Motorola Q

Ads

Motorola Q

The Motorola Q is a Windows Mobile smartphone first announced in the Summer of 2005 as a thin device with similar styling to Motorola's immensely popular RAZR. Motorola in a partnership with Verizon Wireless released the Q on May 31, 2006. A version for Sprint was released early in January 2007 and one for Amp'd Mobile in April 2007.

The Q differs from Verizon's flagship Windows Mobile phone, the Treo 700w, in that it is very thin, runs the Windows Mobile 5.0 Smartphone Edition OS (lacking touchscreen support), and has a landscape 320x240 screen. It also employs a thumbwheel on the right side of the unit, similar to the industry-leading BlackBerry. Motorola hopes to position the Q as an attractive alternative to the BlackBerry.

The Q was first released in Canada on June 15, 2006 with Telus Mobility. Bell Mobility began offering the phone later that year (September 22) and then became the first North American carrier to offer a black version of the Motorola Q on November 13, 2006.

In late July 2007, a new model of the Moto Q, the Motorola Q 9, was released. The Motorola Q 9h was released in Italy and across Europe and in November in the US through AT&T. In August, the Motorola Q 9m was released in the US through Verizon. In November, Sprint offered the Motorola Q 9c. All Q9 models run Windows Mobile 6.

Specifications

Mobile phone, CDMA model with 800/1900-MHz bands, CDMA2000 1x and CDMA2000 EV-DO networks.
Intel XScale PXA272 312 MHz processor (Bulverde)
Runs on Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 Smartphone Edition; Optimized for Microsoft Exchange 2003 and a variety of third party email solutions that enable a broad set of corporate email capabilities
Very thin – 11.5mm
Full, ergonomic QWERTY thumbboard, 5-way navigation button and thumb wheel
Video clip capture and playback
Connectivity via Bluetooth, IrDA and mini-USB
Multi-Media Messaging (MMS)
Stereo speakers
Audio formats supported: iMelody, MIDI, MP3, AAC, WAV, WMA, WAX, QCELP
Image formats supported: GIF87a, GIF89a, JPEG, WBMP, BMP, PNG
Video formats supported: H.263, MPEG-4, GSM-AMR, AAC, WMV
Mini-SD removable memory card slot (MAX 2gb)
Large, high-resolution display (320 x 240 pixels, 65K TFT)
1.3 megapixel camera with photo lighting
PIM functionality with Picture Caller ID
Advanced speech recognition and speakerphone

Camera Specifications and Options

Camera

1.3 Megapixel Digital Camera / Video Recorder
Normal, Burst, and Timer camera modes
7 brightness levels
5 photo resolutions: 160x120, 176x144, 320x240, 640x480, and 1280x1024
4 zoom levels: 1x, 2x, 4x, and 6x
6 white balance options: Automatic, Sunny, Cloudy, Indoor Home, Indoor Office, and Night
Camera "Flash": A white LED on the back of the device (On / Off; Not synchronized with camera shutter)

Video

7 brightness levels
3 video resolutions: 128x96, 160x120, and 176x144
6 white balance options: Automatic, Sunny, Cloudy, Indoor Home, Indoor Office, and Night

PC Synchronization

The Motorola Q has the ability to synchronize via USB or Bluetooth to a Microsoft Outlook or Microsoft Exchange Server database via Windows Mobile Device Center in Windows Vista or via Microsoft ActiveSync in Windows XP and below, allowing the user to synchronize contacts, emails, tasks, and calendar appointments to the Motorola Q. Microsoft Office files may also be synchronized, but Windows Mobile only supports reading them, not editing them.

Motorola Q wiki

Motorola operates a public wiki dedicated to the Q, which uses MediaWiki, the same software that runs Wikipedia. The wiki was originally seeded with the contents of the Q's instruction manual, which has since been edited and added upon. Specifically, information on how to make operator-specific functions has been described in practical detail that could not be covered in the manual - such as how to set up the laptop Internet access tethering feature. The wiki can be found at http://www.motoqwiki.com.

Motorola Q support forums

Motorola offers the Q community six discussion forums. Topics include getting started, email setup, bluetooth technology, synching, multimedia features and third party applications. The forums are supported by Motorola Q users and are located at http://qsupportforum.motorola.com/pe/.

