Built for messaging fanatics (ergo the very apt name of Rambler), the Rambler houses a QWERTY keypad within its clamshell form factor and although the phone isn’t the best idea in a purely ergonomic sense, it is still a pleasing phone aesthetically and packs in decent features to boot. The rule is that messaging phones are sliders are boxier than this, so to hear of one that was designed as a clamshell was puzzling and interesting. These phones are oddities and rarities but the Rambler tries to make the most of this by being rectangular and stretching things out as much as it can. Head-on, it looks reasonably compact but its when you lay it on its side that you realize its girth. This makes holding it within your hand an odd affair since it ends up feeling distinctly out of place thanks to its size and QWERTY keyboard. Like many clamshells, it has a 1.6 inch external display which is colorful and shows the usual indicators such as battery  [...]

Motorola Debut i856 is the first push to talk iDEN phone in a slider form factor. The phone is pretty basic and don’t expect any high end features from it. The handset is really slim and I will easily fit in to tightest of pants pocket. I am not saying that it is the slimmest phone around but it is definitely slimmer than most of the handsets I have had in my labs for testing. On the front, there is a 2.2 inch color display which is a bit small considering other handsets especially smartphones are having bigger displays. However, this just a mid range phone so I won’t complain much about the smaller screen. There is a shortcut bar having a collection of shortcuts for the applications that you use the most on the phone. For moving through this bar, you just have to press the right and left direction buttons. Beneath the display, there is a navigation array which consists of the four way navigation toggle with OK button in the middle, two soft keys, music and Talk/End  [...]

When it comes to prepaid phones, we usually assume that they are going to be simple low end handsets with barebone features. But we were pleasantly surprised when we saw the Motorola i1. This device is available with prepaid carriers. For Boost Mobile, this is the first phone based on Google Android and this is also the first Google Android phone to run on the Nextel's iDEN network. The phone has a touch screen display but it still feels pretty rugged. It is the only Android device in the market which supports push-to-talk. There are a few disappointments though, this phone is running on Android 1.5 which is an outdated version and iDEN network's speeds are not fast enough. Motorola may give software updates in the near future so things are not that bad as they look. We wont say that this is the best Anroid phone ever but you certainly won't get a better handset in the market if you are a iDEN fan. This phone costs $349.99 which is a lot of money but you don't have any contract obligations.

There are tons of smartphones out there in the market right now and we as tech enthusiasts drool on all of them. But if you are not tech savy, purchasing a high end smartphone will mean nothing for you. All you need is a handset to make a few calls, click some snaps and maybe listen to music sometimes. It makes no sense to buy a high end smartphone for this. We conducted a survey for this and found that most of the people who own a smartphone don’t use all the features that it has to offer. Some are not even aware that the gadget has specific features. There are lots of varieties when it comes to step down phones. Some come with pretty basic features while some give you a few features like music player and camera put in. Motorola VE440 belongs to this category; it has a different body design. We have never seen this design before in a cell phone. On the body, dedicated buttons for camera and music. All these keys are pretty easy to access. Display The  [...]

AT&T had announced that it would launch its first Android Device in February and has come up with the new – Motorola Backflip. This smartphone was one of the big announcements in CES 2010 and was awarded the “Best of CES 2010” awards in “cell phones and smartphones” category. It features QWERTY keyboard, 5-megapixel camera, numerous wireless options and trackpad located behind the LCD display. But the Backflip smartphone has some performance issues and uses Google Android 1.5 as operating system. If you are waiting for some improved and upgraded features, then maybe you should wait for a little while because four other Android smartphones are expected to launch in upcoming months. Motorola Backflip costs $99.99 and comes along with a two-year contract from AT&T after mail-in rebate of $100. Motorola says that keyboard is rugged. The display size is smaller than that of other smartphones. The keyboard is a matter of concern as it is exposed at the back. The company also  [...]

