Motorola Debuts New Low, High End Phones

By Ed Oswald | Published February 12, 2007, 11:30 AM

Motorola introduced several new phones on Monday at the 3GSM Conference in Barcelona, including a new line aimed at emerging markets, and a slider that opens in a curve to match the contour of the user's face.

The Motomobile line, to debut over the first half of this year, will include functionality such as a megapixel camera with video capabilities, music player functionality, and CrystalTalk, a technology aimed at assisting the user in placing calls in noisy environments.

Altogether, three handsets have been launched under the Motomobile brand at the show. They include the entry-level W205, with a color screen an 1MB user storage; the W215, a candy-bar style handset with FM radio and camera functionality; and the W510, which adds a music player, EDGE functionality, and CrystalTalk.

The W510’s design is also inspired by the popular KRZR model, which has been a successful phone for Motorola in established markets where it has sold.

"Motorola is focused on delivering must-have design and must-do experiences across all technologies and price tiers." said Ron Garriques, president of Motorola Mobile Devices. "Our latest family of Motomobile handsets increases choice to suit every individual and provides an even greater first experience for the next billion handset users."

Also, Motorola on Monday demoed at 3GSM a new HSDPA-ready handset called the RIZR that would feature full-speed video playback and would feature special entertainment functionality through British satellite provider BSkyB. Users would gain access to on-demand multimedia news, entertainment, and sports content, as well as live television.

The RIZR will be available in April, although pricing was not yet announced.