Error Reporting

As with most smartphones, an automatic error reporting function can be enabled by the user. Several Q users had found a minor malfunction with the first version of the Q which was exclusively sold by Verizon. The malfunction showed that after some time while the phone had been in use, that if text messaging/phone calls or internet/text messaging happened together, the phone would freeze for several minutes. Motorola and Microsoft discovered the error through the error reporting service and now offer an update you can find through Motorola.com. The update repairs the malfunction and resets the phone.

Black Motorola Q

Verizon Wireless released a new version of the Q in mid January 2007 in a new color. They are now producing the Q in black to compete with the T-Mobile Dash and Cingular's Samsung Blackjack. The outer casing is now made in a rubber compound to resist scratches. The new Q also features 15% more battery life and an update to fix bugs.

Limitations

Picture messaging with Verizon: Picture messaging is pay per use if user does not subscribe to a data package. When using the Moto Q with Verizon, picture messaging is no longer treated as data transfer. If the user uses the Moto Q with Verizon and disables data transfer, then the user no longer loses the functionality of sending and receiving picture messages.

The following is a quote attributed to Verizon technical support: (Source: discussion forum post)

With the Moto Q and Verizon, if the user is to use the pay-as-you-go KB plan, the user will now no longer be charged much more for a picture message than the user would using a normal phone where the picture message would either be covered under the user's plan or cost as much as $0.25.

Picture messaging with other carriers Some carriers appear to limit sending and receiving pictures to e-mail transfers and according to some reports do not allow picture messaging to other cell phones from the Moto Q or from other cell phones to the Moto Q. Specifically, USCellular,Sprint, and Alltel do not enable MMS capabilities in their Motorola Q model.

Complete List Of Q Features & Specifications

The complete Motorola Q list of specifications are :

Type	Specification
Modes	CDMA 850 / CDMA 1900
Weight	4.06 oz (115 g)
Dimensions	4.57" x 2.52" x 0.47" (116 x 64 x 12 mm)
Form Factor	Bar Internal Antenna
Battery Life	Talk: 4.00 hours (240 minutes) Standby: 192 hours (8 days)
Battery Type	LiIon 1130 mAh
Display	Type: LCD (Color TFT/TFD) Colors: 65,536 (16-bit) Size: 320 x 240 pixels
Platform / OS	Windows Mobile for Smartphones version 5
Memory	64 MB (built-in, flash shared memory)
Phone Book Capacity	shared memory
FCC ID	IHDT56FQ1 (Approved Dec 14, 2005)
GPS / Location	Type: A-GPS (Relies on Carrier Towers for position calculations)
Digital TTY/TDD	Yes
Hearing Aid Compatible	Rating: M3 (mostly compatible)
Multiple Languages	Yes
Polyphonic Ringtones	Chords: 42
Ringer Profiles	Yes
Vibrate	Yes
Bluetooth	Supported Profiles: HSP, HFP, OPP, FTP, A2DP, AVRC, DUN, HID, BIP, PAN version 1.2 / DUN, HID, BIP
Infrared (IR)	Yes
PC Sync	ActiveSync
USB	built-in mini-USB connector
Multiple Numbers per Name	Yes
Picture ID	Yes
Ringer ID	Yes
Voice Dialing	speaker-independent
Custom Graphics	supported formats: GIF87a, GIF89a, JPEG, WBMP, BMP, PNG
Custom Ringtones	supported formats: iMelody, MIDI, MP3, AAC, WAV, WMA, WAX, QCELP
Data-Capable	Yes
Flight Mode	Standard Icon: No
Packet Data	Technology: 1xEV-DO r0
WAP / Web Browser	Browser Software: Pocket Internet Explorer
Side Keys	thumb-wheel on right
Text Keyboard	Layout: QWERTY
Memory Card Slot	Card Type: miniSD
Email Client	Yes
MMS	Yes
Text Messaging	2-Way: Yes
Text Messaging Templates	Yes
Music Player	Windows Media Player
Camera	Resolution: 1.3 megapixels
Streaming Video	Windows Media Player
Video Capture	Yes
Alarm	Yes
Calculator	Yes
Calendar	Yes
To-Do List	Yes
Voice Memo	Yes
Games	Yes
Headset Jack (2.5 mm)	Yes
Speaker Phone	Type: Full-Duplex