Slashdot Mirror
Review Of Linux-based Motorola A768i
Eugenia writes "MobileBurn published a review of Motorola's A768i, the Linux-based smartphone that employs a PDA-style form factor. It may not have much in the way of photo-taking abilities, but the A768i might be the thing for business users as it excels in the phone/messaging category."
I'm not sure I got that "bar of soap" idea right, but maybe you're talking about the Motorola A1000?
Here you go -- I don't have the full text, but there's the first three pages (before the site went down)
Motorola A768i Review
Review by Guest Contributor on Tuesday October 19, By Michael Puhala
Motorola A768i
Motorola A768i
I've recently gotten my hands on the Motorola A768i, a feature rich tri-band GPRS smartphone that boasts a Linux operating system along with Bluetooth, MP3 player, speakerphone, 65K TFT color screen, multi-function camera capable of shooting both stills and video, and a slew of other hidden features. Do I have your attention yet? Well then, let's find out if this phone delivers on everything it promises.
Design
If you are a flip phone zealot, then the design of this phone will appeal to you. However, if you are drawn more to the candybar or slider type of phone, as I am, then it might take some time to get used to the A768i.
At first glance, the A768i doesn't look much different than your typical Motorola flip phone. Upon closer review, and after opening the flip, you'll notice the absence of any physical numeric keypad and the presence of a fairly generously sized display. From here on out, there are very few similarities to the Motorola of the past. The form factor has been kept fairly compact considering its category (phone + pda = smartphone). The A768i weighs in at a respectable 120 grams. It is noticeably smaller than many other smartphones, but this Motorola model probably will not get any style points when compared to some of the ultra compact phones now on the market.
Back in Black
With many of the new phones donning the oh so popular silver exterior, Motorola went the other way with A768i and chose a dark gray exterior with chrome like accents. However, depending on the light, it often appears to be more black than grey.
On the left side of the phone are a volume rocker switch and a select button for navigating the user interface UI without the included stylus. On the right side is a single button that acts as the shutter button when in camera mode. It also enables the status and time when the flip is closed. Rather than going with a dual screen layout (one exterior and one interior), the a768i sports a clear plastic window that reveals roughly two thirds of the overall area of the main display when closed.
The back of the phone houses the camera lens, with its adjacent mirror for taking self-portraits. The face of the lens is almost flush with the phone, which lends itself to possible scratching. Also on the back, in close proximity to the camera lens, is the external speaker that is used for the speakerphone as well as other audio functions. A noticeable protrusion is the small fixed external antenna, which is obviously seeking function over form in this case.
Display
The a768i's display is quite impressive. Technical specifications indicate a 65k color TFT display. The display really shines is when it comes to internet browsing, where it shows off remarkable clarity and detail even on zoomed out web pages with a lot of images. Viewing the screen outdoors in direct sunlight is better than average; the display remains very readable.
Which comes first, Phone or PDA?
When it comes to smartphones, there are usually two camps: the devices that are more phone and less PDA, or just the opposite with the PDA taking center stage. If I had to allocate a percentage, I would suggest that the A768i is 70% phone and 30% PDA. Let's first cover the phone functionality.
Motorola has always delivered solid communication devices, and the A768i is no exception. Reception and voice quality (incoming and outgoing) are both exceptional (using 1900 band in the USA). The speakerphone is also top-notch. Most people could not even recognize that I was on a speakerphone when I was using it.
There are effectively three ways to dial out. The first and most basic is by touching numbers on the TFT screen. While the numbers are spaced far enough apart that you can use your finger
This one? http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS4604576509.html
Ah, here's the rest of the text --
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Messaging
For writing messages (SMS, MMS and email), the A768i works very well. It is generally quicker to use than is T9 on a traditional numeric keypad, , especially when using the on-screen keyboard. However, when using the handwriting recognition function, the text recognition is not as responsive as one would expect - even when set to 'fast' text recognition. That being said, the A768i is very accurate and includes predictive text, meaning as you begin to write a word, it will give you a list of closest matches from an internal word list. Additionally, you have the option to use the on-screen QWERTY keyboard, which also works well (but excludes predictive text). My only other complaint is that the space bar is awkwardly placed to the side rather than at the bottom of the virtual keyboard, where one would expect it to be.
