Rumor control: Motorola Q

Last Friday, a rumor that Verizon Wireless could start carrying the Motorola Q as early as this week. What the Q? Hold the phone. I had just put in my weekly, pestering phone call to Microsoft the day before, asking about the smart phone, and was dejected once again to get the same sympathetic "no updates yet, but we'll definitely let you know" reply. So I was cautiously optimistic when I read Gizmodo's post. Then my dreams came crashing down this morning as I received confirmation from Motorola that it's just a rumor--sigh. What we do know: It will run Windows Mobile 5 Smartphone Edition, so you won't get the full Microsoft Office Mobile suite or a touch screen. You will get Outlook Mobile, though. The Q will ship on CDMA first, and though there's no official confirmation, Verizon will presumably be the carrier. There was also a bit of a hubbub a while ago when French Web site Mobinaute reported that the GSM version of the phone had been canceled, but once again, it was just an ugly rumor, as clarified on BargainPDA.com. We also asked the Microsoft Windows Mobile team about this, and without saying it outright, it said Motorola probably wouldn't invest so much time and money into a device without plans to release a GSM version. The Motorola Q is expected to ship in the spring--fingers crossed. We'll keep you updated as we get news.