Motorola Sage pictured in glorious detail, on a collision course with AT&T
By Vlad Savov 
posted August 4th 2010 8:24AM
posted August 4th 2010 8:24AM
[Thanks, Charlie W.]
posted August 4th 2010 8:24AM
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hmm kinda looks like a touchpad. I wonder if it will have a cursor/
@Duckman Yeah, what's with that gigantic touchpad eating up space under the TOUCHscreen? Trackballs and optical mice are both much better than this, if you even need them.
@firethorn
kinda difficult to justify something like that unless they are implementing something to make it worthwhile.
@Duckman
A touchscreen, a trackpad and directional keys? WTF??
Stupid move and a waste of potential screen real estate.
@Plazmic Flame
now all we need is one of those blackberry style scroll wheels and we will be set for anyone!
@Duckman This is a very ugly phone
@Duckman I'll hit it
Motorola Sage: "It just doesn't get any uglier than this."
That's quite a touchpad it's got there.
So Motorola comes back from the brink and is distributing QWERTY sliders, and HTC is not... very strange.
Vlad I would listen to the latest mobile podcast stock android does not necessary mean rapid upgrade cycles.
Also what the hell is that a trackpad? Why would you add something so useless who do they think they are Apple?
@fais but he is much smarter than any other company in the world that decided that have their own mobile OS (nokia, apple, samsung).
who those ceos at those companies think they are? not listening to a the opinion of a blogger... pfff.. ;)
there is nothing wrong with that
Name could be better....
lolsage.
appearance should be better...
@xNamelessNoko
lol
It almost looks like an HTC lol.
Yech.
Moto failed with using all of the potential real estate for a screen.
That would be one nice phone if it had up to date specs, ala droid incredible, droid X, and bigger screen minus that hideous looking track pad at the bottom. There needs to be some good high end qwerty android devices.
Why do all Motorola Phones have great keyboards EXCEPT for the Moto Droid phones?
@216 Because the DROID is 13.7 mm thick, pretty impressive for a full qwerty device. Sacrifices must be made.
Wait... no LED flash? Not even a tiny one?
Damn even MOTOKARMA had a light that would rip your eyes out, but it could handle dark shots in close quarters... Good for the overall case design, 'cept for that track pad (should've been hidden)
@Boolean22
In the picture gallery, pic 3 of 9 seems like you can see a flash there beside the lens...
@Plazmic Flame
That is a mirror reflecting the flash of the camera taking the shot. One can tell it's not a flash because when the back cover is taken off, all one sees is the camera lens, and no flash.
@fais
I've never understood why people (including many Engadget reviews) insist that trackballs or optical trackpads are useless, like on the Hero. It allows for excellent one-hand usage by allowing you to easily navigate across the screen without having to try extending your thumb across it. Try doing that with something like the EVO or Droid X and you'll find you often need to use your other hand.
Also, when viewing web pages where the text may be smaller and the links within are numerous - there's a lot to be said about being able to scroll or roll over to and select the exact link you want without having to pinch-out zoom first just to make sure your finger doesn't hit the wrong one.
So a trackpad is not necessarily useless... but I will agree that having something as large as it is on the Sage is a bit much.
@whySoSerious
I completely agree concerning trackballs/trackpads. They are ridiculously handy and I do not understand why more phones don't come with them.
Even on my X's 4.3" screen, placing the cursor EXACTLY where I want it is nearly impossible - if I am editing text I tend to overshoot the spot, then have to use the Delete key to get to the mistake that I really want, and then retype... how is that efficient? With the trackball on my old Blackberry, I could maneuver to exactly where I wanted the cursor.
Similar deal with teeny tiny links on a webpage. Try clicking on a + or - on Engadget's site without zooming way the heck in.
I am still glad I got my X, but I was close to getting an Incredible simply because of it's trackball.
@whySoSerious
I can definitely see touchpads/trackballs being very useful on some of the newer 4.3" android phones coming out that may be hard to use 1-handed.
So this is what happens when an HTC Aria mates with a Moto Droid? Small screen with crappy keyboard and probably gimped with crappy hardware and AT&Ts crappy software.
There's all kinds of wrong with this.
