Photos and preliminary specifications for an “A1210” Linux phone that appears to be an updated version of the popular Motorola Ming have appeared on Chinese technology sites. The GSM/EDGE-ready A1210 (pictured) offers a larger 2.8-inch screen, and an improved 3.1 megapixel camera, industry reports say.

It appears that the A1210 first showed up earlier this month on Chinese tech sites, such as PCOnline. This week, several sites, including HotCellularPhone, have posted reports, although as usual, Motorola has no official announcement on its site.

The original A1200 Ming (Click for details)

According to HotCellularPhone, the A1210 is likely an upgraded version of the A1200 Ming (pictured at right), which was released in 2006. The Ming was a huge hit in Asia, and perhaps the best-selling Linux-based phone of all time. A China-targeted Ming A1600 model with a 2.4-inch clamshell phone was released last summer, but it has a wider design (see below). The Motorola A1210 looks (and is named) closer to the original Ming, offering a similar touchscreen and clamshell flip-phone design.

Ming A1600 (Click for details)

The A1210 expands the 2.4-inch screen to 2.8 inches, with slightly higher 240×400 resolution, and offers a more powerful Texas Instruments (TI) OMAP850 processor, says HotCellularPhone. Memory has been boosted to 64MB, and the phone offers MicroSD, Bluetooth, USB, and FM radio, says the story. The tri-band (GSM 900/1800/1900) phone is said to weigh 4.4 ounces (125 grams). The PCOnline page also mentions an MP3 player, as well as features including a clock, calendar, games, calculator, and text messaging support.

The A1210 appears to run the usual in-house MotoMAGX Linux stack, which Motorola is on the way to mothballing in favor of Android-based phones. The first Android model is due to ship in the fourth quarter, says Motorola.

Availability

Motorola has posted no information on the pricing, availability, or even the existence of the A1210. The early PCOnline posting may be found on this translated page. The HotCellularPhone story may be found here.

 
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