Motorola Sholes Android phone headed for Verizon?
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted July 30th 2009 11:32AM
posted July 30th 2009 11:32AM
On the lookout for the Motorola / Android / Verizon trifecta, we dug up some handset renders over at motofan.ru that seem to fit the bill quite well, thank you. According to the site, "Sholes" is a 3.7-inch (480 x 854) touchscreen device that will make its debut in the U.S. in October, featuring: 512MB storage, 256MB RAM, support for microSD / microSDHC up to 16 GB (an 8GB microSD ships with the phone), a 5 megapixel camera with autofocus, GPS, and the expected connectivity (USB, Bluetooth 2.0, WiFi), audio, and video formats. And if the translation wasn't hopelessly garbled, the source is also saying that this bad boy will support both CDMA and EVDO Rev A . No word on a price yet, but if this phone does make it to the realm of the real it'll be nice to see a Moto / Android device that doesn't look like it belongs in the hands of a tweenage girl (yeah, we said it, Morrison). See for yourself after the break.
Holy Sh!t !!!!!!!!!!
Totally awesome reminds me of ROKR ZN50
It really is awesome.
Who would have thought the first awesome looking Android phone would come from Motorola...
@Jonathan:
This phone is very nice with its design, keyboard, Android, camera, and memory being shipped with it but SE Xperia X3 was leaked first so I think thats the first polished Android phone. It will be very interesting to see if Motorola has done anything with the UI and what kind of processor this thing is packing.
So far the X3 and this phone are perfect; X3 with a better camera and larger screen but no keyboard, Moto with its keyboard. One of these two phones would meet anyones needs.
dude are u kidding me the keyboard is the same exact material as the q9c, which i own and say is absofuckinlutely terrible.
i like winmo but the motorola hardware is a major downfall. i will never buy another motorola product again.
@koraytanriverdi, "I disagree, it's a very good game, but i think Donkey Kong is the best game ever."
Well hopefully Verizon doesn't cripple the hardware like it did with the HTC Touch Pro...
@koray..
Yeah, I've seen SE's offering and it is very nice, but also very plain physically. This is the first handset that makes me stop and stare, something all of HTC's offerings have failed to do.
Looks tasty! Here's hoping they don't ruin it by slathering "weak sauce" all over it...and removing key ingredients like wifi.
Moto.....no thanks.
So close. Where's the flash?
this is such a welcome change in design from moto, i prayed for the design team to be fired for a long time, hope this was done with that happening though, cool looking phone, way to go
still have to wait n watch what it packs and can handle!
Verizon, no thanks. They'll find a way to ruin any phone that comes to them.
@Nicu
To be fair, typically Verizon's only problems were screwing with GPS software and WiFi, and they've promised to include WiFi on all future phones so i'm hopeful. This is _almost_ too good to be true, I guess I'll believe it when I see real photos.
@jon
I think the main verizon's problem is screwing with the UI and implementing that hideous red
@sean
they don't force their UI on smartphones.
@Monkey
That white bar next to the lens might be the flash.
Flash or no flash, I WANT THIS!!!!1!!1!
impressive. most impressive.
I liked it better when it was call the Aholes
as long as this thing is $400 unsubsidized, looks like I can finally ditch my Curve 8330
Well considering it's going to Verizon, I wouldn't hold your breath.
I would expect $199-$299 subsidized, at least at first. Which puts it at $400+ without.
welcome back moto!
its about time to make nice lookin phones again
finally a non win phone on verizone id take it if price not typical for verizone smarts
This Moto > iphone
agreed
VERY nice looking phone.
I'd consider it.... 4 sure
I can assure you, there will be no death of WinMo ANYTIME soon... If you think it will, then either you're stupid or trying to be funny.. Which isn't working.
You shouldn't trust the Russians.
Bryndzové halušky!
I'm not sure how I fell about this thing, it looks both super svelte and at the same time kinda ugly. Weirdest thing ever...
I'd consider it if the "GPS" worked without flashing the ROM or buying more Verizon services.
Most new Verizon Wireless smartphones are using Qualcomm's 7-series chipsets which support dual-mode GPS operation. In plain English, this means outdoor GPS operation should work unlocked with any app, though indoor will be limited to branded apps like VZNavigator (unless the app developer supports wifi-assisted location.)
Considering you can use BB maps/google maps on all blackberries without VZNav, and you can do the same with newer WINMO phones, I don't see why Android would be any different.
Verizon stopped locking down GPS with the Storm (on smartphones).
Actually my pearl was unlocked well before the storm was even released.
Looking good. Can it be converted to run WinMo?
Why... just why? If you want WinMo you'd probably be better off buying a WinMo phone.
Looks like not much effort was put into the design.
Why does everybody keep putting the d-pad on the right side of the phone? Really, I want to know.
I'm guessing they think most people are right-handed (unlike me) and would want to navigate with their right thumb... Not sure though.
Probably because 90% of the world is right handed. Sucks for lefties though, I feel sorry for you guys. But hey, at least you do better at bowling(the right side of bowling lanes lose a lot more of the oil than the left side because more people are right handed).
The hiptop has the d-pad on the left side...
I'm right handed, but spent 3/4 of my childhood with NES/Genesis/SNES gamepads in my hands. Using my left thumb to navigate seems only natural.
Why is the d-pad not on the front, you have to open it to use it, this is a fail for me.
Exactly!
Moto: put the dpad on the left where it belongs! How do you not see the physical relationship between landscape phone and a gamepad?????
N97 d-pad is on the left, and we know everyone at engadget loves that
This is like the LG ENVY 1 but smarter and even more brick like, Imagine that!!! A 400$ brick, used to shove up a vagina. Come LG, 3.7 inch? thats wayyy toooo big.
I wish the T-Mobile branded Motorola Morrison would look like this.
I know, right? Again it happens. Verizon or AT&T get the sleek sexy phone and T-Mobile gets a dumbed down version for 12 yr. olds. What's wrong with T-Mobile?! Just because it's the 4th largest carrier doesn't mean it can't have nice phones.
@Bo Vaughn: Well they did get the first android phone with specs better than the iPhone 3G(3GS has better specs but then it JUST came out)... things like these come in waves.
Well, like I said, "sleek and sexy"...was the G1 any of those things?