OMFG WTF IS THAT? that is such ugly as phone. Why motorola would make such an ugly phone for AT&T and then they do the Droid for verizon? Droid is sexy but this phone is ugly as fuckk
@Flacofromny23
I hear ya.... either Motorola doesn't give a flying **** about GSM carriers or AT&T is trying to sabotage Android, take your pick.
@Plazmic Flame
AT&T probably just doesn't really care about Android. They don't feel the need to make good deals to bring the better phones to them so they get the leftover garbage. If Samsung hadn't made it a goal to get their Galaxy S on every major carrier, AT&T wouldn't have a good Android phone and even that one is broken to the point where I won't buy it.
AT&T + Android = Sad Face
@Frogboy AT&T = Sadface.
I'll pass on this.
This really doesn't matter, next week there will be 5 new ones out.
This looks to be aiming toward teens as it has a quick messaging device look to it. With AT&T's $15 data plan available it's easier to get this age group into their first Smartphone. I don't think it's geared to be cool for the Engadget crowd and I think it'll do ok as a Backflip replacement.
This device is ugly and chubby just like the blur device before it... And what's with the touch/trackpad?
front facing camera? or am i just mistaking a proximity sensor
Proximity@bbkid1015
Annnd, they lost me w/that big ass touch pad. I wonder if HTC or Moto will bring over GSM versions of some of the really popular Android phones, (Evo, Incredible, Droid(2), DroidX) like HTC did w/the Nexus One. I think that would would be a good look, plus the phones would be a bit thinner because GSM Radios aren't as big as CDMA ones.
WOW, it comes with Motoblur 2 AND looks fugly!? I must have this thing.
This looks like the phone for me: Physical Keyboard and Android... Please be cheap, I'd love to snatch one off eBay and use it on Rogers!
The keyboard looks pretty usable - it looks like they're raised a little in the middle of each key, which I generally find suits my typing tastes. I had trouble getting a good rhythm going on the Motorola Milestone when testing it out in-store, but had little trouble when using a HTC Touch Pro 2, and this keyboard seems a little more like the latter. Still, there seem to be a few niggles - the 'return' key looks a little small for my tastes, and there's also a lack of a 'voice entry' key, which is a little annoying as I've found it to be one of Android's most useful features whenever I've played around with Android handsets (am currently an iPhone 3G user). Still, it'd be silly of me to pass judgement one way or another before getting a chance to use it in the flesh.
After using my iPhone for 18 months, I'm starting to consider whether a physical keyboard would be something I'd like to have on my next phone - am currently liking the look of the Droid 2, but am wary about switching to Android before the launch of Windows Phone 7, as I like the look of that too, particularly that 4" Dell portrait slider (the Lightning?). Oh well, things are getting really interesting in the mobile space these days - decisions, decisions...
It's so sad that a perfectly good texting phone must go to the fires AT&T it's so terrible almost as bad as the iPhone being GSM AND AT&T!!!!! GSM is broken anyway so bad for GSM! :P
Looks like nice phone...wait, it's going to AT&T? Nevermind.
So does Motorola have a deal with Verizon to provide them with high end phones and to shaft AT&T with crappy phones like this and the even more stupid Backflip. I mean who puts a touch pad on a phone with a touch screen? Just give me a bigger screen! AT&T has one decent Android phone and it has no keyboard. I would have rather seen them get the Galaxy S Pro, like the Epic that Sprint is getting. Is it too much to ask for a phone with a 4", or bigger, screen AND a physical keyboard?
Ok, rant over.
Looks horrible
My buddy has the backflip, poor guy, but this is definitely a rip on the backflip. Exact same keyboard and touchpad! I think the only thing the backflip had going for it was the hidden touchpad, which is amazing, and the unique form factor. But this? Cmon moto!
I wouldn't mind this phone in a non-slider version...
The Android keyboard is so good, with it's word-guessing and auto-completing, and figuring out what you meant to type even though you hit all the adjacent letters and barely any of the letters you were aiming for...
...so much so I never use my slide-out keyboard.
I'd much rather trade some improved pocketability/thinness than having a keyboard, and the trackpad is interesting.
@geolemon
My biggest complaint is the lack of proper spell checking. On phones with physical keyboards or ones with larger screens where you can actually hit the right keys auto complete just slows me down.
That is one ugly phone. Makes the backflip look nice.
The touchpad ruins the whole phone!