Android 2.1-equipped Motorola Sholes tablet spied in China as XT701?
No sooner do we get brief corner glimpses of the supposed Motorola Sholes tablet do we get tipped off to this writeup from Androidin.net which has a number of pictures of an eerily similar keyboard-less handset with a 3.7-inch screen, Android 2.1, FM radio, and interestingly enough, only a 5 megapixel camera -- last we heard it was going to be 8. Also debatable is a HDMI port, since the image that would show it is a tad too blurry. Otherwise, it seems to be about in line with what we expected, and it also seems destined for China Unicom as the XT701 (analogous to China Mobile's Motorola Android device). Now how about a few dashes of hope we'll see this stateside, eh Moto? Two more shots after the break.
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I'd buy that bitch.
@John Stathakis looks like they licensed sense UI from htc
HTC did say that some of sence is default Android, like the menu/call/widget bar
@John Stathakis
Makes me want to buy the xperia x10 more than the tablet... too bad it's not out yet... oh sorry, forgot to add... that bitch!
Tom, I'm standing in the bedroom of Judy and Glen Isaacs. Ten years married and still in love. What's their secret? Judy has an inoperable brain tumor the size of my fist. And that just happens to be Glen's fetish.
It's got a weird bump on the right edge.
Could this be a KIRF?
@manny83
yea, what's with the tumor on the side
@manny83 I think it's a cover for something, like the HDMI port.
@manny83 Oh wait, looked at the original picture. nvm
@manny83 I think it could be a KIRF. Is it common for prototypes to use a Chinese interface for some reason? Also, barring another explanation, that tumor looks like the sort of weird "improvement" a knock-off designer would think of.
@(Unverified) It's not a KIRF -- Motorola has just announced it officially in China in a pre-release VIP gathering.
So many phones have Chinese interface these days coz they are meant to be released in China market.... China mobile has the largest number of Android-powered phone offerings (Conned as the OPhone series) in the world as of now --- more than Verizon & Sprint combined...
@chaoscentral
Since no one else has done it, "It's not a tumor!"
@manny83
Yo Dawg, I heard you like phones with tumors so we took the tumor from the bottom of the T-mobile G1 and put it on the side of the Sholes Tablet.
@memaf
I LOL'd.
the chin got punched to the side!
Wow, motorola's on a roll. Not one but THREE excellent phones in the last year (CLIQ, Droid and Droid Tablet). HTC might need to watch their back.
@(Unverified) The Cliq is not an excellent phone. It's a POS! It looks, feels, and behaves much like a toy. MotoBlur is an abomination that needs to be put down like a bad dog.
@(Unverified) Well I'd just as soon have an HD2 equivalent running android instead of this.
All these conflicting reports on the Sholes Tablet really have my confused. We've got 3.8" and 3.7" screens. 854x480 and 800x480 resolutions. 8.0 and 5.0 megapixel cameras. HDMI out and no HDMI out. Andriod 2.1 and Andriod 2.0.
Personally, I'm withholding all guesses and judgement until Moto comes out and confirms it themselves. This shit is just confusing as hell...
@kenny goo yeah... It makes me wonder about the reality of this thing; too many conflicting reports often = vaporware. But I don't want to because it sounds awesome, and fits most of my dream specs
@kenny goo My guess is there are different phones for different markets or different phones for different carriers here in the U.S. I would bet against vaporware.
I definitely believe that a keyboard-less version of the Driod is coming in some fashion, but I really don't know what to think with all the confusion on the specs. KIRFs? Regional differences? Carrier differences? Completely different phones all together?
Regardless, it's not something I'd buy, since I'm into QWERTY keyboards, but I like to keep up with this stuff and see where the industry and the technology is headed none the less. I find it interesting.
Soooo....basically it's an all-touch droid?
I can dig it (I mean, I personally prefer a hardware keyboard, but this would give an option to those who don't)
@KeegdnaB Like me. All that wonderful engineering Moto did to make the thinnest slider on the market? Rip it out, slap the screen on the bottom half, and you've sold me.
