First came the rumors. Then came the leaked images. And now, 3 all-knowing (conveniently unnamed) analysts have predicted that Verizon’s long awaited foray into Android will happen some time next week with the announcement of Motorola’s Sholes/Tao smartphone. The timing seems feasible, especially considering that Motorola is holding a MOTODEV Android-related press event next Tuesday, October 6 (WinMo 6.5 who?).
But, this is far from certain, folks. In fact, we have it on good word that Verizon retail employees have yet to train on Android, making a near term launch that much less likely. However, that does not rule out an announcement only like the recent Motorola CLIQ event.
Either way, the speculation is definitely heating up. Just this morning the friendly folks over at AndroidGuys have posted information suggesting the Tao (or whatever it will end up being called) will be released on December 1, just in time for the all-mighty holiday shopping bonanza. But the fun doesn’t stop there.
According to the super secret document that found its way to AndroidAndMe, the Tao will purportedly be the “world’s thinnest” slider QWERTY phone at 13.7mm thick. Yes, please! Other juicy tidbits include: a 3.7″ 16:9 touch screen display, 16GB built-in storage, 5MP camera with dual LED flash, full HTML browser with Flash support, and supposedly the next generation of Android, the big 2.0.
Here are the rest of the leaked specs:
* OMAP3430 – 600 MHz ARM Cortex A8 + PowerVR SGX 530 GPU + 430MHz C64x+ DSP + ISP (Image Signal Processor)
* Dimensions 60.00 x 115.80 x 13.70 mm
* Weight 169 g
* Battery Li-ion 1400 mAh.
* Standby 450 hours, talk time 420 minutes
* 3.7-inch touch-sensitive display with a resolution of 854×480 pixels, 16 million color depth. Physical screen size is 45.72 mm by 81.34 mm.
* 512MB/256MB ROM/RAM
* microSD / microSDHC expansion slot
* Camera: 5.0 megapixel with autofocus and video recorder
* Connectivity: USB2.0, 3.5mm audio jack, Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR, Wi-Fi
* Operating System: Android 2.0 (with Eclair, no Motoblur)
* Package Contents: Phone Motorola Sholes, battery, charger, USB cable, 8GB MicroSD memory card and other literature
Too bad it’s put together by Motorola. I’ll pass on this thing – I’ve had too many Motorola’s that were built like crap.
That’s interesting. I also have had and do presently have Motorola phones. I have never had any problems. My wife dropped her Razor in the toilet. Still works great. I have an E815. Love it. Guess it’s the luck of the draw.
My Motorola Star Tac still works great too.
Whoa! This thing has the Cortex A8? Is this the first Android phone to have a “modern” processor that can compete with the 3GS and the Pre?
I think it is!
Will it come with Verizon-crippled GPS as well?
Of course they will cripple the GPS; It is what they do best: Make great products suck.
actually its been reported this phone is a full google exp, your going to have to pay for the 30 dollar a month fee, but there is no cripplings on this phone.. GPS is going to work off Google Maps 4.0.. No verizon UI..
Actually no — any smartphone on the Verizon network is not GPS crippled these days. They have gone to unlocking that feature and if you have a phone purchased prior to June 2009, go to the verizon website and update your firmware. I use google maps on my Samsung Saga on a daily basis !!
I just got a HTC Imagio and found the same thing. GPS is disabled by default, but easy to enable.
iphone
12.3 mm
135 grams
Tao
13.7mm
169 grams
(with full QWERTY)
Flash!!!!
It has an exciting set of specs, but I am wary of the Motorola culture of corporate greed = an expensive toy. Of course, Apple has the same culture, I wonder how they will compete?
Motorola has consistently ruined markets by greed and exited them. Apple did the same with the insane monopolistic practice of not licensing the OS etc. Had they licensed the OS when the PC came out, the PC may well have died soon afterwards, instead they gave a royal road to the PC open standard. Still, if they start to sell their new OS and also sell a personality ROM BIOS they can make an open standard that they make an OS fee and a ROM fee on every one = a winning strategy.
I don’t know where you got that idea about Motorola, but I do not recall ever having had anything but excellent results with Motorola products. I have been using Motorola phones since before they came out with the StarTac and they have all been robust and solid performers.
I once accidentally left my StarTac on the roof of my car and drove away. When I realized my error, I retraced my route and found it in a slushy snowback. It had been there a good part of the day, but it still worked fine.
My Razr, while getting up there in years (~3) has held up very well and tends to get signal in areas that others don’t (I am on T-Mobile).
The only problem with this new arrangement is Verizon. I was a customer of my cell phone company for 4.5 years. Then Verizon bought them out, and within a single month Verizon pissed me off so much, I told them to discontinue my service and that given a choice, I would never do business with their company again. And I meant it.
And let’s face it… Verizon’s employees, and even their supervisors, had to be humiliated in public before they would even learn the difference between a penny and a dollar. That’s not good.
Motorola was the king of 2 way radio. I have used all their 2-way products from old tube railroad radios in the early 60’s until the micors, then I retired.
They made a tough and reliable 2 way radio and they were the best. Life under the batwing we called it.
Razrs were good, but pricey, but somewhere in there Zander dropped the ball, and Motorola was never able to evolve a follow on product and was ridden out of town on a rail(with abga of $$) and the rest of the makers beat it to death. I think they failed to envision how really short the cell radio generation was. The railroad and trunking radios had looong and profitable lives.
Now, have they seen the light? or are they trying to get another monopoly product….hard to do with Android?
Its rumored that it will also come with Verizon’s outstandingly terrible customer support. Sweet!
Honestly – how often have you had to deal with customer support? I don’t think I’ve used cust support once in 10 years of owning a cell phone.
I used to have verizon about 5 -7 years ago..
There customer support was bad back in those days.. I had my phone cut off for what they say was lack of payment which wasn’t true it was a account mix up with another account that took 3 days to correct but then when i got my bill they somehow charged me the minutes to talk to tech support.. Don’t know how or why but i left after that..
with all the new cutting edge stuff, why are they still using a touch screen. hate to point to it, but the iPhone uses a “heat” screen that wont activate when in your pocket, even if you forget to lock the phone.
This is great news. What’s also great is that I JUST bought a Blackberry Tour…I’ll have to wait another two years before I’m eligible for an upgrade. DOH!
With that said, Verizon’s network is tops, but their customer service really does suck. Also, I have had nothing but problems with Motorola phones…my T720 got returned five or six times for hardware issues, same for my V710. After that, I switched to a Samsung, which was an AMAZING phone. My LG Dare got traded in very quickly for the Tour, though.
First generation Motorola phones are ATROCIOUS…I’ve been burned far, far too many times to ever trust them again…
I too had a T720…and that phone made me vow to NEVER get another Motorola product again….the memory pf that phone just made me angry…and it’s been years…
Then I went against my own best judgment and got a Motorola Q on Verizon, and that too was a piece of isht…
NEVER again…