Even through the lean years, Moto's been making waves in China where it enjoys comparably high popularity -- it was one of the first major manufacturers to throw its support behind the nation's homegrown TD-SCDMA 3G tech, after all, and it's had a tendency to get the company's sexier WinMo smartphones like the
SURF. On that note, it doesn't come as much of a surprise to see that they've now announced not one, not two, but
three fairly attractive, high-end Android handsets specifically for duty in the Far East, one for each of China's big three carriers (each of which employs a different 3G technology, per the gub'mint's orders). Starting on the left, the XT701 is the phone that we'd believed to be the
Sholes Tablet -- and considering that it uses HSPA for China Unicom's airwaves, we still have no reason to believe it couldn't make the leap across the Pacific. The MT710 (pictured center) is an OPhone for China Mobile and stands the least chance of making an unfettered jump to another continent since it uses a completely customized UI along with a positively China-only TD-SCDMA radio. Finally, the XT800 on the right looks like a Dell
Mini 3i done right to us, rocking dual-mode GSM and EV-DO for China Telecom's rather heterogeneous network. We've got to hand it to Moto here: by all appearances, these 3.7-inch WVGA, 5 megapixel beasts could get Android fans drooling pretty much anywhere in the world, so let's get 'em over to Europe and America on the double, eh?
[Thanks, Vitala]
posted December 19th 2009 4:31PM
Even China has 2.x before the States do?! I don't like this.. I don't like this at all..
@LeiTxo Umm... im pretty sure we had it first with the droid
@LeiTxo xenophobic?
@LeiTxo
Why'd they stick that ugly Motorola logo on the front of these phones? I guess so the Chinese citizens know right away not to buy them.
@Average White Boy did you reply to this comment so you could have your ridiculous theory proclaimed to the rest of us? YES, just in case you weren't sure, they put that logo on so that they WON'T get business, you know, like every other company wants
I like the XT800. It looks well rounded, like an egg. =]
XT701 looks like a mini file folder...
@(Unverified) And the MT710 looks like a checkbook.
@(Unverified)
first one looks kind of like a Droid + file folder form factor
second one looks like an iPhone form factor cept for the left edge
third one looks like a Instinct HD form factor (which kind of stole it from the Pre)
@(Unverified) Yes, they are, on their entry level smartphones. MotoBLUR is designed for teens and young adults who have their first smartphone to keep them connected with their friends. It’s designed for the more low end devices. POV factor: http://bit.ly/motorola-xt710-rest-of-the-gang
They all seem to be missing the menu button. Going to be hard to get much use out of those phones without access to the menus :P
@schammy they all have menu buttons, the droid style button on the left and the 4 square button on the other two
@schammy What do you mean? Aren't the buttons on the far left the menu buttons? Or maybe I'm mistaken lol.
@schammy the two on the right don't have dedicated search buttons, but their menu buttons are the same as on the Cliq (the square ones on the left), so I'm thinking they'll possibly have Motoblur?
Sorry, didn't know the four squares was a menu button. I've never seen that before. Move along :)
As an aside, I think the droid-style menu button is much more intuitive. I don't see how four squares represents a menu? I mean obviously once you know what it is, it's fine, but to me it doesn't represent a menu nearly as well.
@schammy
My personal preference for an intuitive menu button is the one on my HTC Hero, it's a button with the word 'menu' on it.
@schammy
I'm fine with them doing away with the quick search button. I think the only time I press it is on accident.
I thought the cameras in the cliq and droid stunk. what proof do we have these will be better? as most people know, 5 megs doesnt mean it will be good.
The MT710 should be listed as made for China Mobile, which uses TD-SCDMA, not for China Unicom, which uses WCDMA.
@Alex Warofka Yep, my bad - fixed!
I knew that sexy side chin would come to some good use.
I'm impressed by Motorolla.
that M looks so out of place on the phones... They should just use the italicized Motorola text logo instead.
Moto is really liking this 3.7 WVGA screen and 5 MP camera combo. At least I don't have to worry about phones coming out with prettier screens than my Droid or taking better photos.
It looks like the only thing these have on the Droid is a faster processor. providing the translations are correct. Otherwise, they're just Droids in sheeps' clothing. Which is nothing to sneeze at..
whats the customized UI? DId motorola come out with a new one?
@malibumac
I believe that is MotoBlur. I could be wrong though.
Not enough could have been said about the XT701 (Sholes Tablet / file folder) shipping with Xenon Flash!!! Finally... something to replace the way over-aged N82.
@dextroz i've got 6220c replaced it long time ago.
I'm sorry...
..but Motorola Android phones are soo sexy, I don't care would anyone says, these phones are beast.
More info/pics on the XT701. http://www.androidcentral.com/more-renders-moto-sholes-tablet
@Patlex Ooo, the XT701 has an 8 megapixel camera in these shots, which would be awesome!
@andthemaniam
there are both versions of sholes tablet - xt701 with 5mp camera for chinese and sholes tablet with 8mp camera for US and Europe. our version has 720p video capture and hdmi tv-out and runs android 2.1 Flan.
@Vitala i don't get how everyone seems to know that there's two versions, since we've only really seen this one, but here's to hoping i can finally replace my zine zn5!
as for everyone who hates that "hip" thing (and the ridge on the back), i really don't think it's such a big deal. it's certainly not going to make a huge deal ergonomically, and hey if it winds up with a cool final name, with any luck people asking me what kind of phone i have might actually start remembering it the way they remember "iphone" or "blackberry." that would be a start, getting some name recognition out there for a sweet phone..
@impasse each has its own sources of information. and yes, it would be really great replacement zn5
What's the point of the left edge of the one in the middle?
@iFargle It looks pretty snazzy.
soon Android wil be fave OS of KIRFs. Not bad indeed.
Except so far many of these KIRF devices are using a KIRF Android OS. I even seen some say made with Goocle, or Coogle on the back in the Google colors.
Would be sold unlocked and then be used in the states?
i wish to see them in america
Motorola will present this 3 phones in january 2010 at MOTODEV Summit Beijing 2010.
it's funny how people drool over the same phone a thosand times over.
Android Rush,
I like android phones these phones look good too
Spec in BGR says this phone has a Cortex A8 QUAD-CORE processor ---- would this beast be much faster than the single-core one in Droid?!
Is this even real coz I've near heard of any quad-core thingy for cortex?
youtube video showing the XT800
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FzWd7x15-c
http://nexus404.com/Blog/2009/12/19/motorola-xt701-xt800-specs-features-revealed-new-china-bound-motorola-android-phones-details-available/
The Motorola XT800 is also known as the Zeppelin and it’s supposed to be a dual CDMA-EVDO/GSM phone coming from China Telecom:
* Android 2.0 with full suite of Google applications
* CDMA EVDO / GSM dual-network
* 3G network support, WIFI / WAPI free switching
* 3.7-inch high-definition resolution of 854×480
* HDMI high-definition (720p) output
* 5 million pixel digital camera, auto focus, dual LED flash
* Cortex TM – A8 multi-core processor
* MOTO-specific Nicam -professional intelligent noise reduction
* GPS
* 32GB Micro-SD
* Electronic Compass & Support for gravity sensing
* Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR
* FM Stereo FM radio
* Standard 3.5 mm headphone jack
...i'll ignore XT701's "quad core" listing just above this 1 on that same link.Quad core+current gen li-ion batt tech=NOT GOOD assuming if it's real.Unless of course if ARM has been hiding a true gem we don't know about.