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Are these Motorola's 2007 iDEN handsets?
Chugging along in its own little world as the patron saint of push-to-talk, somewhat isolated from the ever-constant wars that plague the world's mega-standards GSM and CDMA, lies iDEN. Though Sprint's looking to deep-six iDEN in the long term here in the States with a fleet of hybrid devices, there are plenty of iDEN networks around the globe that require a steady supply of handsets -- handsets that don't necessarily have to go toe-to-toe with the hottest that GSM and CDMA have to offer, but, you know, they can't look like DynaTACs, either. On that note we present this grainy photo, apparently taken at a presentation for an Israeli iDEN carrier, that appears to detail two unreleased handsets. One of them (the one on the right, we're guessing) is said to be the successor to the high-end i880. For such a niche technology, we've gotta say we're pretty impressed at Motorola's investment into updated models here.[Thanks, Ishay P.]
Nextel launches i880 on the high end
Nextel users looking for just a little more luxury then your average... say, i615 provides, your phone has arrived. The long-foretold i880 has finally graced Sprint-Nextel's pages, looking every bit as nifty as the blurry, covert spy shots that preceded its official introduction had us believing. Notable features include a 2 megapixel camera (particularly notable for Nextel, of all carriers), an MP3 player with stereo speakers, dual color displays, and external music controls. Sadly though, the i880 doesn't adhere to military specifications, so don't even think about taking this burgundy-colored beauty into a war zone.[Thanks, Nino]
Motorola i880 crosses FCC borders
They wouldn't give us the much anticipated early peek at Motorola's i880 that we would have liked, but the FCC definitely did pass the phone through with a thumbs up. That, of course, indicates as always that the phone isn't long for the general market, even though by this point the original market that Sprint-Nextel envisaged a year ago that might be interested in a hybrid CDMA / iDEN device have probably moved on to a regular old CDMA (or -- gasp -- EV-DO) Sprint handset. Still, we know our place: they make 'em, we write about 'em.
Motorola i885 to join i880 on iDEN high end
If the i880 wasn't really doing anything for you when it surfaced in the wild, perhaps this here i885 will. Motorola's upcoming halo iDEN devices will see service on both Nextel and Boost, sporting pleather and faux snakeskin exteriors -- pick your poison -- and a trick button-operated flip mechanism. (If they're going to get creative with case designs on us, we can only hope they deep-sixed the standard Nextel "beep beep" while they were letting those creative juices flow.) Besides minor cosmetic differences, the phones' guts are presumably identical; both should be rocking 2-megapixel shooters, music players, and dual color displays. We're getting mixed reports on whether these are CDMA hybrids, but even if they aren't, the pair gives Nextel much-needed love in a market segment they aren't typically accustomed to servicing.[Via Mobile Magazine]
Shots emerge of upcoming i880 for Nextel
It's not every day that we get to do an old fashioned feel-good story about new iDEN hardware in the pipeline, so pardon us if we're relishing in the moment a bit. An intrepid Howard Forums member has posted shots of a claimed Motorola i880, a rather svelte (by iDEN standards) clamshell with dual color displays, camera, external music controls, and stereo speakers to enjoy your music in glorious low fidelity while maximally aggravating those around you. If this all checks out, the i880 would likely slot in as Nextel's top non-smartphone -- although that's not saying much -- and possibly Nextel's last purely iDEN hurrah before iDEN / CDMA hybrid handsets start to drop in the coming months.[Via phoneArena]