In any application that requires text entry, you have a choice of using either the handwriting recognition function in a designated area at the bottom of the screen (much like Palm's graffiti function) or of using the virtual QWERTY keyboard or number specific virtual keypad.
I believe in order for a smartphone to be truly useful, it must have near equality with today's pure-play PDAs in terms of text entry and keyboard. Simply providing T9 or other predictive text on top of a numeric keypad just doesn't cut it for me. The A768i performs well under these criteria. If you use text messaging and/or email on a mobile phone often, it's hard to go back to a numeric keypad system once you've grown use to a system such as the one provided by the A768i. If you are drawn to physical keys (eg. Blackberry or Palm Treo 600), then the touch-screen of the A768i will take some time getting used to. Overall I preferred to use the QWERTY virtual keyboard in most applications. Handwriting recognition in the A768i has some usability issues, in my opinion, and is not as mature as that found in Palm OS or Microsoft Pocket PC platforms.
Battery Life
Lets not forget that last essential component: battery performance. In my own tests, the battery performed well considering the wonderful TFT screen. However, with Bluetooth on, and a lot of active use during the day, I would run out of battery life after about four hours of talk-time and 16 hours of standby time. In low usage scenarios, I achieved about 50 hours of standby time and about 2.5 hours of talk time. Compared with phones with a similar screen resolution and feature set, the battery life of the A768i could be deemed above average.
Conclusion
So, the question becomes will this be my mobile phone of choice for any length of time? Overall, I really like this phone. The A768i is refreshingly unique in many aspects and it does excel in the phone and messaging categories. But will it replace my Palm Tungsten T3? I don't think so. The A768i is not a PDA powerhouse, but it does have a much better contact database than the traditional Motorola OS offers. If I can get over my lack of desire for flip phones in general, then this phone will be a keeper. That is, until I get to try out the A780...
Recommended
Pros: Bluetooth, messaging, good browser, contact management
Cons: camera, dialing effort, mediocre calendar
More photos of the Motorola A768i are available on the following pages.
Motorola has more up its sleeve. It looks to me like the A768i is a reworked A760, which was for Asia only and didn't work in the U.S.
A780 is a flip-phone, just like A76x, that also has real buttons.
But a real nice one is E680 that's also capable of MPEG-4 encoding and decoding, can carry up to 1GB SD card, and much more. Check it out.
yup, I cancelled my Orange contract on the day they started charging for 0800 data calls.
Actually, that is a really popular use for a phone in Asian and European markets. SMS is such a shock for US citizens.
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Check another review of this phone at the link below.
http://www.techtree.com/techtree/jsp/showstory.js
What is the point of replying to a Slashdot post with a terrible assumption about email being one-way, when you haven't even read the article?
Geez, one of his largest sections talked about the 3 different methods of text entry and described how he liked that flexibility more than any keypad/T9 solution.
-N
I've nothing to say here...
Since the market for this phone is business users, and the network coverage for the 3G networks is more than adequate almost everwhere where you will find a concentration of businesses.
I.e. central Tokyo? Here in the northern part of Europe, ComputerWorld (I think it was them) is still writing about the difficulties getting the 3G networks online, and the phone companies would rather rent bandwith from other phone companies than buying their own equipment. And the US is years behind, not even fully on GSM, but still strugling with their old incompatible with anything systems.
A768i and the simpler A680 are both big successes in China. I have used the A768 for a few months now and although it has its foibles it is a kick ass phone. Very responsive and quick. Stable as a rock. Makes Windows phones look positively slow.