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>> Hi. I'm Kent German, senior editor for cell phone reviews here at CNET.com. Today, we're taking a First Look at the Motorola Crush. This is a new phone for US Cellular Service. Motorola Crush is a touchscreen phone, and you might think that is a little surprising because it is not very big. Normally, we really like a screen to be at least 3.25 to really be useful, but on the whole, I think it works. The touchscreen is pretty responsive. Even the virtual keyboard, which is a little bit small, you get used to it over time. The only thing where the touchscreen really makes an impact is in the full web browser. Then it was not the easiest thing to use, so if you're a web browsing a lot, probably not the phone for you, but if you want a touchscreen for just making calls and mid-range features, good option. There are a few things about the design that are interesting on the phone. Now, it may look upside down here because we have the talk and end keys here at the top, and we have the shortcut buttons here at the top. Usually, all of those are at the bottom of the screen, so the on-screen shortcuts are at the bottom, the talk and end buttons are at the bottom, but the phone is actually right side up, also, the speakers here on the top. This makes no impact on usability whatsoever. To me, it didn't make any difference. I could take it or leave it, but it's no problem there. Have some shortcuts here for accessing the dial pad, for accessing the messaging feature, and a couple other things. Dial pad has a pretty standard format. Also, the main menu, you can get to that by just tapping on the display, bring down that regular icon-based display, but the text there is pretty small as well, so just another thing to know about. There is no dedicated back button, which I would've liked. As it is, you have to press the end key to really go back on anything, but it would be nice to have a dedicated back button. Camera is in the back; there is no flash or self-portrait mirror. It has a two-megapixel camera, but it was devoid of camera editing functions, which is unfortunate. We do typically like those. In the phone, you'll find Bluetooth. You have a basic music player. You'll have some GPS. You'll have a speakerphone, basic organizer feature, messaging, so really mid-range as far as the features go, but it makes pretty good calls. The volume was a little low, but pretty good clarity. Of course, here in San Francisco, we are in the US Cellular's roaming service. We aren't in their home network. But I thought the phone performed well overall. But really, the Crush is about taking that touchscreen, putting it in a phone that is pretty affordable -- it's just about $70.00 with service as of now -- and just packing in just more of the most useful features. I'm Kent German, and this is the Motorola Crush.
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