Siemens CX70 Emoty

Discontinued
13th September 2004

The Siemens CX70 Emoty is an unusual phone, based on the newly announced Siemens CX70, but with some interesting hardware and software enhancements.

Like the normal CX70, the Emoty shares the large 132x176 pixel colour display, VGA resolution camera and Push-To-Talk (PTT). We'd regard the CX70 as being a decent midrange phone, if a little dull. However, the CX70 Emoty is certainly anything but dull.

Physically, the Emoty is bigger. That's because it comes with a special case with integrated shake, press and stroke sensors. The keys on the front of the handset have "emoticons" added too.

The Emoty's software is different, with a range of avatars (Siemens call them "phone pilots") that interact with the user and pass SMS and MMS messages. The avatars are also sensitive to the mood of the user as expressed through the case, and these avatars can be sent to other phones as MMS messages. It's a pretty strange but could be great fun. Siemens seem to be pitching this phone both at children and people who enjoy cute gadgets.

It's not all cute though, as the CX70 Emoty shares the CX70's 3D graphics acceleration, and it comes with Siemens 3D Rally, with other 3D games promised - some of which will use the Emoty's special case to help with gameplay.

The CX70 Emoty is heavier than the normal CX70 at 116 grams (as opposed to 90 grams). Size isn't specified at time of going to press, but clearly the CX70 Emoty is a little larger. Battery life should be the same at the CX70 at around 5.5 hours talk and 12 days standby.

Cute features aside, the CX70 is interesting for other reasons too. It's highly unusual for a manufacturer to modify a phone in this way, and to some extent the CX70 Emoty is a showcase for Siemens ability to be clever and customise handsets according to market.

The Emoty isn't the only modified phone in the Siemens line-up. Siemens already make two modfied variants of the C65 handset, one for Vodafone (the Siemens CV65) and another for T-Mobile (the Siemens CT65), and a T-Mobile variant of the CX65 called the CXT65. In these case, the modifications are basically cosmetic case design and software, but the CX70 Emoty shows just how far Siemens can go. This seems to be a clever way to give carriers custom handsets while keeping development costs down, and perhaps only Samsung rival Siemens' ability in this respect.

We don't know if the CX70 Emoty will be a hit in the shops or not, but it shows some innovative thinking from Siemens.