Motorola C698p

Discontinued
19th January 2005

One of a pair of push-to-talk handsets announced by Motorola (along with the C381p), the C698p is an absolute dead ringer for the Motorola E398, which is a phone popular for its multimedia playback capabilities.

If you know the E398, then you'll know what to expect with the C698p - it's a slightly odd looking candybar device with a 176x220 pixel TFT display in 65,000 colours, a VGA resolution camera, MP3 playback, dual speakers, speakerphone, tri-band GSM (900/1800/1900) with GPRS, Java, a WAP 2.0 browser, email client, instant messaging and downloadable themes.

In addition to this, the C698p comes with a PTT button and inbuilt client. At the time of going to press we are awaiting confirmation that the C698p uses expandable TransFlash memory, but since this is basically the E398 remodelled, then we think that it very likely does, given the C698p's MP3 capabilities.

Physically the size and weight are almost identical to the E398, at a reported 108x46x21mm and 107 grams. Talktime is estimated at around 4-8 hours with around 6 days standby time.

We're not sure of Motorola's target market except that we think the C698p will be launched in South American markets first, during Q1 or Q2 2005. Motorola may well want to avoid competing with the E398, especially in territories where PTT takeup is limited and also to avoid clashes with existing exclusivity deals with T-Mobile in Europe and the US, but we will wait and see on this.

Motorola do seem to be pushing PTT quite hard (they call it PoC - PTT Over Cellular) and are keen to expand it from a voice-only service to include other media types and interactive services in the future. Presumably Motorola are also keen to sell operators the back-end kit to support this.

As for the C698p, well apart from the clumsy name we think that basing it on the E398 platform is an excellent idea as this is currently one of the best bar format handsets about. Sure, the VGA resolution camera is a little disappointing and there's no Bluetooth, but the good screen and audio capabilities help to make up for this.. if it really does have expandable memory, that is.

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