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AT&T said Feb. 3 it would begin selling the Motorola Atrix 4G smartphone March 6 for $199.99 with a two-year contract, hewing to the contract and pricing schemes of high-end smartphones based on Google’s Android operating system.
AT&T will allow customers to order the Atrix 4G in a pre-sale starting Feb. 13, or three days after rival Verizon Wireless’ iPhone 4 hits the market.
Motorola Mobility CEO Sanjay Jha introduced the Atrix 4G at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show Jan. 5, and showed off an Android 2.2 handset powered by the Nvidia Tegra 2 dual-core processor with a 4-inch quarter high-definition (qHD) screen.
The handset, one of more than twenty 4G products coming from AT&T in 2011, also comes with front-and-rear facing cameras to enable video chat and 1GB of RAM.
The device on its own was attractive, but Jha also showed how it could be connected to a desktop or laptop computer to port the phone’s functionality on the larger screen. This included a Linux-based Webtop application running on Mozilla’s Firefox Web browser.
It’s the pricing for the docking stations that may cause consternation among consumers looking to flash their Atrix 4G content on a larger screen.
While some bloggers believed the docking stations would cost $150, AT&T and Motorola have put a premium on the hardware. By itself, the Motorola Laptop Dock will cost a hefty $499.99.
Customers may get the Atrix 4G and Motorola Laptop Dock for $499.99 after a two-year service contract and a $100 mail-in rebate after subscription to a Data Pro smartphone data plan and a tethering add-on.
The Data Pro plan costs $45 per month for 2GB of data, while the tethering costs $20 for another 2GB of data.
AT&T is also offering the Motorola HD Multimedia Dock, a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, and a remote control for $189.99 to enable consumers to run HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) video captured via the Atrix on their TVs.
The Atrix 4G will also include AT&T Mobile Hotspot service, allowing users to connect additional WiFi-enabled devices. AT&T’s Mobile Hotspot, a follow-up to a similar offering from Verizon that costs $20 a month, will be available Feb. 13.