Verizon Wireless has announced that their next phone based on Google’s Android OS, the Devour, will be arriving in March.
Verizon Wireless and Motorola, Inc. have announced the availability of Motorola DEVOUR in March. Motorola DEVOUR will be the first Verizon Wireless phone to feature MOTOBLUR, Motorola’s unique Android-powered content delivery service created to make wireless phones more personal and customizable.
MOTOBLUR is the first solution to sync contacts from work and personal e-mail services, including Gmail, with posts, messages, photos and more from popular sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. With MOTOBLUR, content is automatically delivered to the home screen and fed into easy-to-manage streams.
Motorola Devour’s Key Features
- Touch-sensitive navigation pad
- 3.1” capacitive touch screen
- Pre-loaded Google apps: Gmail, Google Talk, YouTube, Google Search and Google Maps with Navigation.
- Android Market application store
- MOTOBLUR Happenings Widget – automatically receive push status updates updates from popular social networking sites.
- MOTOBLUR Universal Inbox – gathers texts, social network messages and e-mails into one home screen widget.
- Back-Up and Security – Contacts, log-in information, home screen customizations, e-mail and social network messages are backed up automatically on the secure MOTOBLUR portal. The portal also allows customers to use the phone’s fully integrated aGPS to help locate the phone if misplaced. Remote wipe easily clears information from a lost device.
- 8 GB microSD™ card pre-installed
- Supported Bluetooth profiles include: A2DP, HID, HSP, HFP, AVRCP and GAP
Verizon Service Plans
To get the most from Motorola DEVOUR, customers will need to subscribe to a Nationwide Talk or Nationwide Talk & Text plan and a Data Package for smartphones. Nationwide Talk plans begin at $39.99 monthly access, and Nationwide Talk & Text plans begin at $59.99 monthly access. A Data Package for smartphones is $29.99 for unlimited monthly access.
Analysis
What I really like about the Devour is the new keyboard layout. For the Devour, Motorola chose to make the keys bigger and spaced them out more on the keyboard. In my opinion, this gives the user a better typing experience than what is available on the Motorola Droid or on screen virtual keyboards.
The downside is that the Devour is clearly intended to be a consumer device. I’m sure businesses will deploy plenty of the new Android-powered phone, however, without Google’s adding more robust support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync support, organizations looking to deploy Devour will continue to need third-party tools such as NitroDesk Touchdown.
For more details, visit the Verizon Wireless website.