Tag Archives: Motorola Cell Phones

About 2484 days ago Mobility Tips and Tricks

Eight Great Cell Phones

As an entrepreneur, your cell phone may be one of the most important tech tools you own. Not only does it enable clients, colleagues, and customers to reach you wherever you are, but many of today’s cell phones have morphed into mini-computers that serve as digital day-timers, address books, note takers, Web surfers, e-mail readers, and digital cameras. If you’re considering an upgrade, the following is a look at eight hot “basic” cell phone models that are ideal for your business: Get Their Number As the first 3.2-Mega pixel camera phone in the U.S., the Samsung a990 ($349.99 on a 2-year service plan with Verizon Wireless; www.samsung.com) captures digital images and video and includes flash, zoom, and editing capabilities. Perhaps more useful for business trips and meetings, this Bluetooth-enabled phone also features a business card scanning feature and expandable postage stamp-sized MicroSD memory to store additional applications and files. All-Locations Phone The Motorola i580 ($279.99 with Sprint Nextel; www.sprint.com) is in good shape for road warriors. Designed to meet military specs for resistance to dust, rain, and shock, this phone also offers location-based services, Bluetooth support and expandable memory via teeny TransFlash cards (sold separately) for extra file storage. Look Good Like the company’s best-selling RAZR phone, the Motorola KRZR K1 (price and carrier is TBD; www.motorola.com) features a sleek design for entrepreneurs with cell phone image concerns. But this phone also comes with useful business tools such as high-speed data access and an enhanced phonebook with fields such as IM, URL, address, and birthday. Also included: music playback, stereo Bluetooth wireless audio, a 2-Mega pixel camera, and expandable memory. Take Them With You The Nokia 6126 (price and carrier TBD; www.nokiausa.com) is a robust phone that allows you to keep most of your contacts close at hand, with storage for up to 1,000 contacts. This Nokia is a lightweight flip-phone with a 1.3 Mega pixel camera, integrated MP3 player an expandable MicroSD memory (up to 2GB). The Nokia 6126 also features hands-free chatting (wireless headset or speakerphone), voice recorder, two color displays and a calendar with reminders. Sync Up While not as svelte as the mega-popular Motorola RAZR flip phone, the stainless steel Nokia 8801 ($549.99 with T-Mobile; www.nokiausa.com) is stylish, but more importantly, it syncs with a PC for calendar appointments, to-do lists and contacts, and supports EDGE wireless service for near broadband download speeds. Perfect for lengthy business trips, this Bluetooth-enabled phone offers eight days of stand-by time. Back to Basics The Nokia 6103 (free with 2-year commitment to T-Mobile; www.nokiausa.com) is a compact GSM world phone with Bluetooth wireless technology, hands-free speakerphone, integrated camera/camcorder, and mobile Web browser. Ideal for businesspersons who rely on messaging with clients or colleagues, the clamshell handset also supports SMS, MMS, email and Nokia Xpress audio messaging which lets users record and send voice messages with the push of a button. Power Up No walls? No wires? No worries. While not a cell phone, it can keep your phone alive: the Motorola Portable Power P790 (price TBD; www.motorola.com) is a pocket-sized battery that plugs into any Motorola cell phone’s mini-USB port for power on the go. It also works to juice up your wireless Bluetooth headset. The fully-charged P790 provides one to two full battery charges for your cell phone or 10 full Bluetooth headset charges. Available in one of six colors.

About 3702 days ago Telecom and Wireless

2003 Tech Buying Guide: Phones Break New Ground

2003 Tech Buying Guide Market Report If you’re an intense phone, e-mail, or instant message “aholic,” for whom a calendar and contact list are secondary considerations, consider the smart communicators offered by various cellular phone services. According to Forrester Research analysts, the mobile phone market is nearing saturation. This means that providers can now only expand their customer base by luring users away from one another with more interesting capabilities. Some of them are welcome (it’s always great to have e-mail access). Some are more debatable (instant messaging is already invasive enough on the desktop). But in any case, more choice in the marketplace means you’re the winner. BLEEDING EDGE If you need constant contact not only by phone but also via e-mail and instant messages, the T-Mobile Sidekick [$250, plus monthly service; tmobile.com] rises to the occasion. Spin out its screen and there’s a roomy keyboard under your digits. The monochrome system offers a full-featured, proprietary PDA. Given its unique form factor and somewhat fragile feel, the 2.5- by 4.5-inch unit isn’t for everyone. But it’s hard to resist its curvaceous appeal. STAY THE COURSE The Motorola i95cl [$500; Nextel, Southern LINC] has a nice heft in the hand, a good assortment of PDA functions under its hood, and Nextel’s “push-to-talk” service for walkie-talkie-like chatting with other Nextel users — great for field or more industrial uses. Those who work or move around in loud environs will like this unit’s very loud ringer. MOVE AHEAD Touting a built-in camera, the sleek Sanyo 5300 [$400; SprintPCS.com] also offers an exceptional screen; expect similar competing units to arrive by late spring. Also: The RIM BlackBerry 6710 [contact T-Mobile, tmobile.com, for pricing, or AT&T Wireless, www.attws.com] combines a phone with BlackBerry’s worldwide e-mail, Net, and messaging services — and the best keyboard among its peers. What to Ask What applications do I need? Am I willing to use a small screen for portability’s sake? Can I forgo a Palm- or Windows-based interface? Can I download data from my PC? Does it have a global reach? Case In Point Lisa Wible Co-founder Oh Fudge THE NEED: Lisa Wible’s phone, which she says is clipped to her when she’s making fudge and has gotten dropped “over and over,” needed not only to stand the heat but also to get out of the kitchen. Wible prefers to deliver her fudge in person — a big job when her 45 client stores are spread over six Western states. THE SOLUTION: Motorola i55sr (Nextel) FEATURES CONSIDERED: Coverage area was crucial. “Our first major project after founding the business was the Olympics. I spent a lot of time in Salt Lake City,” recounts Wible, who hosted an official booth in the Downtown Festival during the Games. “I knew I’d have to be able to conduct business as if I was home in Whittier.” When business takes you across the Mohave Desert and up into the northern Rockies, a map doesn’t tell you everything you need to know about coverage. Wible, a first-time Nextel customer, started asking everybody along the way if their phone cut out. NEXT TIME: Wible isn’t using her push-to-talk features as much as she initially expected. “It’s like a walkie-talkie; you have to wait for the other person to respond. It doesn’t work [for talking] with clients.” Great sound quality is a plus, as is her phone’s rugged chassis: “Not only has it been dropped, it’s been dropped and kicked.” DON’T FORGET TO ASK: Make the most of your minutes, Wible says: “There’s a lot of plan variation, and it’s useful to know if minutes on your plan can be transferred to other times of day or rolled over for later use.” 2003 Tech Buying Guide Laptops Handhelds Hybrids Cell Phones Wi-Fi Networks Digital Cameras Videoconferencing Setups Shopping Tips Log On and Be Counted In recent weeks, visitors to Inc.com have been sharing some of their tech-buying strategies with other readers by taking our buyer’s guide poll. Take the quick survey yourself, then see how others are thinking about the product areas covered in this story. Please E-mail your comments to editors@inc.com.