A Musical Smartphone, Aiming to Increase the Cool Quotient

A funny thing happened when Motorola first introduced its Q smartphone. It found that many buyers were casual users, not BlackBerry converts itching for an e-mail fix. The company decided to make the Q look a little cooler and added music and easy-to-use messaging features — thus the new Q Music 9M.


The 5-ounce 9M, which costs $249 with a two-year contract and discounts, has a 2.5-inch screen and rubberized keys and back panel. It runs on Verizon’s high-speed data network and works with the V Cast music service, so you can wirelessly download songs for $1.99 over the air — although you can also put your own music into the phone’s 64 megabytes of memory or a supplemental mini SD card (not included).

The phone also has a unique user interface that focuses on many of the music- and media-playing functions and hides most of the complex features. A small program automatically connects to many standard e-mail services, including GMail and Hotmail. Meanwhile, the red-and- black color scheme will help in your efforts to look cool and casual.

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