Motorola Blaze for Verizon: the touch screen war hasn’t stopped yet
Ooooh! It’s purdy and shiny. Yes, yes, y’all — another Motorola scoop. This time, we’re switching gears from non-autofocusness to touch screens. There’s also very little doubt the Motorola Blaze isn’t coming to Big Red. Seeing as how, you know, it’s plastered all over the thing! Big Red being Verizon for all you slow pokes.
The handset takes design cues from a number of Motorola products. It’s odly a MING crossed with a PEBL crossed with a RAZR 2. Yeah. There’s a custom OS just for Verizon (did you really think they were done junking up their devices with that red theme?) and it works decently. It’s by no means a smartphone here. The mobile web browser is ok, and that’s being super nice. Texting or writing emails with the touch screen keyboard a la LG Voyager is bland, hard to use, and frustrating. Additionally, the phone has Haptic feedback but you have to press the darn touch screen so hard you feel like you’re going to break it. Specs we found? 2 megapixel camera, EV-DO Rev. A support, GPS, Bluetooth, MobileTV, and the regular standard feature set. Best part of the phone so far? While limited, you can use the device with the flip closed. Actually kind of cool. In a really not cool sort of way. Lastly, there’s no clue as to whether the much rumored visual voicemail is in here, but we’d guess that’s not going to make it in until the last second. Want some bad ass shots of said device? Jump!
Click on over to our Motorola Blaze gallery!
wonder what verizon has crippled
NO ONE FCUKING CARES ABOUT THIS SH!T!!!
Post some iPhone or BlackBerry news, BG. That’s the only reason why most of us come here
XD So you want BG to stop giving juicy, exclusive scoops that both Engadget and Gizmodo picked up in an hour just to focus on RIM and Apple?
Yes. More Nokia leaks, please.
Everyone knows that Motorola are absolute shit, no need to keep on helping to dig Moto’s grave for them.
how are you people absolutely positive motorola is over? just cause they arent doing so well now that doesnt mean they wont bounce back. you never know which phone is gonna replace the razr as moto’s cash cow
at least it doenst look like a Iphone, am i right?
I’ve used the Ming 1200, an earlier version of the Blaze, for a couple of years now. It’s sold through China Mobile. The touch screen works fine for me, so I think the reviewer’s problems are with a prototype unit. The basic software is okay, but not stellar.
wsamman, the only reason Americans so heavily adopt old tech dumbphones is carriers make it impossible to get great phones at fair prices as in Europe and Asia. We’d love Nseries phones, but are just able to buy them in mass in the last month!
The reason everyone is so scathing is because the mighty Moto is flagging, and should be trying to release more innovative and special devices, not the yawners being put in the market. All they need to do is survive until the Symbian Foundation releases its first OS, but they’ll hardly bolster any hope with this sort of device. The Kodak ZN5 was somewhat ok, but this is embarrassing.
This is NOT the device Motorola is hoping will save them from failure. Rumors site autofocus, 8 megapixel sensor, and near segment leading specs. It’s still in development, and might be Symbian based.
And don’t start calling this a smartphone. A smartphone MUST feature multitasking, as EVERY major smartphone platform does. (So iPhone, you sit your disguised dumbphone butt down, too.)
And gadget freaks will laugh at this. The true gadget freaks are on symbian-freak.com, hacking and modding away on real smartphone gadgets.
I’m sorry, Motorola Blaze, but when the Nokia 5800 “Tube” sits next to this, it gets even worse! Its a tragedy the inventors of the cellphone forgot how to design and innovate. At least they still know build quality…
And T-Mobile also has the Ameo/Advantage, which is this device’s granddaddy!
@christexaport
very well said. motorola needs their own flagship and the zn5 is not it. sure based on reviews the camera is absolutely amazing but seriously… 5 megapixel camera phone and not even 3G? so what if its going to china make it a world phone and put that sweet 2100mhz band in there.
well, that blows.
Wow! Are there a lot of disgruntled, ex-Motorola employees on here or something?
What’s with this blind ripping of Motorola? I’m personally confident that this phone will do well if marketed correctly.
Motorola is suffering.
That being said, the Blaze seems similar to the Ming. I own a Ming and loved it. I replaced it with an iPhone mainly so I didn’t have to carry a separate iPod and phone. Although, I still like the Ming, but it is at least a couple of years old and the processor was a little slow. If the Blaze is similar enough to the Ming with a faster processor, I will get one if it is available on a network other than Verizon.
The Blaze won’t save Motorola and may not even be that big of a hit. Even so, people still “Oooh” and “Aaah” more at my Ming than the iPhone. Part because it’s cool with the clear flip, part because it’s not available in the U.S.
motorola will be okay who do you think rely on the police,fire,hospital,adc,nfl. get real allready
this is a great phone i own one myself.you can use the touch screen,or you can close the flip and still use the touchscreen function.yall need to learn your facts before you post junk