Motorola i1 Coming to Sprint Next Week

Sprint has just announced that it is going to introduce the Motorola i1 on Sunday. This ruggedized smartphone is going to support for the Nextel Direct Connect service, making it the first Android OS-based model with Push To Talk (PTT).

The i1 is very business-oriented, and was developed to be a phone that users can safely take onto a job site. It meets military specifications for protection against dust, shock, vibration and blowing rain.

This smartphone has a tablet shape with a 3.1-inch HVGA touchscreen.

It runs Google's Android OS, and therefore is capable of getting e-mail from a wide range of business and consumer sources, including Microsoft Exchange.

This device has a proprietary user interface layered on top of Android, but this doesn't interfere with its ability to run the thousands of third-party apps in the Android Market.

Uses iDEN
This version of the i1 will use Sprint's iDEN network for voice and data, and also offer Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Users going to be able to browse the Web with the Opera Mini 5 browser over an iDEN or Wi-Fi connection, but the standard Android browser will work only over Wi-Fi. This is to compensate for iDEN's rather slow data transfer speed.

The i1 includes a 5 megapixel camera with support for both video and still images and a microSD memory card slot.

Pricing and Availability
The Motorola i1 is going debut from Sprint on June 25.

This business-oriented smartphone will sell for $150 with contract.