As cheap as chips yet still packing a half-decent feature set is Motorola’s new uber-budget, festival-friendly handset, the Motorola Wilder.
Unlikely to instil pangs of envy and lust in parading iPhone and Galaxy S II owners, this rather modest chap packs in all the smartphone essentials with its tough splash and dustproof casing designed to take on anything a British summer can throw at it.
Priced at a deliciously low £49.99, cheapskates can enjoy a 2.8-inch 240 x 320 pixels, 262k colours touchscreen, with a rather neat 0.7″ 96 x 16 pixel panel secondary notification display area below.
Onboard there’s a modest 2-megapixel camera capable of firing off video at 15fps and an integrated FM radio, all purring along on a proprietary OS promising 9.5 hours talk/10 days standby.
A handful of games are lobbed in for free – Tetris, Game of Life, Need For Speed – along with apps like Soundhound and Opera Mini.
Motorola has got you covered for any possible social networking need too, with the handset able to blast your thoughts and images directly up to Twitter, Youtube, Facebook and even (bless ’em) MySpace.
Measuring up at 100 x 57mm, the handset can play back MP3, AAC +, AAC +, eAAC +, AMR NB, AMR WB, Midi and WAV files, with a MicroSD offering storage expansion options.
The Motorola Wilder should be available from July onwards in “Licorice and Saffron” and “Licorice and Classic Grey” colour combinations.
Here’s the full press release, blasting stright outta Basingstoke:
BASINGSTOKE, UK – June 8, 2011 — Jump into the heart of the action with the latest splash and dust-resistant touch phone from Motorola Mobility UK Ltd. Motorola WILDER™ enables users to live life for the moment without worrying about their phone, whether hanging out on the beach, relaxing poolside, or amidst the muddiest and rowdiest festival scenes. Motorola WILDER is expected to be available from July for £49.95 at The Carphone Warehouse.
With a durable 2.8-inch touch screen, Motorola WILDER lets users access and integrate their social networking accounts, like those from Facebook®, Myspace™, Twitter and YouTube™, so they can connect with friends and stay on top of status updates all day long. Motorola WILDER also features a secondary notification screen, highlighting important information that matters to teens most, like incoming messages from friends and family and information on the music track they’re playing.
Motorola WILDER offers an FM radio for streaming the latest hits, exciting games, including Need for Speed, and cool apps, such as Soundhound®. The 2-megapixel video camera lets users document their wild adventures, and the Web browser keeps them entertained and informed while on-the-go.
“Motorola WILDER provides on-the-go consumers with a touch screen experience that is splash and dust-resistant, offering a cost-conscious option that is still cool,” said Andrew Morley, vice president of marketing, international markets, Motorola Mobility Inc. “The durable phone is a great addition to our device portfolio and was developed with our customer needs in mind. With integrated social media and a secondary notification screen, users can stay on top of what really matters to them, and being splash and dust-resistant, they can get into the action without worry.”
Motorola WILDER Features:
Compact GSM dual-band phone with 2.8-inch QVGA resistive touch screen
- Social networking integration for sites like Facebook, Myspace, Twitter and YouTube
- Embedded games & apps: Tetris, Game of Life, Need For Speed, Soundhound
- Entertainment delivered with a FM radio and MP3 player. MP3, AAC +, AAC +, eAAC +, AMR NB, AMR WB, Midi, WAV
- Capture the action with a 2-megapixel camera and 15fps video capture/playback
- 5MB on-device memory, up to 32GB expandable memory to store music, photos and more
- HTML Web browsing (opera mini) and support for messaging applications including SMS, MMS and e-mail
- Bluetooth® capabilities for wireless calls and music
- Secondary notification display
- 910mAh battery delivers talk time up to 575 minutes and standby time up to 255 hours
- Accessories: a 3.5mm headset and micro USB charger
- Splash and dust-resistant
Pricing and Availability
Motorola WILDER is expected to be available from The Carphone Warehouse from July for £49.95.
Information about Motorola WILDER can be found at www.motorola.com/wilder or on YouTube.
