SholesTablet
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Motorola Motoroi getting Android 2.1, bound for UK?
There's no word yet on when the Motorola Motoroi will make it to T-Mobile (in the industry we call that "the T-Motoroiola rumor") but there has definitely been a good deal of chatter concerning this handset. The latest has Pocket-lint confirming a UK release with Moto itself. Offering similarities to Taipei's HSPA-lovin' XT701, users in Ol' Blighty (and the rest of the UK) can look forward to an 8-megapixel camera (with a Xenon flash), support for 720p video, mini HDMI, and an unspecified processor boost. In addition, Android 2.1 is likely to be part of the deal. We have neither a timeline nor a price, and the veracity of this rumor is yet to be established (although it does seem like a no-brainer), but if this all goes down as Pocket-lint says it will you can color us Yanks mighty jealous.
Editorial: What happened to the US-spec Motorola MOTOROI?
Motorola, in case you haven't noticed, hasn't done much in the way of high-spec gear since the announcement of the original Droid way back in October of last year -- and, well, that's a problem for a company that's in the midst of trying to kick-start a recovery to get its corporate split off on the right foot. The so-called Sholes Tablet -- alternatively known as the XT720 or the MOTOROI -- had seemed destined to become Moto's next volley thanks to comments by SK Telecom and Motorola execs at the phone's Korean launch, even going so far as to call out a March launch window, but March has come and gone and the phone is nowhere to be found. Heck, we even found FCC evidence that the phone would be hitching up with T-Mobile, but that was way back in January and we're on the cusp of Summer now. We understand that delays happen in this business -- in fact, delays always happen -- but these protracted, phased roll-outs around the globe are never good for a product's image since the last markets to get the product have been exposed to it (thanks in part to yours truly) for months. This would be a killer high-end device for T-Mobile USA, but it's got to launch immediately; the Nexus One's been out there since January, and we can pretty much guarantee that Google doesn't intend to back down with the superphone assault. We suppose it's possible that the Sholes Tablet will actually reemerge as the "Nexus Two" -- Sanjay Jha wants to offer a Nexus-branded phone, after all -- but however it comes out, it's got to happen right now. Trust us, Motorola -- you've got a golden opportunity to learn from Sony Ericsson's mistakes on this one.
Motorola MOTOROI almost certainly bound for T-Mobile (thanks, FCC!)
We needed to independently connect and verify a few dots before sounding the alarm here, but sure enough, it looks like Cell Phone Signal has unearthed the best smoking gun yet suggesting Motorola's MOTOROI -- the phone formerly known as the Sholes Tablet -- is destined for T-Mobile USA. The evidence comes in the form of an FCC filing, a Motorola device with ID IHDP56KC6, that's certified for quadband EDGE plus T-Mobile-friendly 1700 / 2100MHz HSPA humming at a peak of 10.2Mbps down and 5.6Mbps up (not too shabby) with Bluetooth, WiFi, GPS, and magnetic compass. By and large, Moto managed to paint over revealing portions of spectrum analyzer screen shots that contained the product's codename, but there are a couple they forgot to touch -- and sure enough, the part they didn't want you to see reads in part "SHOLES." So why are we so sure this is the keyboardless MOTOROI as opposed to an AWS-compliant form of the Droid / Milestone, which shared the Sholes name internally? The answer lies in the SAR report, which didn't test the phone's radiated power in both "slider up" and "slider down" configurations like we saw in the Droid's documentation -- there's just one set of figures here. That, of course, means no slider, which in turn means no QWERTY, which ultimately means MOTOROI. Now if you'll excuse us, we need to close fourteen sets of FCC filings, restart our computer, and grab a quick drink -- but in the meantime, T-Mobile folks, take comfort in knowing that your Moto rollercoaster doesn't start and end with the CLIQ. Don't suppose this would be a March release, would it?
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. [Thanks, yee]
Motorola Sholes Tablet detailed, sounds as tasty as we'd hoped
Knowing what we now know of the Droid -- codename Sholes -- the mere mental image of that "Sholes Tablet" that we've been hearing about for a while brings us to our geeky knees. Taiwanese forum Mobile01 seems to have details on just what the Sholes Tablet is all about, and while we'd normally be skeptical to the point of dismissal, the presence of a few believable-looking images has us on the bandwagon. The biggies on the rumored spec sheet include HDMI out, 720p video recording paired to an 8 megapixel cam (which is hopefully of much, much higher quality than the Droid's miserable 5) with xenon flash, and Motorola's own CrystalTalk tech for background noise reduction on calls. It'll apparently be running Android 2.0 -- the presence of BLUR is unknown -- and the screen is a predictably awesome 3.7 inches at WVGA resolution with multitouch support; missing, as the name suggests, is the original's sliding QWERTY keyboard. All signs point to use seeing this in the next few months, so enjoy those Droids and Milestones while you can, yeah?
Purported Motorola roadmap uncovers Sholes Tablet, Motus and other mythical mysteries
Okay folks, this is the moment where hauling a spoonful of NaCl down the chute would be highly recommended. DialAPhone seems to have unearthed what looks like a Q4 2009 - Q1 2010 Motorola roadmap, and while the finds are certainly intriguing, we're still hesitant to believe this thing is legit. For starters, this is obviously a European plan, so what we're viewing here may never make the tedious journey across the pond anyway. Secondly, how many of you honestly believe Moto's cooking up a Sholes Tablet? Exactly. That said, we'd be the first to drool should that device (or the Motus and / or Zeppelin) launch early next year, and you can bet your bottom dollar that we'll be scraping the floor for details when CES kicks off in just a few months. [Thanks, dejan]
