Research in Motion (RIM) creator of BlackBerry is receiving hard hits from Motorola, especially since their partnership with Nextel from Sprint. Just few days ago, on June 9, Motorola made the announcement of their brand-new Photon 4G. The Photon is a sophisticated smartphone that runs on Android and features innovative security options, which would make it a perfect contender to bring BlackBerry down.
Motorola stated that they are presenting customers with more options, and that the Photon comes with VPN support and security features such as remote wipe.
The reason why RIM has been so successful is due to their superb mobile e- mail service, and the lack of competitors in that area. Most customers have been relying on BlackBerry phones for e-mail matters. However, they have been stayed up to date when it comes to other types of features and novel gadgets. This has been evidenced by the market results of the last quarters. As a matter of fact, they were placed third in a report published by ComScore.
The truth is that RIM has been lagging behind. It was reported that their stock was downgraded because they have failed to certify new handset models. In addition, there hasn’t been any mass production ordered. In other news, it was allegedly stated that RIM’s newest Bold phone might not be released until September. Due to this, many BlackBerry users have started purchasing other phones.
Motorola saw the opportunity to beat RIM in the open market. They have worked hard on making their newest phone powerfully equipped with countless apps and other handy functions. They also made it a point to make it suitable for business use – just like BlackBerry.
Motorola’s CEO Sanjay Jha stated that they have observed who there is a growing trend of combining mobile phones with work. They have designed the Photon to be perfect for business as well as entertainment.
They have also designed it to work with both types of technologies: GSM and CDMA. This means, the phone is also attractive to the business people that travel around the world. Interesting enough, it is possible to plug it to an accessory dock in order to be able to open Microsoft Office files and view, edit, or even send them, making use of an app.
Besides all the business related features, the Photon also comes equipped with a powerful 8MP camera and flash, a touch screen that measures 4.3 inches, and a dual core processor. Amazingly, the users will be able to use the Photon as a hot spot and connect devices via Wi-Fi (up to eight devices).
In regards to Sprint, so far Motorola hasn’t had an excellent performance like iPhone is supposed to do with Verizon. However, all of this is soon to change. RIM better watch out since the competition is getting tougher from all ends. The Motorola Photon 4G phone will be available later this summer on Sprint Nextel network, but a price has not been revealed yet.
| MOTOROLA PHOTON 4G ™ Features | |
| Talk and Standby Time | Talk time: CDMA: up to 10 hours, WCDMA: up to 9.1 hours; GSM: up to 10.4 hoursStandby time: CDMA: up to 8.3 days; WCDMA: up to 13.1 days; GSM: up to 12.2 days |
| Bands/Modes | WiMAX 2.5, WCDMA 850/1900/2100, CDMA 800/1900, GSM 850/900/1900, CDMA EV-DO Release A, EDGE Class 12, GPRS Class 12 |
| Dimensions | 66.9 x 126.9 x 12.2 mm |
| Display | 4.3” qHD (Quarter High Definition) |
| Weight | 158 g |
| Battery | 1700 mAh |
| OS | Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) |
| Connectivity | 3.5mm, USB 2.0 HS, HDMI, DNLA, Bluetooth, OTA, PC Sync and Corporate Sync |
| Network | Sprint Nextel |
| Messaging/Web/Apps | MMS, SMS, email (Corporate Sync, Google Mail, POP3/IMAP embedded, Push Email) |
| Camera | 8MP, Digital Zoom with dual LED flash, 2nd VGA imager for video chat self image capture |
| Audio | FM Radio Receive, AAC, AAC+, AAC+ Enhanced, AMR NB, AMR WB, MIDI, MP3, WAV, WMA v10, WMA v9 |
| Video | 720p capture; 1080p playback |
| Memory | 16GB, up to 48GB |
| Antenna | Internal |
| Location Services | eCompass, aGPS with Google Maps™, Google Latitude™, Google Maps Street View |