Motorola made a lot of money with Droid last year, it was a big hit in the smartphone market. Motorola Droid was the first phone for Google Android OS that offered numerous features and satisfactory performance. Now, the company has launched Motorola Devour to repeat its success. It is also the first smartphone to bring MotoBlur interface in the market. The touch-screen display of this phone is small and work has to be done to improve user controls. Still, the Devour remains solid member of the Android family. It is a good alternative for the Droid smartphone. Motorola Devour costs around $149 with a contract from Verizon Wireless with mail-in-rebate. As a result, the Devour has $50 less cost as compared to its predecessor, Motorola Droid. On the down side, the camera has less features and the display is small as per the size of phone. If you like the new MotoBlur interface and do not mind the small display size, then go ahead and buy the Motorola Devour.

Motorola has released its new clamshell handset – Entice W766 for Verizon Wireless. It looks like the Rapture VU30 that was released by the company last year. However, the W766 is not shiny and sleek as the Rapture. Motorola Entice W766 has touch-sensitive external keys, EV-DO support and 2-megapixel camera. Overall, it is a good and midrange handset that offers good call quality and multimedia features. Motorola Entice W766 costs around $19.99 with two-year contract from Verizon Wireless and mail-in rebate of $70. The W766 has dedicated controls for music player, Bluetooth and speakerphone on the lid, so there is no need to open the phone to access these options. We weren’t much fond of these buttons but still it is nice to have them. It still provides below-average streaming video quality. The complete front surface is reflective, it is a fingerprint magnet. It captures fingerprints even on gentle touch. If you need a midrange handset with good call quality, then you can buy the new  [...]

Motorola has a great history of manufacturing cell phones. Now, the company has launched rugged handset, Motorola Barrage for Verizon Wireless. It is flip-design phone covered with tough plastic and rubber sidings. The rugged phone by Motorola offers decent call quality and functional feature set. The Barrage costs around $179 without any contract, it is also available with a 2 year contract from Verizon Wireless. This will cost you $129 along with a $50 mail-in rebate. Motorola Barrage handset does not have an attractive design but it is enough strong to handle shocks. We tested this by throwing the phone around and even put in inside the water. The handset could withstand all this. If you need a rugged handset that offers functional features, then we will recommend new Motorola Barrage. However, there were a few disappointments on the phone. Its 3G connection was a bit slow. Music and video quality too were unimpressive. We don’t think the latter is too important in a phone like this.  [...]

Google Android is a good mobile operating system and gaining success in the market. Now, Motorola has launched new handset Motorola Cliq MB200 for T-Mobile with Google Android operating system. The Cliq smartphone is a powerful device with action-packed features, spacious keyboard and easy-to-use design. Motorola has added a new MotoBlur user-interface to the Cliq, which synchronizes all e-mails and social-media contacts to one unique place. With some good features, Google Android OS has also some limitations. Motorola Cliq costs $199 with service contract from T-Mobile. The smartphone has broadened the hardware horizons available to the Android Mobile OS. It has comfortable keyboard layout and improved slider mechanism as compared to the 3G1. The Cliq is the first Android’s device to use full QWERTY keyboard since MyTouch 3G1. It will give tough competition to T-Mobile MyTouch 3G, 3G1 and Sprint’s HTC Hero. Let us take you to the feature set and drawbacks of Motorola Cliq.

Motorola is not new in cell phone market and it has made a lot of rugged handsets too like Motorola Tundra (for AT&T) and Motorola Brute i680 (for Nextel). Now, the company is here with Motorola Quantico for U.S. Cellular. The Quantico is military-specified to withstand extreme and harsh conditions. The design is not attractive, however, the Quantico handset has midrange feature set, which include 1.3-megapixels camera and GPS. The battery cover at the back and sides of the phone are clad in textured rubber. In addition, both charger and headset jacks have tight rubber-plugs to prevent the water from seeping in. The battery cover is secure with rotating lock-mechanism. Motorola claims that its Quantico is durable and it can resist rain, shock, extreme temperatures and pressures, dust, and vibration. We did throw the Quantico on ground and dipped it in water few times, but there was no effect on the phone. Let us have a look what Motorola has provided in its Quantico handset.