Motorola Q: a first look

Described as razor-thin at 11.5mm (a direct reference to Motorola's popular Razr V3), the Motorola Q will be one of the first smartphones to ship with Microsoft's Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system. Since Windows Mobile 5 comes with support for Exchange 2003, Outlook information can be pushed to mobile products, which means the device is poised to take the smartphone world by storm. In addition, the Motorola Q promises to ship with a host of high-end features: a 1.3-megapixel camera, Bluetooth, compatibility with Razrwire Bluetooth eyewear, a large, 320-by-240-pixel screen and a TFT display that supports 65,536 colours (16-bit colour). Mobile network support and pricing has yet to be announced.

The slimline Motorola Q, due in early 2006, will be one of the first Windows Mobile 5 smartphones.

The Motorola Q has a full QWERTY keyboard, but unlike similarly equipped devices, the Q is superthin at 11.5mm. A full-fledged enterprise device, the Motorola Q will run Microsoft's Windows Mobile 5, so staying in touch with the office will be straightforward. Business users will also be able to take advantage of the Motorola Q's myriad voice features. On the lighter side, its 1.3-megapixel camera, its support for a ton of audio (iMelody, MIDI, MP3, AAC, WAV, WMA, WAX and QCELP) and video (MPEG-4, AAC, and WMV) formats, and its relatively large screen show the makings of an excellent multimedia device.

The Motorola Q is promising, but Microsoft's Windows Mobile 5 operating system is unproven, and it remains to be seen how its compatibility with Exchange 2003's ability to push Outlook data will fare. Additionally, the Motorola Q has a Mini SD slot as opposed to a standard Secure Digital (SD) slot. At the time of this writing, the largest-capacity Mini SD cards are 256MB, while SD cards have reached 1GB. This is a significant factor for a device with so many multimedia features.

Of all the would-be competitors to the Palm Treo 650 we've seen, the Motorola Q seems best poised to surpass it. Its sexy form factor is enough to garner plenty of attention. Furthermore, if Windows Mobile 5 lives up to Microsoft's promises, connecting to an enterprise server from a smartphone will be easier than ever. Be sure to come back to ZDNet UK as more information on this device is released.

The Motorola Q packs a Windows Mobile 5 smartphone in a Razr-like form factor.