It has all the workings of a great novel, the valiant hero, enter the Motorola DEXT, kicked out, downtrodden and scavenging the mobile land for survival. Survival against what you ask? Lets bring out the big boys; dominators of the smartphone market Apple, HTC and Blackberry, these are the guys you don’t want to cross. However, Motorola are about to do just that.
After being cast aside by the mobile community, Motorola dusted itself off and began possibly the greatest comeback campaign the mobile world has ever seen. So just how does our bold protagonist, who hasn’t seen success in 5 years, since the RAZR range (in 2004) expect to propel itself into the realms of the Smartphone? With a little help from Google of course!
The DEXT is Motorola’s first Android handset, and this could well be the beginning of a beautiful relationship. It supports Android 1.5, the cupcake edition and offers the usual marketplace and assortment of applications to splatter across the homescreen. But, and this is a very big but, Motorola, not satisfied with Android technology alone have thrown some of their own software into the mix. The Motorola DEXT is the first handset to host MOTOBLUR technology, dedicated to keeping it’s owner connected. It comes with five different homescreens, leaving plenty of room to cram in every widget and application you could possibly need. Now, five homepages may seem like a lot, but trust me when you’ve explored all the workings of MOTOBLUR you’ll need them.
It seems presenting messages in threads is ‘the thing to do’, so as you’d expect the Motorola DEXT has followed suit, bringing with it a few ideas of it’s own. Head to the message section and you’re given a snapshot of all current correspondence including emails, texts, instant messages and social network interaction. The DEXT treats all messages in the same way, regardless of how they were sent, meaning each interaction, (be it a message, email, social network message, or missed call) is stored in the contacts history page. This results in information overload, for each contact you get a massive catalogue of communication, as well as the usual birth date, web address, photo, name and number. If they’re a social networker, it will also bring up their status, giving you the choice whether or not to answer the phone! Sticking with the social networking vibe, you can access and update a number of different accounts straight from the homepage. But if it’s a dose of reality you’re after, the DEXT can provide that as well, in the shape of ‘newsfeeds’, just sign up to whichever takes your fancy, news, sport, showbiz gossip, and you can keep track of all the goings on from, yep you’ve guessed it, one of the many homepages.
The main advantage of the MOTOBLUR technology is without doubt, the ability to back up all your info onto a separate server, basically if a Moto-rival snatches your DEXT there’s no need to panic. Every contact, message and homescreen preference down to the last widget is automatically saved, ready to be installed onto your next device. Thanks to the clever GPS software, it also means you can track down your handset and wipe the phone, DEXT owners 1 – Phone thieves 0.
Technology-wise, it’s doing pretty well. But, with fierce competition in the Smartphone market, the DEXT will need more than just brains to make its mark. The Touchscreen appears to be the latest Android trend, however, determined to stand out from the crowd the Motorola DEXT sports a full QWERTY keyboard, which is very easy to use. The 3.1-inch screen also offers a virtual keyboard that is just as straightforward; what’s more because it’s capacitive, it will respond to pretty much anything you want to poke it with. Unfortunately, all that QWERTY action comes at a cost…the DEXT is well, Fat… and I mean 10,000 calories a day Fat. But, if you’re into the slider keyboards then it shouldn’t matter.
Underneath all the flashy features and technological ability, the Motorola DEXT is still your average phone. Complete with 5 mega-pixel camera, which supports geotagging and auto focus, possible the only downside for the nocturnal among us is the lack of flash but it’s give and take in this game. In return, Motorola have selflessly opted for the standard 3.5mm audio port and microSD card, which can handle up to 32GB. Finally, for those who care, it has great battery life compared to the average Android handset, meaning it should last long enough to see in another Motorola masterpiece.