Droid minus keyboard plus multitouch...
I would seriously get rid of the hump on the side. Why the hell are all these handset makers so hellbent on putting some time of deformity on all Android phones? It's annoying!!!!
@DRAZY
Probably because anything without a weird deformity will be referred to as an iPhone copy.
@DRAZY
I think I'm one of the few people who liked the chin on the original htc hero design :(
@Chavez Yeah, me too.
@DRAZY
Bcause it's called 'style'..and 'style' is good, unless you're the type that likes vanilla form factors..
That bezel is way too big.
The screen way too small.
Hate the bump on the side.
Chrome trim is out.
Touch buttons are a bitch to use.
Get your shit together Motorola.
This isn't going to cut it for the American market.
@joaqdelx
Wow, your criticisms on the phone were so insightful! Not.
Your personal opinion isn't the arbiter which determines the successfulness of a product in America's market.
Motorola HAS gotten "their shit" together... why do you think the Verizon DROID is selling like hotcakes to American consumers?
@joaqdelx
Exactly what I was thinking!
@fanboykiller You were actually thinking? Could've fooled me on that one.
The look reminds me of the original Instinct. when will a manufacturer create a non Gloss Ultra Sexy Fingerprint Unfriendly Capacitive Screen?
Hmm notice the touch buttons at the bottom are in a different order than on the Droid. They match up on this phone spotted by BGR http://bit.ly/7SWsj9
Also, the mystery phone in the link above has the 8 megapixel camera. So what are these two phones?!?!
@MedioGringo
The BGR phone is a shoop. It's a Samsung with Moto branding on it.
@aeth really http://lh3.ggpht.com/_-7H35l9cTUE/SxixaBeWiPI/AAAAAAAAABs/Laele9gBXEA/20091204_e3f74e59730d75a2ddd3ACvPyxlEljxH.jpg
@Atlantian
No. The Engadget one I believe to be real, it's http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2009/12/03/new-motorola-android-handset-spotted-photographed/ that I'm talking about
Personally, I hope Motorola keeps up with the more industrial look of the Droid over this. I really like the chiseled look of it because it differs itself from every other phone on the market. So instead of the Sholes Tablet lets go for the DROID Slate or something like that.
@djt I agree, im tired of the yawn inducing silver trim phones nowadays
Not to knock the original or the ones that do it good, i just want different
@djt Cause it means I'm rich bitch!
I wonder what they'll do with the space when the keyboard is gone. Hopefully a better camera (more MP != better camera).
@Jeff Kibuule
+1
(especially the last thing you said)
That bump on the side is absolutely hideous. I was okay with the chin...I have two devices with it, and it never gets in my way...that bump, though...why? There's no actual reason I can see to ever want that there, ergonomically or aesthetically.
At the same time, though, I see a KIRF/Photoshop here...it's made by Moto, so why the SenseUI style clock? I realize there's a widget in the Android Market that's supposed to give you that, but why display it here? Also, since I have reason to believe the phone spotted by BGR is 'shopped, the order of the capacitive buttons on the lower edge of the phone pop up some red flags for me. Just my $0.02 (apply exchange rates accordingly).
@LIve2Lin
Thanks, I thought I was the only one seeing that sense-widget. At best a KIRF (or ofcourse the tester that took these pics took those sense-clone widgets from the market).
@LIve2Lin
Just in case you missed it, Moto officially introduced the phone with China Mobile, so no KIRF here.
@(Unverified) I didn't see that, but thanks for informing me...I'm not going to lie, in a very short time, my opinion of the aesthetic has changed dramatically...I'm kind of starting to like how quirky it is...that and it looks like something The Ancients from Stargate would've used...what can I say? I'm a nerd.
why oh why the idiotic shape?
it's so simple.. yet you insist on making a mess of it
????????
When will they release a phone with 8mp camera