Motorola's A1600 MING 2 surfaces

What's that, you say? Reportedly, that picture you see above is the Motorola A1600, which could be the long-awaited successor to the A1200 MING. Granted, we've no proof to go along with it, but the design sure fits the mold. According to Chinese-based eNet, this bugger will sport quad-band GSM connectivity, a 3.2-megapixel camera (with autofocus), WiFi, assisted-GPS, a couple of built-in games, a "talking dictionary" and a Linux-based OS. Interestingly enough, that last tidbit certainly conflicts with other reports we've heard, but we suppose time will tell (look for a February launch) what system really ends up running the MING 2 show.

[Via UnwiredView]

[tcc3 @ Dec 13th 2007 2:21PM]

The MING? Shouldn't that be the MNG? Motorola must have gotten a new shipment of vowels.

[holycow @ Dec 13th 2007 2:31PM]

i dont think they couldve used MNG! (MNG = Mango, an extremely popular clothing store)

[L @ Dec 13th 2007 2:33PM]

This is getting old anyway - almost as unfunny as these blending or Doom "jokes"...

RAZR, PEBL, ROKR and RIZR - see a pattern there?

[spyder91 @ Dec 13th 2007 11:13PM]

If I had that phone I would utter a reference to Opera's minge every time I used it.

[Aizat @ Dec 13th 2007 2:36PM]

Quad band is HSDPA or what? Sorry if i don't know that.Looking for more specs on review for this phone

[Bb @ Dec 13th 2007 2:38PM]

'Ming'
Verb. To smell or look unpleasant. E.g."Yearghh, that's disgusting! It mings in here! Which one of you has farted?"

http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/m.htm
(probably NSFW, after all it is UK English slang)

[E71 @ Dec 13th 2007 2:54PM]

No-one cares about the British.

[Bb @ Dec 13th 2007 3:24PM]

You might be on to something; with a name like 'MING' this phone clearly isn't designed for the UK market.

Won't stop 60 million people getting a giggle from the name, though :)

[Tony @ Dec 13th 2007 3:37PM]

It's for the Asian market only. At least the last MING was—so it makes sense—while fitting in with the 4 letter naming thing Motorola has.

[Lemmiwinks @ Dec 13th 2007 5:06PM]

Wii

[Nando @ Dec 13th 2007 2:47PM]

Maybe it stands for "mung."

[ShortFuse @ Dec 13th 2007 2:47PM]

The phone was marketed to China Mobile. That's why it's called the MING

[js @ Dec 13th 2007 2:48PM]

That definately looks photoshopped. FAKE.

[roole @ Dec 13th 2007 3:09PM]

Sorry to sound anal, but the sheer number of times this happens is becoming bothersome, so I feel compelled to respond: There is no 'a' in 'definitely.'

How much trouble is it to spell-check a post?

[Michael LaFramboise @ Dec 13th 2007 2:49PM]

I personally liked the original Ming (A1200 was it?) - more then this... Too boxy for my taste...

[palehorse @ Dec 13th 2007 2:56PM]

Would this work on Tmobile USA now, or in the forseeable future?

[Anthony @ Dec 13th 2007 3:00PM]

If you're talking 3G, most likely not. If you're talking 2.5G & voice- it's quad (or 1900) yes.

[Asten @ Dec 13th 2007 3:01PM]

While it's too soon to say if T-Mobile USA would GET the phone, it will certainly run on their network if you acquire it by other means.

[roole @ Dec 13th 2007 3:04PM]

This thing actually looks elegant. (I am not being sarcastic. Honest.)

[Ricardo @ Dec 13th 2007 3:29PM]

I have the original Ming.

Hardware is good (tough it lacks Wifi, GPS and 3G), but OS is really really bad.

I don't think this one is real, but even if it is I definately won't buy another Linux phone.

[huh @ Dec 13th 2007 3:44PM]

Do you mean the OS, or what they put on top of it? Things change, y'know.

[Ricardo @ Dec 13th 2007 4:27PM]

I don't mean Linux is bad, but it just isn't seen as a good platform for developers. I have never ever seen even one native commercial application for Ming, so basically the only software we have come from fans. The effort is nice, but you can't expect much from free stuff.

And it doesn't have an SDK, so even who wants to develop stuff have to suffer a lot.

And even tho it should be open source, Motorola has never distributed the original source, so we have to stand some really annoying "features", such as confirmation messages for everything you try to do in Java apps, without being able to change anything.

[nmason @ Dec 13th 2007 3:56PM]

I heard it comes with an Atari 2600 emulator.

[Joe @ Dec 13th 2007 6:54PM]

Typo: MING should actually read MINGE which is what every Englishman will call this when its finally released... If its a Moto its obviously going to be an appalling user experience which will never compare to its external appearance.

[Ipaq3115 @ Dec 13th 2007 7:27PM]

McAfee SiteAdvisor found two virus's on the read link you had...

[Alex @ Dec 13th 2007 9:02PM]

I have a A1200 Ming.. i hope the fix the way the keyboard is setup.. texting sucks on this thing

[Jamar @ Dec 14th 2007 9:58AM]

This phone's not meant for those that use Roman lettering. It's meant for places like China/HK that use characters in their writing. That's why not much thought was put into the keyboard.

I'd get one if I didn't have my eyes set on another 3G phone already.

[trancer @ Dec 13th 2007 10:48PM]

nice. nice. only 2 problems. 1: its a flip phone 2: its a motorola

[bachviet @ Dec 14th 2007 4:59AM]

It is not a flip phone. It has a bar phone with a flip cover.

[august @ Dec 16th 2007 7:16PM]

This phone will kill any phone used symbian or windows, linux is the best OS ever in mobile phone history believe me i try and i love it, and of course you can hack your java permision you stupido ricardo. it's open source remember i think u have said by your self, just bough one of the moto linux series and try for your self and respect what motorola have made.

[Gilbert @ Dec 19th 2007 12:55AM]

I recently bought an A1200 (MotoMing) and I think it's great. The Linux OS is not too shabby. It's definitely faster than any Symbian, UIQ or Nokia OS I've ever used. Being "open source" means that the phone can easily be configured (relatively) easily for personal needs. The menu & interface can be skinned, the on-screen keyboard can be enhanced, and basically the whole user experience can be made "better". It's basically all just up to the user to configure to get what he wants and/or needs. There's no such thing as a perfect phone for everyone. Either you accept the compromises for a particular model or build & customize one t your liking.

The MotoMing2 shown definitely looks like a photo hack but it ain't too shabby. I'm definitely looking forward to 3G or 3.5G, WiFi, GPS, improved FM Radio, live streaming TV reception, etc. Oh and a slightly bigger on-screen keyboard wouldn't hurt.

P.S. Ming is Chinese for "bright". Bright as in color or bright as in intelligence.

[Brijesh @ Jan 27th 2008 4:58AM]

when is the MING 2 coming to Indian market. Haven't heard anything from MOTOROLA yet.

[paul bailey @ Feb 22nd 2008 7:02PM]

I have the A1200 I would love it if i could find apps for it how does one reconfigure or change the phone any help would be appreciated im new at this so if possible dont be too vague thanks