Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Looking for a great Black Friday phone deal?  If so, you may want to check out the Motorola ZN5 because T-Mobile will be dropping the price down to free.  The good news here is that you can still take care of all your Black Friday shopping and not worry about missing out because T-Mobile has turned this into a Black Friday weekend and this offer is valid from November 28 through November 30. 

The one catch, which may be a deal breaker for some is that you still have to pay $99 at the time of purchase because the free comes in the form of a mail-in-rebate.  Also, as you would expect, you will also be required the accept the standard two-year agreement. 

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Today in the USA, we honor our soldiers.  While today’s soldiers are usually outfitted in the latest gadget gear we all know about, Gadgetell takes a look back at previous generations of gadgets.  Our findings might surprise you.

Motorola intros the WWII RAZR

Meet the Moto SCR-536.  Imagine the soldiers dancing in a foxhole when the CO calls with the “Hello Moto” ringtone blares.  OK, maybe not.  But this is the real deal, the Handie-Talkie was the world’s first two-way AM radio.  It weighted just under 7 lbs and had an 8-hour talk time.  I’ll avoid any comparisons to Moto’s current line up, feel free to make your own and chuckle.  Moto’s device was way ahead of the competition and up to 26lbs lighter.  Way out in front.

See what other odd gadgets we’ve found.

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  This is where we call out the tech moves that seem odd, out of touch or just plain straight up smokin’ crack.  This week sees posturing, positioning and flat out insanity.  Here is what caught my eye this week:

Follow to see me call out:

• LG and its ridiculously square phone
• AT&T thinks Android is on crack
• Sprint thinks we want to watch football (American) on our phones.
• Moto wants to be on crack
• and our own Natesh who finds more than his share of obscure gadgetry

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There is a new sheriff in town and it’s name is iPhone.  This year, according the JD Powers the top dog spot goes to Apple’s phone, leaving RIM to finish in the #2 spot.  As you can see from the above graph, Apple’s entry was not included in last year (the survey’s inaugural year).  The graph shows some interesting items.

Find out what after the break.

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We have recently seen the Motorola AURA in all its expensive glory, and now there seems to be another twist in the story.  The twist is thankfully just in the rumor stage, and although we are not sure it is believable, it kind of sounds like it would be something that Moto would do with a luxury handset.

The story goes that a “source close to the company” has leaked some information stating that any AURA owners will not be able to resell the phone on eBay.  In fact, the source has stated that anyone who buys an AURA will have to “sign into a contract that states they can’t sell it on eBay.”  Plenty more after the break.

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Motorola has announced that its MOTOZINE ZN5 will be available via T-Mobile for $99 with a two-year service agreement.  The MOTOZINE was first announced this past June.

At first blush, the MOTOZINE looks like a very simple phone.  Its secret—a 5 MP camera packing lots of goodies, including some Kodak technology, Xenon flash, auto-focus, and a multi-shot mode.  It also has special capture and edit modes (like a panorama mode).  Photos can uploaded to photo sites directly from the phone via Wi-Fi, printed via Bluetooth or USB, or sent out via MMS.

The design of the phone is clean and the screen size is decent relative to the size of the keypad.  The phone is lacking a QWERTY keyboard, though this is not necessarily a negative.  Why use words when you can say it with a picture?

Check out the phone [Moto ZN5]

• Grab a Google Android G1 for $125
• Slacker 2GB WiFi player just $49 today only
• Gadgetell Video Review: Kodak Zi6 HD camcorder

This is where we call out by names the actions and companies that seem odd, out of touch or just plain straight up smokin’ crack.  Technology is an odd realm where PR speak doesn’t hold a lot of water if the 1s and 0s don’t line up.  This week sees posturing, positioning and flat out insanity.  Here is what caught my eye this week:

Check out my mockery of:

• Cell phone carriers
• Dell
• Asus
• Motorola (yet again)
• the gaming industry

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Apparently we were not the only ones taken with T-Mobile’s Android event last week.  Seems in addition to the predictable fans made by the event, Motorola was watching closely.  Reports suggest they are building an Android team now.

Motorola inspired?

As I included them in last week’s “Who’s on Crack“ for being late to the better phone party, maybe it was my chastising that lit the fire.  Maybe it was the leak of their Q11 phone that was met with lackluster interest.  Maybe they’ve taken a good, hard look in the mirror and still want to create another Razr phone that everyone loves.

See how Moto is beefing up their Android team, hit the jump to follow.

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This is where we call out by names the actions and companies that seem odd, out of touch or just plain straight up smokin crack.  Technology is an odd realm where PR speak doesn’t hold a lot of water if the 1s and 0s don’t line up.  This week sees posturing, positioning and flat out insanity.  Here is what caught my eye this week:

Hit the jump to see bonehead moves from Apple, Google, T-Mobile, SanDisk and Motorola…

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Recently, Motorola introduced two new universal Bluetooth headsets dubbed MOTOPURE H15 and H780. Motorola says that both headsets feature groundbreaking noise cancellation technology, stylistic and functional design as well as Motorola’s CrystalTalk technology which enables the headsets to produce clear sound.

If you have both a business and a personal phone, the headsets take advantage of its multipoint technology and pair one headset to both lines.  In addition, the MOTOPURE H15 features a flip design that comes with RapidConnect technology which Motorola claims makes the headset not only easy-to-use but saves battery life as well.

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