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Verizon Wireless introduced the Motorola Devour smartphone on Feb. 3, an Android 1.6-running smartphone that will arrive on the network in March.
When it does, it will be Verizon’s first Android phone with MotoBlur, a software that works to customize a device by syncing contact information and updates from various sources, from Facebook to Gmail to corporate email accounts, and streaming them to the device’s home screen.
MotoBlur first debuted on the Motorola Cliq, on the T-Mobile network. “MotoBlur… helps us to create phones that are instinctive, social and smart,” Sanjay Jha, co-CEO of Motorola, said during the solution’s Sept. 10 introduction.
A secure MotoBlur portal will automatically back-up contacts, log-in information, home screen customizations, emails and social network messages for Devour users, as well as remote-wipe the device should it be stolen, or use its integrated A-GPS to help locate it, should it go missing.
And MotoBlur is additionally tied to the inbox, gathering texts, emails and messages in one spot, as well as something called the Happenings Widget – which, as the name implies, keeps users up to date on friends’ comings, goings and thoughts.
The Devour features a 3.1-inch HVGA capacitive touch screen, a touch-sensitive navigation pad, and a full, slideout qwerty keyboard.
It’ll come pre-loaded with Google apps, of course – including Gmail, Google Talk, YouTube, Google Search, Google Maps and, notably, Google Maps Navigation – and offer quick access to Google’s Android Market, which is now more than 20,000 apps strong.
Stereo Bluetooth is on board, along with WiFi, a pre-installed 8GB microSD card – though up to 32GB is supported – a 3-megapixel camera with zoom, a 3.5mm headset jack, video capture and playback, an accelerometer and dual microphones with noise cancellation.
The Devour is compatible with 800/1900 CDMA EVDO rev A networks, and users will need a Nationwide Talk (starting at $39.99) or Nationwide Talk & Text plan (starting at $59.99) as well as a data package, which for unlimited monthly access is $29.99 from Verizon. No other pricing details were offered.