Motorola phones make surprise debut
The handset maker's crop of phones for 2003 will come in a broad range of colors and technologies, but they share one feature: their public debut was out of the tech giant's control.
The handset maker on Wednesday began investigating how an early version of its 2003 cellular product plans got posted on the Internet, said Motorola spokesman Alan Buddendeck.
The photos and text appear to be of future Motorola phones that use the world's most popular phone standard, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Buddenbeck said.
The site detailed supposedly secret plans for a white-backlit screen on the C336 to a Bluetooth-enabled smart phone arriving in the third quarter.
The material appeared first on a Web site originating from inside the Czech Republic, Buddenbeck said. The company doesn't intend to ask that the material be removed, he added.
"I don't (if) know there's going to be an aggressive move to have it pulled," he said. The plans that were posted were also very early and likely may have changed already, he added.
According to the plans, the company intends to remake at least two phones from 2002. They are the sub-$100 C330, which will get a new name, C336 and a white backlighting. The V70, the gray and black cell phone that swivels open like a switchblade, will get a few upgrades as well, the plans indicate.
One of Motorola's 2003 phones, the C370, will be able to download software, like games or business applications. Wireless carriers Nextel Communications and Sprint PCS are selling over-the-air downloads, hoping to generate new revenue.
Two higher-end Motorola phones for 2003, the V300 and V600, will have plug-in cameras. Selling picture messages is another new service carriers offer. Motorola also plans to sell a pair of "smart phones", which have capabilities of both a phone and a personal digital assistant.