Motorola Debuts a RAZR with Keyboard

E-mail addicts will no longer be forced to carry around clunky devices thanks to a new smartphone introduced on Monday by Motorola dubbed "Q." The Moto Q builds upon the company's sleek RAZR phone design, adding a full QWERTY keyboard and Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system.

Q is 50 percent lighter than its closet competitor, according to Motorola, which has found immense success and rebuilt its fading image with the launch of the RAZR last year. The phone boasts electro-luminescent keys, a 1.3-megapixel camera with flash, and standard features such as Bluetooth and a built-in audio player.

"Wickedly cool -- when's the last time you heard those words used to describe a QWERTY device?" said Ron Garriques, president mobile devices business at Motorola, in a statement. "Probably never. At least until now. With the Moto Q, we've combined the best voice, data and design technology in one ultra-thin, intelligent, hard-working, and incredibly must-have device."

The Q won't only be a critical product launch for Motorola, but as one of the first Windows Mobile 5.0 based devices, Microsoft has much at stake as well. Redmond has struggled to push adoption of Windows enabled handsets, while Nokia and Symbian have dominated the smartphone market.

Motorola's Q will run over 18,000 Windows applications, Microsoft says, and integrate directly with Microsoft Exchange Server to offer e-mail and contact synchronization.

The Q is expected to launch in the United States in Q1 2006 from a number of wireless carriers. Cingular and T-Mobile currently offer Motorola's RAZR.