Motorola Q Coming Sooner Than Expected

When the Motorola Q was unveiled this summer, its maker said this Windows Mobile smartphone was expected to debut during the first quarter of next year.

Motorola CEO Ed Zander, however, said recently that this hotly-anticipated device will likely debut in time to catch the end of the holiday shopping season, according to CNET News.com.

Zander didn't say this, but his company might be pushing up the release of this smartphone so it will hit stores before the Windows Mobile Treo, which is currently scheduled to debut in early 2006.

Both devices have somewhat similar form-factors and are aimed at the same general target audience.

No wireless carriers have officially announced that they will offer the Motorola Q, but Cingular is expected to release a GSM/GPRS/EDGE version, while Verizon and Sprint should carry a CDMA/EV-DO one.

More About the Motorola Q

Its maker claims that the Motorola Q will be "the world's thinnest, lightest QWERTY phone".

It will have a tablet design, with a 320-by-240-pixel screen above a backlit keyboard.

This will be one of the first devices to run Windows Mobile 5.0 for Smartphone, and therefore will support the push email system Microsoft will release later this year.

The Motorola Q won't just be about email, though. It will be able to play music in a variety of formats and it will sport dual speakers.

In a slightly unusual move, it will have a 320-by-240-pixel (QVGA) that is in landscape mode by default.

A miniSD slot will offer additional Storage for music, as well as other types of files.

It will include a 1.3 megapixel camera and Bluetooth short-range wireless networking.

Motorola hasn't given all the specifications on this device, but, according to a leaked description of this model, it will have 64 MB of RAM and 128 MB of Flash ROM.

Thanks to Rich P for the tip.