T-Mobile, Verizon set to offer Android-based Motorola phones this year

Details are still a little light on this one, but The Wall Street Journal is reporting that both T-Mobile and Verizon will be offering Android-based phones from Motorola before the end of the year, according to "people familiar with the matter." While the Verizon phone is still a bit iffy, the T-Mobile offering seems to almost certainly be the Motorola Morrision which, as you can see above, is already pretty well acquainted with T-Mo branding. According to one of those people familiar with the matter, Verizon's Moto phone will have "similar hardware to the T-Mobile one," including a touchscreen and a slide-out keyboard, which doesn't exactly rule out Motorola's rumored Calgary slider, even if "similar" isn't the first word that springs to mind when discussing the two.

[Via Electronista]

[raitchison Posted Jun 23rd 2009 3:48PM]

Hmm my G1 is my first non-Motorola cell in quite some time, I've always been happy with Moto phones (I guess unlike many here) Plus you have to give Motorola credit for being one of the first to give up on proprietary chargers/connectors and going Mini-USB (even if we did need to load a stupid driver).

As for Verizon, I don't know how they will be able to control the environment and charge extra for everything on an Android device, I guess we shall see.

[Larz Posted Jun 23rd 2009 6:38PM]

I could see Verizon tweaking Android to add propriety...

[Larz Posted Jun 23rd 2009 6:37PM]

That directional-stick would be a welcome addition. The trackball works great, but since you can't hold it in a direction, it's no good for games.