Moto debuts five frill-free phones

Motomobile entry-level brand ahoy

Motorola today unveiled a handful of handsets under a new brand, Motomobile, all pitched at entry-level buyers around the world be they in GSM or CDMA markets and part of the company's bid to win the hearts and minds of emerging markets - not to mention Westerners fed up with feature-filled phones.

The W220 and W375 slimline clamshells both incorporate FM radios and designs derived from the RAZR V3. The 93g, 9.5 x 4.6 x 1.7cm W220 is a camera-less device with a 1.5in, 128 x 128 colour screen and basic voice and messaging features. It's got enough memory for 600 contacts and provides almost eight-and-a-half hours' talk time.

The W375 adds a bigger, 128 x 160 display, a VGA camera with 4x digital zoom, and a range of coloured cases - grey, silver and orange to the W220's spec. It's a tri-band phone with 1.5MB of user-accessible memory. The downside is a shorter, 7.5-hour talk time.

The W170, W208 and W210 are all clamshells. The former sports a monochrome 128 x 128 screen and connects to CDMA networks. Measuring 1.5cm-thick, it too features an FM radio, and offers up to 500 phonebook entries and an "office quality" speakerphone.

The W208 is less than 1.5cm thick, but has a colour display - it's a 128 x 128 job - and comes in a choice of three colours: red and black, and silver and black. The W210 has, like the W208, an FM radio. It also has a built in torch.

All but the W375, W208 and W210 are due to ship in Q3 - the exceptions are scheduled for a Q4 debut, Motorola said. ®