Kyocera Intros Zio M6000 Android Smartphone

Kyocera introduced the Zio M6000 Android smartphone at the CTIA Wireless 2010 show on March 23, marking the handset maker's return to the smartphone space, after a hiatus focusing on feature phones.

The Zio, which measures 4.6 by 2.3 by 0.5 inches, features a 3.5-inch WVGA, motion-enhanced touch-screen, positioned over a trackball for additional navigation.   
 
Connectivity options include WiFi, stereo Bluetooth and compatibility with CDMA299 1xEV-DO rev. A networks. There's a full HTML web browser on board, a 3.2-megapixel camera with video playback, a media player, Google Maps and widgets and applications for quickly connecting to sites such as Facebook, Twitter and the Android Market.
 
(Gartner recently included widgets on its list of top 10 mobile technologies to watch through 2011.)
 
The Zio comes with 256MB of user-available internal memory and the ability to add 32GB more via the microSD slot. There's also an ambient light sensor, an accelerometer, a speakerphone, 3.5mm stereo headset jack, a USB 2.0 slot a dedicated camera for games such as PhotoVault and Google Goggles.
 
"Zio stands apart among Android devices because we intentionally set out to humanize this advanced technology and make it accessible and approachable for any consumer - without sacrificing functionality or style," Tom Maguire, Kyocera's head of global marketing, said in a statement. "We've received great feedback about this phone from our customers and we're confident that consumers will embrace it just as warmly."
 
Offering no pricing details, Kyocera said the Zio will become available in the second quarter.
 
The Android mobile operating system has seen a slower uptake in Europe than in United States, but is nonetheless expected to become the number two smartphone platform worldwide, surpassing 390 million units by 2013, according to IDC Research.