Mot Android phone touted for video features
Jan 18, 2010 — by Eric Brown — from the LinuxDevices Archive — 2 viewsMotorola is readying a video-oriented smartphone that runs Android 2.0 for SK Telecom's Korean network. The “Motoroi” offers a 3.7 inch WVGA touchscreen, eight-megapixel camera with 720p video recording, a T-DMB (terrestrial digital multimedia broadcasting) receiver, WiFi, and an HDMI port, says the company.
The Motoroi is the first Android 2.0 ready phone for the Korean market, says Motorola. The company's fourth Android phone after the Cliq, Droid, and Backflip, the device stands out because of its camera and video features. The latter include support for the Terrestrial DMB (T-DMB) mobile TV standard, which is well established in South Korea. Users can watch 24 T-DMB video and audio channels for free on the network of SK Telecom, the nation's largest carrier, says Motorola.
Motorola Motoroi
(Click to enlarge)
The eight-megapixel camera is capable of 720p HD video capture, said to be a first for the Korean market. Camera features include a Xenon flash, as well as panorama, face detection, and multi-shot (six shots in a row), says the company. Additional imaging features are said to include face filter, red eye reduction, and camera shake prevention. An HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) port enables playback of video on an attached HDTV.
Measuring 4.6 x 2.4 x 0.4 inches (115.95 x 60.9 x 10.9mm), the Motoroi weighs 4.9 ounces (140 grams), says Motorola. The phone offers an MP3 player and a 3.5mm ear jack, and options include a docking station that appears to support inductive charging.
Motoroi
(Click on either to enlarge)
Additional software-related features touted by Motorola for the Motoroi include:
- Pinch-and-zoom browsing
- Cinematic navigation through music, videos, and maps
- Adjustable smart widgets including calendar, memo pad, contacts, and email
- Five text-input methods, including a 3×4 keypad, full QWERTY, half QWERTY, hand-writing, and writing pad
- Screen lock with proximity sensor (locks when phone approaches face)
- Google Maps, Gmail, YouTube, and Google Talk
- Synchronize and manage multiple email accounts simultaneously
- Gmail contacts sync
- Microsoft and PDF document viewer
- Optical character recognition for business card scanning and recognition
SK Telecom makes major Android push
According to a story last week in the Korea Times, SK Telecom will launch 15 smartphones this year, with as many as 13 of those running Android. At a press conference held in Seoul on Thursday, Ha Sung-min, president of SK Telecom's mobile network operator unit, was quoted as saying, "SK Telecom will sell over 2 million smartphones in the local market by the end of this year by focusing on models based on Google's Android operating system."
The Android push was seen as necessary to combat rival Korean carrier KT's success with Apple's iPhone, which has begun to erode SK Telecom's dominance, says the story. The company is also said to be constructing its own WiFi network in Korea to counteract KT's fast-growing Nespot service.
Also last week, Korean handset giant LG announced it will offer more Android phones this year, according to a story in our sister publication, eWEEK. The company plans to sell 140 million handset units overall in 2010, representing a 20 percent year-over-year increase from 2009, says the Michelle Maisto story. 
At CES earlier this month, LG demonstrated a "GT540" Android phone, also referred to as the "Swift" (pictured, right). Last year, it introduced its first Android phone, the Eve GW620, on the Rogers Wireless network in Canada.
Although Android will see the most growth in terms of LG handsets, the company will continue to offer Windows Mobile phones, which have previously dominated its mobile phone line, and will also introduce more Linux models, according to the story.
At CES, the company pre-announced a LG GW990 phone, which will run Moblin Linux on an Intel Moorestown processor. In addition, we're still waiting for LG's LiMo (Linux Mobile) phone, which was promised last year. In November, the LiMo Foundation announced that SK Telecom would deploy a Samsung-made "SCH-M510" phone that complies with the LiMo specification.
Stated Ha Sung-min, MNO president of SK Telecom, "Motorola's smart phones powered by Android are receiving tremendous response around the world, and it is our pleasure to introduce one of them for the first time in Korea. Motoroi by Motorola will bring a paradigm shift in the domestic mobile market with outstanding Internet, multimedia features and access to the fast-growing Android Market."
Motorola "Ruth" tipped
According to CellPhoneSignal, Motorola is preparing a low-end Android phone called the "Ruth" (or "MB511") that features the company's MotoBlur UI layer. The Ruth features a Qualcomm MSM7200A processor clocked to 528MHz, and offers WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR, and aGPS, says the site.
CellPhoneSignal estimates the phone's "small" display to run to only QVGA (320 x 240) resolution. The GSM phone supports 3G HSDPA/HSUPA bands, and therefore is likely to show up on T-Mobile or AT&T, suggests the site, which did not mention an estimated ship date. Last week, it was rumored that Motorola's Backflip phone was heading for AT&T in March.
Availability
The Motoroi by Motorola will be available at SK Telecom retailers throughout Korea beginning in early February, says the company. More information may be found at Motorola's Korean-language web-site, here.
The Korea Times story on SK Telecom's Android plans should be here. The eWEEK story on LG's Android plans should be here. The CellPhoneSignal story on the Ruth phone may be found here.
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