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Motorola announces the Pro+ smartphone
US PHONE MAKER Motorola has announced its Pro+ smartphone that will be available in the UK and Europe from October.
The Pro+, not to be confused with the caffeine tablets, is a smartphone with both a touchscreen and a Qwerty keyboard. It will run Android 2.3 Gingerbread and looks almost identical to the Fire handset that the firm announced only last week, but has better specifications.
Alain Mutricy, SVP of device product management at Motorola Mobility said, "The Motorola PRO+ is built for people who want to take the pressure off and consolidate their work and personal lives with an efficient smartphone that acts like your personal assistant."
The Pro+ will have a 3.1in VGA touchscreen with 480x640 resolution and the same scratch resistant Gorilla Glass that the upcoming Defy+ smartphone will have. The handset will have a 1GHz processor backed with 512MB of RAM and 4GB of internal storage.
The phone will come pre-loaded with Quickoffice Connect, and Motorola said apps like the calendar and email are scrollable from the home screen. The Pro+ will have a 5MP rear camera with flash and a 1600mAh battery that will deliver eight hours of talk time.
Motorola said the Pro+ will be 11.65mm thick and weigh 113g. For the security conscious out there, the handset will come with features such as remote data wipe and full encryption. µ
Tags: Hardware
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The Pro+ is an updated to the Droid XPRT/Pro, due in October.
The good: updated 3.1 inch, 640x480 display, Google Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system, Li-Ion 1600mAh battery, lighter 113g weight and rounder shape.
The bad: same old single-core 1GHz processor. For a business oriented, flagship model that is a weak spec in comparison to the dual-core competition.
The ugly: only 512 MB RAM. Yeah, less than even middle-range models elsewere, and unlikely to handle all the pre-installed business apps at once. Someone needs to get fired on this!!!
In short, you have got a very sexy-looking new Pro+ coming up, but it is let down by poor specs that promise mediocre performance. I sure want an Android based Blackberry Curve/Bold lookalike, and this could have been it if not for such a blunder. I am not putting any of my hard-earned money on the Droid Pro/XPRT or Pro+.
@htcuser I'm also not a big fan of motorola, but this device is nothing new to me. The Samsung Galaxy pro B7510 is really good, and has every feature needed (and more) to qualify as standard smartphone device.
About nokia, I don't feel them built like tanks anymore... new models, at least those I could have in my hands, are weaker than the older models.
I've never been a fan of Motorola, but they're the only people offering a credible flagship QWERTY device running android. Let's be honest - the HTC ChaCha and Samsung M Pro are just mid range rubbish which will never draw the punters in. I don't want a Blackberry or a Nokia, despite the fact they're built like tanks. It's simply not that hard for the big android boys to design something popular. I get the whole concept of "physical keyboards are geography specific", but there is literally nothing available in android that can be considered a serious business tool (bar this Moto).