14 DAY TRIAL // Motorola (apparently) surprised everyone with the release of its Z8m handset, which comes as a more advanced version of the RIZR Z8, launched back in September 2007. The new Z8m was unveiled in South Korea and is as of now available via SK Telecom, the largest Korean mobile operator (counting more than 20 million subscribers). The phone costs 500,000 KRW, which means a bit over $500 or about 320 Euros.
In terms of design, Motorola Z8m is not different from Z8, hence it comes in the same weird-in-a-good-way banana slider form. What the new phone brings is an upgraded HSDPA connectivity, which can now offer data transfer speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps (as opposed to 3.6 Mbps in the original version). Besides this, Moto Z8m doesn't seem to have other improved specs, offering a 2.2 inch TFT display with 16 million colors and 240 x 320 pixels, Symbian UIQ 3.1, Music player with MP3, AAC and AAC+ support, email, Instant Messaging, Web browser, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP, minuUSB, microSD card support for up to 4GB, and a 2 Megapixel camera with flash and video recording.
There's no word whether the new Z8m will be available in other countries or not. From where we stand, it better be, especially if Moto improved the handset's user interface which, in the original Z8, proved to be kind of unfriendly (read the Softpedia Z8 review for more details).
We've spotted a YouTube video presentation of the new Z8m, so we are embedding it below. As usual when it comes to releasing mobile phones, Asians do it with the help of cute women, and this time each of the two Korean girls in the presentation have a red M(oto) on their cheeks. Does this mean that Motorola is cheeky? Either way, enjoy the video: