According to the Motorola promo site the Moto Q, a.k.a. the BlackBerry Killer (not), is coming out in April. Even being the BlackBerry kind of guy that I am, I must admit that the Moto Q looks pretty cool. The fact that it runs Windows Mobile 5 means there is a possibility that it is bug ridden, however, time will definitely tell.
The Moto Q features a large, vibrant 2.4 color screen, voice activated dialing, a 1.3 megapixel camera with photo lighting, mp3 and video capabilities, stereo speakers and web surfing capability. I wouldn’t be fibbing to you if I told you that I wished my BlackBerry 7130e did all of these things.
I agree wholeheartedly. If BB put a camera, mp3 player, and an SD slot in either the 7130 or the 8700 it would be fantastic, and it would definitely be superior to the Treo and this Q.
The problem with the Q, as you mention, is that it will run Windows Mobile. So expect more bugs, slower responsiveness, etc.
The ironic point is that while everyone is aiming for a so called BB killer device, it would be far easier for BB to come out with a Treo and Q killer device. The BB already has the most difficult part mastered: a very stable, secure, and user friendly system, with very solid build quality in the hardware. All they need is to offer a jazzed up version of one of their units, and they will corner the market.
I have held one and thought that it was the best BB alternative I have found. However, my Cingular Rep (I am in Corp IT) told me that Verizon has first exclusive on it.
I wonder how the release of the Moto Q will affect Treo 700w sales with both devices only being available from Verizon?
Good questions re sales of Q vs 700w. I would have to guess that to some extent the Q will take away from sales of the 700w.
While there is not a perfect overlap of the two devices in functionality, it seems inevitable that one will cannibalize the sales of the other to a partial extent.
The real question is how the Q will compare with a BB, which really comes down to how Windows Mobile on this phone will compare with the BB OS.
Here is where I think the BB will still win hands down. No doubt the Q will have the great style, but I just can’t see WM getting anywhere close to the BB OS.
One word for the Q:
* Landscape *
With the 320×240 landscape display, email and messaging on the device will be great.
I’ll admit to you guys that I’m a Windows Mobile user (T-Mobile MDA), but since my company has decided to go BB for our supported mobile platform, I’ve learned a lot.
What will be interesting is if/when BlackBerry Connect is released to go with this device and then how well it compares to true BB devices.
With Cingular releasing the Nokia 9300 with BlackBerry Connect here in the U.S. it will be interesting to see if the flood gates open for non BlackBerry devices hooking up to corporate BES implementations.
My guess is that there will be no flood for non-BB devices using BB connect to get the push email, in the sense of corporations abandoning the BB devices to go with another, but with BES.
There may be a good amount of users who would go with non-BB devices anyway who decide to use BB Connect.
But for any serious corporate users out there, the quality of the BB devices is clearly superior to the non-BB devices so far. Look at the Treo…it feels like a toy in comparison to the BB. It just doesn’t feel nearly as substantial.
Then there’s the stability of the OS…the Windows and Palm platforms freeze up and crash far more frequently than the BB OS.
All you have to do is hold a BB 8700 next to a Palm Treo 700…there’s no comparison. The only advantage the Treo enjoys is the camera/mp3 capabilities. But if you want those, it’s better to buy a BB and another device for those goodies.
Is it true, the Q is not a Wi-Fi Device?