Is Motorola nixing the GSM Q?

It's a bit muddled as to what's really going on, but we'll start from the start: French site Mobinaute printed that they spoke with a European Moto representative who informed them that the GSM Q was being canceled for European release (wait, who said it was announced for European release?) and that only Verizon in the US would be seeing any version hit the streets (from what we can tell by way of crappy bot translation, anyway). So is it possible the GSM Q is actually being killed? Well, we spoke with Moto who let us know they absolutely consider the Q to be their new flagship device, and that they're proceeding with all possible haste to get it to market -- which means Verizon getting a permanent worldwide exclusive on the Q seems nigh impossible; we've also received at least one other confirmation that what Mobinaute printed was erroneous. And if you take into account that we have on authority that the Q is actually skipping right up to UMTS/HSDPA, the GSM/EDGE Q's supposed cancellation may just be a case of some detail lost in translation to the result of some severe speculation about a device not even officially announced anyway.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

[Ethan @ Jan 20th 2006 1:48PM]

Well... considering the phone sucks, I don't this is that surprising. I played with it at CES, and the opinion of myself, and others that were doing the same was that it felt clumsy, the OS was slow and had responsiveness issues and ultimately, it just felt poorly done. Also, it uses smartphone instead of the full Windows Mobile 5 OS, so its features aren't on par with things like the PPC-6700 or Cingular's HP pda phone.

[Can0Spam @ Jan 20th 2006 1:52PM]

Simon Cells is taking preorders at $899.00 a pop. The specs list
GSM Unlocked: Yes
Weight: 115g
Dimensions: 116 x 63 x 11.5 mm
Display size: 320 x 240 pixels
Talk time: Up to 5 h
Standby time: 250 h
Calculator: Yes
Games: Yes

GSM 850 / GSM 900 / GSM 1800 / GSM 1900

FWIW

[Sascha @ Jan 20th 2006 2:07PM]

Dudes, they're not going to do a UMTS model without some sort of backup GSM voice channel. Unless you know something I don't, which you very well might.

[Roopesh Sheth @ Jan 20th 2006 2:20PM]

Without wi-fi it's not up to par with its competitors... and as someone mentioned above, without Windows Mobile 5.0 OS it's just a fancy smartphone... useless!

[xbit @ Jan 20th 2006 2:29PM]

I'm not surprised.

A non-3G version would have bombed in Europe, especially as the Q doesn't even have WiFi.

There's plenty of better smartphones on the market already and some fantastic ones coming in the next couple of months.

[Resource @ Jan 20th 2006 2:31PM]

This is why you can't get excited over technology.

They announce products 6 months in advance, it comes to a carrier you can't work with and then the product sucks.

I have problems with Apple, but at least their product are out within two weeks of their anouncements.

Ready to be bought, used and broken.

[eightball @ Jan 20th 2006 2:42PM]

(not directly on topic)
Wait, does the Q have wifi or not?

[scott @ Jan 20th 2006 2:45PM]

The Motorola prez is on msn.com's video page showing off the q in an interview today. So...yeah...probably not cancelled.

[Roberto Cagnos @ Jan 20th 2006 3:00PM]

You know, even mobile-review said that the Moto Q was canceled !

http://www.mobile-review.com/pda/articles/2006-forecast-en.shtml

[wheelsee @ Jan 20th 2006 3:23PM]

in talking with one of the trained talking heads at CES they said no plans for a GSM version of the Q...

-wC

[Anonymous @ Jan 20th 2006 3:44PM]

The device will launch this year for GSM in the US. It will include WiFi, bluetooth, quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850,900,1800,1900) and tri-band HSDPA/UMTS (850/1900/2100). Just check the 2006 Motorola North America product roadmap. Code named: Cassieopeia. Bet. I'm licking my chops.

[Alcaron @ Jan 20th 2006 3:53PM]

K, maybe I just read the post wrong (it wasnt exactly laid out well), but the gist of the story seems to be....the Q is cancelled, maybe, maybe not, probably not, but maybe, but we don't think so, but it probably wont matter because it will still be coming out, just UMTS/HSDPA, but with all this info we dont think is neccisary to say what that means to American users, i.e. you can still get one, or not.

Very informative....I walked away from this post not even sure of what my own name is anymore.

[Elias G. @ Jan 20th 2006 6:27PM]

Why do they let crappy USA-only CDMA providers get the exclusives, and then lock-out the world market?

-- Elias

[Za @ Jan 20th 2006 6:44PM]

Alcaron, did you not read the post or what? The Q is not cancelled. However, according to Engadget and allegedly some CES rep, the GSM version is dead. Major difference. It's like a car not being offered with a certain engine as opposed to the entire car being nixed.

[Bluwkitty @ Jan 21st 2006 4:39PM]

I was at a specially hosted ISV show on the 18th with a vendor that writes enterprise software for mobile phones and played with the Motorola Q. I saw the device receive email from a workstation. The ISV could not tell me anthing about release dates or where but they said it is coming to their knowledge. All that I wanted to do is slip the phone in my pocket and run for it.

[CyCo23 @ Jan 22nd 2006 12:17AM]

I was just at a VZW training yesterday and they said VZW would have a six month exclusive for it.

Seems like Motorola is giving them a little something for being so late on the RAZR bandwagon.

[terra @ Jan 22nd 2006 7:29PM]

I'm doubting very seriously that Motorola cancels the GSM version of this device. UMTS/HSPDA is not rolled out on all carriers to the extent that GSM is, so if they are producing it as their next "flagship" device then I think we'll see a GSM version.

[Andrew @ Jan 24th 2006 11:28AM]

Everyone is speculating if Verizon is going to be producing the Q - i find it hard to believe that they would have versions of the Q w/ the Verizon Logo and not release it on the Verizon platform....

Also, Verizon has a three month exclusive on selling the Treo700, that three month exclusive should be over sometime in April. I have a feeling that once that exclusive is over, Verizon will start to sell the Q. I cant see verizon selling the Q during their exclusive 700 selling period, because the Q is MUCh cooler than the Treo (at least in looks) and the release of the Q would most likely overshadow the 700..

[V3user @ May 5th 2006 5:41PM]

Just found this now. Check it out! http://www.pdalive.com/showarticle.php?threadid=10489

[Khan @ Jul 1st 2006 2:08AM]

Though this ad is old but wanted to ad this. Can anyone honestly say that Moto phones are not total crap???? I sell phones and have tried just about every single one of them and was disappointed every single time. Q is out with Verizon now, soon to be available GSM but it is just a fancy toy. No productivity but only frustration of a poorly constructed device. Cingular 8125 is the best as of right now but get an unlocked one and use it with T-mobile... SO far the best way to go!!!