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Features
The Motorola Q's features aren't as revolutionary as its design. That's not to say the Q lacks functionality, but it doesn't offer anything that the other Windows Mobile smart phones don't have. As we mentioned earlier, the Moto Q runs Windows Mobile 5 Smartphone Edition, which means you won't get the full Mobile Office Suite--no Word Mobile, Excel Mobile, or PowerPoint Mobile. Instead, the Q comes preloaded with Picsel Viewer so that you can view but not edit said files; the app also lets you open PDFs. The device has 128MB of flash memory and 64MB of RAM, with roughly 60MB of user-accessible memory. If you plan on carrying a lot of work documents or multimedia files, do yourself a favor and get a Micro SD card, as none are included in the box.

	The Moto Q offers 60MB of user-accessible memory, but for your music and video files, invest in a Micro SD card.

For your e-mail needs, you get Outlook Mobile so that you can synchronize your messages, your contacts, calendar, and tasks. Using the included USB cable and ActiveSync 4.1, we had no trouble syncing all our Outlook files with the Motorola Q. The Q can also wirelessly sync with your Hotmail account and up to eight POP3 e-mail accounts. Business users will be pleased that Motorola has worked with Good Technology to deliver push e-mail capabilities to the Q via GoodLink. The functionality is available immediately for Microsoft Exchange users, with support for IBM Domino/Lotus Notes coming this summer. In addition, Verizon offers its own wireless e-mail solution through VZEmail. Motorola and Microsoft are working on a ROM upgrade that will bring the features of the Windows Mobile Messaging and Security Feature Pack to the Q. Microsoft would not give a specific time frame as to when we'd see the upgrade other than "soon," but it will be available to customers as a free download. The Moto Q also supports text, multimedia, and instant messaging.

Wireless connections come in the form of Bluetooth 1.2, EV-DO (backward compatible with 1xRTT), and infrared but no Wi-Fi. Again, we realize there's an argument that EV-DO eliminates the need for Wi-Fi, but coverage can be limited outside of large and midsize metropolitan areas, so it would be nice to have that Wi-Fi option. Still, the support for 3G cellular technology means you can enjoy broadbandlike speeds on the Q, averaging around 400Kbps to 700Kbps, so you get faster downloads of data, e-mail, and attachments. In addition, the integrated Bluetooth opens up the door for communicating with wireless headsets (including a stereo Bluetooth profile), car kits, and other peripherals, such as GPS receivers and Bluetooth-enabled laptops. Unlike with the Palm Treo 700p, Verizon will not support dial-up networking capabilities via Bluetooth on the Q.

When Motorola and Verizon announced the official availability of the Q, they made a point of calling out its "phone first" mantra. As such, the mobile offers a duplex speakerphone, voice dialing, smart dialing, and vibrate and flight modes. The Q's phone book is limited only by the available memory, and each entry can hold up to 12 phone numbers, three e-mail addresses, a home and a work address, a job title, and more. For caller-ID purposes, you can assign a contact to a category or pair it with one of 31 polyphonic ring tones or a photo.

Speaking of photos, the Motorola Q has a 1.3-megapixel camera with video-recording capabilities. You can take still shots in five resolutions (160x120, 176x144, 320x240, 640x480, and 1,280x1,024), and we like that the 6X digital zoom is available for use even at the highest resolution. You also get a flash, a self-timer, a burst mode, and brightness and white-balance adjustments. There are light editing options available too, including rotate and crop. In video mode, you have a choice of three quality settings--126x96, 160x120, and 176x144--and while you get brightness and white-balance options, the zoom is not available. Once you're done with your masterpieces, you can share your photos with others via Bluetooth, multimedia message, or e-mail; view them in a slide show; or save them as wallpaper. Motorola wouldn't confirm or deny a cameraless version of the Moto Q but did say that this is just the first of a family of devices.

If you would rather view other people's videos instead of recording your own, there's Windows Media Player 10 Mobile for all your multimedia needs. A number of popular audio and video formats--AAC, MP3, WAV, WMA, MPEG-4, and WMV, to name a few--are supported, and if you have TV shows recorded on your Windows Media Center PC, you can transfer them to the Motorola Q and enjoy it on the handset's great screen (see Performance for more). Motorola also said the Q will work with the Sling Media Slingbox. Despite the EV-DO capability, however, the Q does not support Verizon's multimedia V Cast service.

Some final features of the Motorola Q worth mentioning are Memory Manager, Task Manager, a preloaded help and quick-start guide, and two standard games (Bubble Breaker and Solitaire). There is, of course, a vast library of third-party apps that you can add to the Q, including Virtual Earth Mobile, AvantGo, and Fizz Traveller.

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