Motorola's Zander talks with CNET

In an interview today with CNET.com and CNET News.com, Motorola CEO Ed Zander divulged some juicy details about the upcoming Motorola Q. As Bonnie Cha reports, Zander said that the slim smart phone will make its formal debut next week. Though a firm release date is still under wraps, it's been rumored for several weeks that the Q will go on sale with Verizon on May 22.

CNET News.com reporter Michael Kanellos has a full story on the interview, but I'm happy to serve up other tidbits from the discussion.

• The Q in neither a cell phone nor a smart phone Zander said; rather, it's a multimedia device. Also, its complexity led to the development delays.
• There are no plans currently to release the Motorola Rokr E2 with a U.S. carrier (it's available in China now). Zander did say, however, that he wished the Rokr E2 was the first Rokr on the market instead of the widely panned Rokr E1.
• The Razr not only took the cell phone world by storm, it also had a huge effect on Motorola internally. As Zander put it, the trendy thin handset made Moto employees realize the company "could be cool again."
• Zander attributes Motorola's success in the last year to an emphasis on device design, aggressive marketing campaigns, and a common platform.
• He wouldn't speculate on rumors that Apple is designing its own cell phone.

So those are the highlights from our talk with Zander. We also got a sneak look at the sexy Motorola Ming. And in case you were wondering, he was carrying a gold Razr as his personal phone.