Motorola E378i Preview

Discontinued
14th February 2005

The Motorola E378i is an i-Mode handset offering enchanced 2G data services to customers of i-Mode GSM network, primarily aimed at Europe. Running on the back of an existing 2G or 3G network, i-Mode adds an exisiting set of protocols and applications to make the wireless internet much more usable. Although i-Mode providers in Europe are still uncommon, O2 will start an i-Mode service during 2005, and carriers such as the German E-Plus and the French Bouygues Telecom are already operational, largely with NEC handsets.

The E378's specifications are not clear at the moment, but it appears to be broadly similar to the E398 but with no removable memory. You can expect the E378i to have the familiar 176x220 pixel display that most Motorolas have, and it has a VGA resolution digital camera but no Bluetooth.

Apart from i-Mode, the E378i is a pretty basic handset, but better handsets from Motorola and other manufacturers may well follow depending on take-up of the i-Mode service.

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