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Motorola RAZR coming to Amp'd?
With all the CDMA RAZR love that seems to be going around these days, why not spread some over to the MVNO folks, too? That seems to be the thinking with Amp'd, anyway -- never mind the fact that the darned thing's K1m successor is out and about -- as an Amazon slideshow page for a T-Mobile branded V3 variant seems to reveal. Everything seems perfectly kosher right up until the second-to-last photograph, which curiously reveals "Amp'd Mobile" emblazoned across the back. Now, last time we checked, Amp'd was a CDMA MVNO and doesn't do much business with those crazy GSM T-Mobile types, so we're guessing some absentminded Amazon employee just put up the wrong pic. To be fair, the V3, V3i, V3c, and V3m are all barely distinguishable even to a trained eye -- but shouldn't the giant carrier logo silkscreened onto the phone be some sort of clue?[Thanks, Will]
Sprint to announce red BONORAZR on Friday?
It's no secret that Sprint will be going all Moto on us in the next few weeks, but we didn't realize how soon -- or how red -- their initial offering would be. Sources are telling us that Sprint will be announcing a red RAZR (the V3m, we're guessing, like the mockup above) to benefit AIDS charities, presumably in cooperation with Bono's Red organization, much like the red SLVR before it. Normally, we'd lash out at Sprint for being so late to the RAZR game with this one, but since it's for a good cause, we're going to bite our tongues just this once.
Motorola sells 50 millionth RAZR
It's hard for any phone to out-do the legendary StarTac, but Motorola's posterchild -- you know which one we're talking about -- has officially sold 50 million units. Since the Hong Kong debut way back in 2004, the RAZR has dominated the mobile scene, and with a figure like that, you have to give props to the ingenious engineering, er, marketing team behind it. The handset really hasn't changed much over the years, and its lamentable success is due in large part to buyers' infatuation with colors; the ability jump-start sales by varying the paint job gave Motorola a bonafide cash cow, enabling everyone and their mother (literally) to jump on the ultimate mobile bandwagon. And with the possibility of more colors on the horizon, the question beckons: when will the madness end? While the 50 million unit milestone is commendable, we're not shy about spending our time looking towards the future. [Via Mobiledia]
Motorola V3m available on Verizon
This release may not have us salivating uncontrollably like the Q did, but for what it's worth, the V3m is a marginal upgrade to the outgoing V3c it replaces, giving you a MicroSD slot to rock the new inbuilt music player -- and not much else. Step right up, folks; the V3m is available now for $149.99 with contract -- but as we've learned, availability and price could vary nonsensically in your area.
Getting to know the RAZR V3m
As the RAZR name splinters into a seemingly endless array of variants, how can the average user be expected to know the difference between a V3i, a V3c, and a V3x? More importantly, how are we to know whether that shiny new clamshell goodness is worth divorcing ourselves of several hundred dollars? As usual, we've got you covered. This time, we have Mobiledia taking an up-close-and-personal look at the V3m, the successor to the CDMA V3c. The V3m is basically a V3c that's been taking its vitamins -- the only major additions are the MicroSD slot and music playback. Externally, the phones are identical, so V3c users fishing for compliments on their hot new upgrade best look elsewhere. Mobledia faults Motorola for carrying over the same 65,000-color displays from the V3c, but left us with a generally positive impression of the phone, crediting it for addressing the major complaints leveled against its predecessor. If that's enough to get you excited, the V3m is expected shortly on Verizon for $150 with contract.
Motorola V3m RAZR musicphone to be available for Verizon
Last time we checked in on Motorola's V3m -- a slight music-centric update to the EV-DO V3c -- we weren't quite sure if this was going to Verizon or Sprint, but it looks like Verizon won out in the end, and are apparently going to be offering the handset for $150 with a 2-year contract. The phone features a MicroSD slot for music and video storage, and a 1.3 megapixel camera, but there doesn't seem to be a lot else new going on here. Music wise, the phone is designed to work with Verizon's V CAST music and video services, but we're not sure of codec support beyond those downloads (though MP3 seems a given and PlaysForSure is likely).[Thanks, Ryan]
Verizon enables RAZR V3c pic transfers over USB and Bluetooth
In what seems like a complete 180 for a company fond of disabling dial-up networking and simultaneous WiFi and voice usage on their handsets, Verizon has apparently enabled the OBEX Bluetooth profile in the recently-released 0.1.15.04 RAZR V3c firmware update. As RAZR owners are well aware, the previous two firmware updates had disabled and then completely removed OBEX, which gives customers a free way to transfer their files to a PC, most importantly their pictures. The new firmware not only enables OBEX, say HowardForums users, but actually allows pic transfers over a wired USB connection as well using the Motorola Phone Tools software. Having seen Verizon has take such a shocking step following their change of heart on DUN, we're expecting reports anytime of Apple opening up the iPod, Sony dumping the MemoryStick, and the HD-DVD and Blu-ray camps coming to a super-last-minute compromise.
