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Motorola V3i Confirmed

 Motorola RAZR V3i Discontinued
8th November 2005

The Motorola RAZR V3i is an upgrade of the RAZR V3, with a 1.23 megapixel camera, TransFlash expandable and iTunes. 

We previewed the Motorola V3i a couple of days ago, and got almost everything right - except the colour. We understood that the V3i would be bronze, but this version has an attractive brushed metal look instead. It's possible that other colours will follow though - Motorola have also announced the Pink and Blue versions of the RAZR to follow on from the Silver and Black ones.

 Motorola RAZR V3i open The improved camera is a welcome boost for the V3i, the old handset's camera was woefully out of date, and it's a sexy phone to bundle with iTunes too. Of course, all of this needs expandable memory, and the V3i can take TransFlash / microSD cards - the maximum memory hasn't been specified however, and neither has any restriction on the iTunes software (the ROKR only holds a maximum of 100 tracks, for example). Output is to stereo USB headphones, and the Motorola RAZR V3i comes with a flight mode so that you can listed to the music player while on an aircraft.

There's a catch with iTunes however - not all RAZR V3i handsets will have it. Some will come with a standard Motorola player instead, and the iTunes handset comes with an "iTunes" key which is a messaging key on the non-iTunes V3i. Confusing? Yes! So, we advise that you check before ordering. (The handset pictured is a non-iTunes V3i).

 RAZR V3 closeup Inside the Motorola V3i is a 176x220 pixel display, essentially the same as the previous model, plus the etched keypad we've seen before, but with a different backlight. On the outside the small display is still 96x80 pixels but has been upgraded to 65,000 colours from 4096. The "M" logo lights up, it seems. There are no dedicated external media controls, however. The detailing on the aluminium case is interesting (see closeup on right).

The V3i has Bluetooth, Motorola's SCREEN3 "zero click" information service (where the phone automatically displays news and other items that may be of interest) and all the usual features you'd expect to find.

Really, this isn't a huge upgrade to the old RAZR V3. The camera, music player and expandable memory are all really standard in this class of handset. What the RAZR V3i does do however is protect Motorola's market share - the older handset is one of the world's best selling mobile phones, and has been a real revenue generator for Motorola.

It's a much sexier phone to have iTunes on too. The RAZR is a real design icon, unlike the E398 that the ROKR is based on. Unfortunately for Motorola, the ROKR has been a real flop.. but the RAZR V3i combines a decent specification with very stunning looks and it should probably be much more successful.

Motorola say that the RAZR V3i should be available during Q4 2005, so it should just make it into the shops for Christmas.

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Motorola RAZR V3i at a glance

Available:

Q4 2005

Network:

Quad-band GSM

Data:

GPRS

Screen:

176x220 pixels, 262k colours (main)
96x80 pixels, 65k colours (sub)

Camera:

1.23 megapixels

Size:

Slim clamshell
98x53x14mm / 95 grans

Bluetooth:

Yes

Infra-red:

No

Polyphonic:

Yes

Java:

Yes

Battery life:

7 hours talk / 12 days standby approx

 

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