Motorola Q Hits the Market

After lengthy delays the “Moto Q” has hit the market and is available on the web from Verizon Wireless and only Verizon Wireless. Once again a really cool phone is locked up by one major carrier – I hate that!

Beyond my disgust for the evil workings of the mobile phone industry and my Motorola stock shares laying stagnant for the last six months - I think the Q is a winner.

It’s thin (like a Razor), doesn’t have a stylus (like a BlackBerry) and runs Windows Mobile 5.0 (like a lot of other new devices.) Back to thin… it’s as thin as a Mont Blanc pen at .45 inches. Only the BlackBerry 8700c comes close. The Treo 700 units are bricks compared to the Q.

Unfortunately what the Q lacks in thickness it makes up for in length. The Q is 3 feet long… okay not true. The Q is long though, measuring over 4.5 inches in length it’s just a hair too big. I took an eraser to it and it looks better like this:

Even though it is “super-sized” the scroll wheel makes operating the Q with one hand a possibility. Just like a mouse on a desktop or a touch pad on a laptop, all smart phones are going to feature a scroll wheel for easier navigation.

Of course one feature that you get with Windows Mobile 5.0 is the mobile versions of Outlook, Word, Excel and a host of third party software that has been, and will be, developed in partnership with Microsoft. This is a huge advantage over BlackBerry devices. Word and Excel files transfer easily and require no third party software assistance.

I like the mobile version of Windows Media which easily plays music files and video. I wouldn’t ditch my iPod if I started using the Moto Q… but it would be nice to always have a few tunes in your pocket.

QWERTY key board and high speed access to the net make the Q a player in the smart phone marketplace. It’s $199 with a two year service agreement with Verizon. $110 a month gets you 1350 minutes of talk time and unlimited data usage. I’d give it a try.

TK