Motorola has announced that its Moto Q will be available from the end of May.
The company said the design of the new Motorola Q is based on its big-selling ultra-thin Razr phones. At 11.5mm, Motorola claims the Q is the thinnest device with a Qwerty keyboard on the market. It is not a clamshell, however.
The devices will be sold via Verizon Wireless online from May 31, 2006, and in Verizon stores a week later. They will sell for $300, or $200 if you sign up for Verizon Wireless’s voice and data services with a two-year contract.
As far as enterprise push email goes, Motorola has partnered with Good Technology. Good’s GoodLink service will be available for Exchange users at launch, with Lotus Notes support becoming available later in the summer. For personal email, without all the enterprise bells and whistles, the Q will also allow access to other POP3 and webmail, with Pocket Outlook installed on the device.
It does not appear that the phones will ship at launch with Microsoft’s Messaging and Security Feature Pack for Windows Mobile.
Using a thumb scroll-wheel rather than a touch-screen for navigation, and the absence of the clamshell design, will invite comparisons with BlackBerrys. It will also compete against Palm’s Treo devices.
The Q devices were announced last July, and were promised to ship in the first quarter this year. The slip was recently attributed to the phone’s complexity. In the meantime, Palm has launched the comparable Treo 700w and 700p, which run Windows and PalmOS respectively. Verizon’s service plans are similar for the Treos and the new Motorola Q.
But undoubtedly the main target for Motorola is RIM, as the BlackBerry leads the smartphone market to the point where the brand has virtually entered the English language as a synonym for handhelds.
However, while BlackBerrys have more of a reputation as an executive toy, Motorola is targeting both the enterprise and the kids, where the Q’s low price and Razr-like design may prove to be a competitive advantage.
