computers and network infrastructure). Both new companies will use the Motorola brand.
Moto reorganised into three parts during 2008; handsets, infrastructure, and set top boxes. Various combinations of the three were touted as up for sale throughout 2009, with media speculation that phone manufacture would cease internally. Very little since the glorious Razr V3 has impressed, a trend interrupted by healthy Q4 sales of the Droid and Motorola’s seemingly wholehearted adoption of the Android operating system.
Is it crazy to just want to see a bunch of phones from the American giant that people actually want to use?
Like to know more? press release here
Google getting controversial, Motorola swaps browsers
 After broadly adopting Android, Motorola’s Rocky-style bounce back is dependent on the platform being a success. Investors have been alarmed by Google’s dispute with the Chinese powers-that-be over censorship and cyber-hacking, so Moto has said ‘Hello’ to Baidu, and will provide access to the rival as an alternative search engine, on its Chinese launches.
All part of a plan to de-googleise Android phones for China, protecting the potentially huge market even if Google take the nuclear option and decide to pull-out, however unlikely this is. The decision also showcases the adaptability of an Android build.
Chinese subscribers aren’t yet crazy for apps, popularised and raising billions of sales dollars in the West after two and a half years of iPhone dominance. But thinking ‘if you build it, they will come’, Motorola wants to change the situation and lay claim to a stake early, launching its own app phone site. In English it will be called SHOP4APPS, and the Chinese name roughly translates as ‘little place to find App Wisdom’.
More reserve for the British market
The European TV spot for Motorola’s Milestone has been released. Maybe not as exciting as a racehorse duct-taped to a scud-missile, but we British are above those kind of cheap, adrenaline packed, energising commercials. Aren’t we?
Ok, so I wanted a phone that said DRRRROOOIIID!, but now the Milestone is back on my list of desirables.
Phones from Mars and Venus
This week sees starkly different advertising styles pitching products for girls and boys. Samsung announce its new ‘Diva’ design range of phones, specifically targeted at a female audience and the Motorola Droid gets a very boy-centric new advert for Verizon.
Haute couture
  Premiering on the catwalk this season from Samsung are the S7070 touchscreen and the S5150 clamshell. Both phones feature a quilted texture cover and high gloss finish to catch the eye. The S7070 is for the sophisticated woman, unshy of her femininity in the workplace and the S5150 makes a statement of fashion awareness when out about town.
Samsung plan to refresh the Diva range with new models each year.
Gritty reality
Boys get a high-injection in-your-face new advert from Verizon Wireless for the Droid. I feel all manly again now after writing the Samsung paragraph. An almost-Droid is out in the UK next week, the Milestone.
Android 2.0 in the UK
 The Motorola Droid is a Verizon Wireless exclusive built for North American CDMA networks. The European GSM version is called the Milestone and has started to become available across Europe. Stock goes on sale in the UK on 7 December.
Not yet announced as available through any UK carrier, the Milestone is appearing on independent web sites. Priced at around £450 it’s listed for sale from next week. The Android 2.0 phone retains the features of the droid, but sadly not the red demon eye and robotic voice. Europeans do gain the advantage of multitouch support, so iPhone-like pinch control for zooming and navigation is a great addition. The phone comes with a trial version of MotoNav, but I expect users to switch when full functionality for free Google Maps Navigation is released for Europe. Let it be soon!
I like Android, I love full QWERTY-sliders. So why am I so disappointed at the name change? Answers on a postcard, or at least a comment.
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