Motorola expands its lineup of smartphones powered by Google's Android OS at Mobile World Congress (MWC) with the touch-screen Quench.
Handset maker Motorola announced at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona,
Spain, the release of Quench,
its latest handset powered by Google's Android open-source operating system.
The touch-screen smartphone, which offers capabilities such as pinch and
zoom and a touch pad, also features Motoblur, Motorola's Android-powered
content delivery service, which organizes messages and synchronizes contacts.
The handset also includes Adobe Flash Lite support. It will be available in the
first quarter of 2010 in the United States,
the company said, where it will be known as the Cliq XT and offered through
T-Mobile USA.
Motorblur syncs contacts, posts, messages, photos and more from sources such
as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Gmail, work and personal e-mail, and Last.FM-and
automatically delivers them to the home screen. Content is fed into
user-friendly streams to help keep information organized. Quench also offers
Swype, a feature that makes responding to messages and entering text easier.
Contact information, such as e-mail addresses, profile pictures and phone
numbers, is automatically synced whenever the details change online, removing
the need to manually update.
"As we continue to expand Motorola's portfolio of Android-powered devices,
we remain committed to delivering more of what people want from their handheld
devices in easier ways," said Sanjay Jha, co-CEO
of Motorola and CEO of Motorola Mobile
Devices and Home business. "Quench with Motoblur showcases Motorola's design
heritage by offering a compelling differentiation from the traditional Android
experience, giving people an easier way to have more messaging, more Web and
more music."
The connected media player on Quench is not only connected to the Internet
but to a user's social networks. Quench connects users to their music with a
style of media player that lets users buy and download music from an MP3 store
while integrating third-party apps such as TuneWiki, SoundHound, GoTV and
YouTube. The music search feature makes finding songs easy while
synchronizing lyrics in any language the user chooses.
The handset enables clear calls using dual microphones and
noise cancellation technology, while a 5.0-megapixel camera with auto-focus and
LED flash enables large pictures. Finding information online or within the
device is updated with voice-activated search, available in English only. Users
say what they are looking for, and the phone will find contacts, serve up
Google Web search results based on location or launch applications.
Android Market provides access to more than 20,000 apps and
widgets. In addition, Quench offers extras such as 3G and Wi-Fi access, aGPS
and stereo Bluetooth. Lost devices can be located from a secure personal information
portal and even remotely erased if necessary. Then, one user name and password
brings back your contacts, messages and connectivity to your previously
configured networks and e-mail providers.
Nathan Eddy is Associate Editor, Midmarket, at eWEEK.com. Before joining eWEEK.com, Nate was a writer with ChannelWeb and he served as an editor at FierceMarkets. He is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
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