Hands0n
15th February 2007, 10:08 PM
An interesting article from The Register that talks about the new Nokia E90 vs Motorola's brand new UIQ slider phone, the Motorizr Z8. The article is too long to post on here so a quick snippet followed by a link to follow will give you all the info you need.
I've not been much of a Moto fan and was quite disappointed with the A1000. Might the Motorizr Z8 change my mind about UIQ? Quite possibly ...... Could this do for UIQ what the RAZR did for Motorola's own tired handsets? Quite possibly ..... We might not have too long to wait, April is but a couple of months away. Any bets for which network will be getting this? The hint at a Sky tie-up suggests a Vodafone [initial] exclusive to me.
Moto raises UIQ from the ashes
(Specific section of the full article is here (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/02/13/90_rizrx8_shoot-out/page2.html))
While the E90 falls far short of the hype, the new Moto UIQ phone cheerfully exceeds all expectations. The Motorizr Z8 (http://regmedia.co.uk/2007/02/13/motorizr_z8.png) comes from the British design team that Motorola acquired when it bought Sendo. And they've done good.
Given the agony that Sony Ericsson has experienced with its two UIQ3 products of last year, the P990i and the M600i, we'd have turned down very long odds on the following: that UIQ3 could be fast, that it could be rendered usable, and that it could be anything other than clunky to use one-handed. The design team has rebuffed all doubts here.
It has achieved this by ripping up the design guide, and applying simple common sense. Several UI elements have been stripped out, and in their place sensible buttons such as a Home key.
With Motorola's UIQ implementation, some things are quite subtle. The fonts render beautifully, unlike the P990i, which looks as if the fonts have been rendered using fountain pen ink onto slightly damp paper. But overall, the designers have been flexible, pragmatic, and above alll coherent - qualities notable by their absence from S60 in recent years.
As for the hardware, the 'kick slider' feels very robust. You could be forgiven for thinking you've broken the phone when you first extend the slide - it takes a little getting used to. Sliding the lower half of the case down causes the front part of the upper portion to slide along a roller, tipping it forward a few degrees. Hence the 'banana' shape.
What the Z8 does well is multimedia: Motorola claiming it can render 30fps video on its QVGA screen. Sky is lined up as a partner allowing subscribers to take their shows with them, and you can also use the phone to program your Sky+ box remotely.
The 'Rizr X8 isn't a touch screen device, and the absence of rapid text input may deter parts of the market which might otherwise be attracted to the device. But we hope that pen-based variants aren't too far behind, as the phone has the potential to win converts from Blackberry, Palm, Windows Mobile and Nokia, not to mention Sony Ericsson itself, which has created a whole new class of defectors with the sorry P990i saga.
With the fashion in marketing tilting towards strict segmentation, conventional wisdom suggests that manufacturers shouldn't try and create devices that appeal to everyone: business users as well as entertainment and media enthusiasts. Both Nokia and Moto appear willing to disprove that. However it's Moto, with the UIQ Rizr, that stands the best chance of proving one phone can 'do it all', and do it pretty well.
In the smartphone business, Motorola is back with vengeance.The Z8 will be available in April.
Full article available here (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/02/13/90_rizrx8_shoot-out/)
Edit: Endgadget's review of the Motorizr Z8 here (http://www.engadget.com/2007/02/13/hands-on-with-motorolas-motorizr-z8/)
Techeblog has a short video of someone fondling the Z8 here (http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/first-look-motorola-motorizr-z8)
Looks like we're getting it first according to infosyncworld here (http://www.infosyncworld.com/news/n/7480.html)
I've not been much of a Moto fan and was quite disappointed with the A1000. Might the Motorizr Z8 change my mind about UIQ? Quite possibly ...... Could this do for UIQ what the RAZR did for Motorola's own tired handsets? Quite possibly ..... We might not have too long to wait, April is but a couple of months away. Any bets for which network will be getting this? The hint at a Sky tie-up suggests a Vodafone [initial] exclusive to me.
Moto raises UIQ from the ashes
(Specific section of the full article is here (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/02/13/90_rizrx8_shoot-out/page2.html))
While the E90 falls far short of the hype, the new Moto UIQ phone cheerfully exceeds all expectations. The Motorizr Z8 (http://regmedia.co.uk/2007/02/13/motorizr_z8.png) comes from the British design team that Motorola acquired when it bought Sendo. And they've done good.
Given the agony that Sony Ericsson has experienced with its two UIQ3 products of last year, the P990i and the M600i, we'd have turned down very long odds on the following: that UIQ3 could be fast, that it could be rendered usable, and that it could be anything other than clunky to use one-handed. The design team has rebuffed all doubts here.
It has achieved this by ripping up the design guide, and applying simple common sense. Several UI elements have been stripped out, and in their place sensible buttons such as a Home key.
With Motorola's UIQ implementation, some things are quite subtle. The fonts render beautifully, unlike the P990i, which looks as if the fonts have been rendered using fountain pen ink onto slightly damp paper. But overall, the designers have been flexible, pragmatic, and above alll coherent - qualities notable by their absence from S60 in recent years.
As for the hardware, the 'kick slider' feels very robust. You could be forgiven for thinking you've broken the phone when you first extend the slide - it takes a little getting used to. Sliding the lower half of the case down causes the front part of the upper portion to slide along a roller, tipping it forward a few degrees. Hence the 'banana' shape.
What the Z8 does well is multimedia: Motorola claiming it can render 30fps video on its QVGA screen. Sky is lined up as a partner allowing subscribers to take their shows with them, and you can also use the phone to program your Sky+ box remotely.
The 'Rizr X8 isn't a touch screen device, and the absence of rapid text input may deter parts of the market which might otherwise be attracted to the device. But we hope that pen-based variants aren't too far behind, as the phone has the potential to win converts from Blackberry, Palm, Windows Mobile and Nokia, not to mention Sony Ericsson itself, which has created a whole new class of defectors with the sorry P990i saga.
With the fashion in marketing tilting towards strict segmentation, conventional wisdom suggests that manufacturers shouldn't try and create devices that appeal to everyone: business users as well as entertainment and media enthusiasts. Both Nokia and Moto appear willing to disprove that. However it's Moto, with the UIQ Rizr, that stands the best chance of proving one phone can 'do it all', and do it pretty well.
In the smartphone business, Motorola is back with vengeance.The Z8 will be available in April.
Full article available here (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/02/13/90_rizrx8_shoot-out/)
Edit: Endgadget's review of the Motorizr Z8 here (http://www.engadget.com/2007/02/13/hands-on-with-motorolas-motorizr-z8/)
Techeblog has a short video of someone fondling the Z8 here (http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/first-look-motorola-motorizr-z8)
Looks like we're getting it first according to infosyncworld here (http://www.infosyncworld.com/news/n/7480.html)