CeBIT 2008: Hands-On with Motorola's W230 and W270 Affordable Music Phones

Announced at the beginning of 2008, W230 and W270 are Motorola's new handsets targeted for users who want affordable but reliable music phones. Now Motorola showcases them at CeBIT 2008 in Hanover, Germany (4 – 9 March).

Both devices feature a dedicated music key that activates a digital music player which supports MP3 and other common audio formats. Moreover, the phones offer FM radio with RDS (Radio Data System) for displaying the artist, title and type of the songs when playing, microSD card support for up to 2GB, and CrystalTalk technology that allows users to experience a sharp and clear sound even in noisy conditions.

Motorola W230 only works on GSM networks (850/1900 MHz in the US and 900/1800 MHz in the rest of the world) and besides the music capabilities, it brings a range of basic features, including a 1.6 inch CSTN display with 65K colors and 128 x 128 pixels, GPRS, WAP 2.0 / xHTML browser, USB 1.1, support for Hinglish, Bengali, Tamil and 7 African languages, T9, handsfree and stopwatch.

W230 has a candybar form factor, it measures 110 x 45 x 14.7 millimeters, weighs only 80 grams and its battery should provide a talk-time of up to 9 hours and a stand-by time of about 450 hours. Motorola W230 was already released in India as MotoYouva W230 and can be bought for 3050 INR (about $77).

Motorola W270 offers about the same features the W230 does, the main difference being that W270 comes in a clamshell form factor. The handset is a dual-band GSM phone with a 1.6 inch CSTN display (128 x 128 pixels and 65K colors), WAP 2.0 / xHTML browser, GPRS, USB 1.1, FM recorder (for alarm signal only), support for 7 African languages, Hinglish, Bengali and Tamil, handsfree, T9 and stopwatch.

Motorola W270 weighs 94 g, measures 95 x 45 x 17 mm (when closed) and it packs a battery that should offer users up to 9 hours of talk-time and about 450 hours of stand-by time.

We've made pics at CeBIT with an orange W230 that would probably look cool in the hands of any young girl, and a black and more sober W270. Enjoy!















Live report by Bogdan Popa and Cosmin Vasile from CeBIT 2008 Hanover, Germany.


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