(Click for larger view of the MotoMing PDA A1600)
Ming a1200
(Click for details)
The new Ming phones succeed Motorola's highly popular Ming a1200 (pictured at right), which sold a million units in Q2 2006 alone, according to a Canalys study. Although officially distributed only in Asian markets, unlocked a1200s have been a staple on eBay with U.S. buyers for years, due to their richer smartphone feature package than Mot offers in its Linux phones for the U.S. market.
The new MotoMing a1600 and a1800 both support GSM/GPRS phone service (850/900/1800/1900MHz), with EDGE class 10/12 and GPRS class 10. There is no 3G support, however, nor is there built-in WiFi. The a1800 adds two extra SIM slots that offer dual-mode functionality for flipping between GSM and CDMA networks. As with the Ming a1200, the two phones are targeted primarily at China, but are also said to be aimed at South East Asia, India, and EMEA.
The a1600/a1800 clamshell design measures 3.8 x 2.0 x 0.7 inches and weighs a little over four ounces, according to Motorola. The 2.4-inch display offers 240 x 320 resolution, with 262K colors, and includes handwriting optical character recognition (OCR), along with a business card reader. The 3-megapixel camera includes an 8x digital zoom mode.
To support the AGPS/GPS component, Motorola includes a "turn by turn navigation application," as well as one or two city maps that can be loaded from a CD via a computer and the phone's built-in micro-USB port. The Java ME-based phones are said to be compliant with CLDC (connected limited device configuration) and MIDP (mobile information device profile).
Features for the MotoMing a1600 and a1800 are listed as follows:Display -- 2.4-inch TFT; 262K colors; 240 x 240 normal resolution; 240 x 320 full-screen
Multimedia -- video capture at about 15fps; playback of MPEG4/H.263 at 39fps; video streaming/program download
Web browser -- Opera browser, supporting SMS, MMS, and EMS/WAP 2.0
MicroSD -- 1 x slot, up to 4GB storage
USB -- 1 x micro-USB connector
Bluetooth -- Class 2; supports A2DP profile
GPS -- AGPS/GPS with mapping app
Camera -- 3-megapixels with 8x zoom; CMOS AF with macro capacity; LED flash
OCR -- handwriting recognition and onboard camera scans; business card
reader
Other features -- FM radio; talking dictionary; MotoSync for contacts/calendar; alarm clock, calculator, Java ME games
Dimensions -- 3.8 x 2.0 x 0.7 inches (95.5 x 52.3 x 17.5mm); 82 cc
Weight -- 4.2 oz. (120g)
Software -- Java ME; CLDC 1.1 and MIDP 2.0 compliant
Operating system -- Linux
MotoMing PDA a810 (Source: Federal Communications Commission)
(Click to enlarge)
The a810 -- the candy-bar MotoMing
Motorola has not yet shared any details about the a810. However, some information is available on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) site.
MotoMing PDA a810 internal view (Source: Federal Communications Commission)
(Click to enlarge)
According to a photo on the FCC site (shown above), the A810 features a TI OMAP processor, possibly the OMAP850 model. Unlike its clamshell siblings, the a810 offers a standard candy-bar design, and it is equipped with a less-powerful 2-megapixel camera, suggesting that this is the low-end MotoMing.
A preliminary user manual and other documents on the FCC test site indicates that the a810 offers features that are similar to the a1600/a1800. These include a GSM/GPRS phone service (900/1800/1900MHz), Bluetooth, microSD slot, micro-USB port, and handwriting recognition. It also appears to offer a five-point navigation joystick, headset jack, handsfree speaker, web browser, MP3 music player, and FM radio.
MotoMing PDA a810 detail drawing
(Source: Federal Communications Commission. Click to enlarge)
Availability
The MotoMing PDA a810, MotoMing PDA a1600, and MotoMing PDA a1800 are shipping now in China at an undisclosed price, says Motorola. More information on the a1600 and a1800 may be found here.
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