Krave ZN4 Full Spec

To paraphrase Mark Twain, it appears that the reports of Motorola's death have been greatly exaggerated. At least that is the impression we have after spending some time with the new Motorola Krave ZN4 the company built for Verizon Wireless. The new Krave is an interactive touchscreen equipped media consumption device with a host of clever tricks in its bag.

As a media device, the Krave supports all of Verizon's 3G services, including TV and music, as well as Verizon's mobile email solution, GPS navigation, speaker independent voice dialing, and even visual voicemail. A 3.5mm headphone jack port means that people can use their own headphones to enjoy music and TV, while stereo Bluetooth gives users the ability to do it wirelessly. A microSDHC(INFO) card slot on the device has been tested with 8GB cards, which should provide for plenty of room for music as well as photos shot with the Krave's 2 megapixel camera.

While the Krave sports an all new touch version of the Verizon user interface on its capacitive touchscreen display, which works pretty well, the real magic here is built into the Krave's transparent flip. No mere hunk of random plastic, the Krave's front cover has layers of metal mesh inside it that not only drive the ear speaker without obvious wires, but the entire flip itself is touch sensitive and can be used to control the device without having to open it up. While you can't use the closed flip to write messages, buy music, or navigate the main menu, you can use it to read messages, control your music playback, and navigate the roads with VZ Navigator. Users can also view your photos and watch TV, too. Motorola has included a lock button, located on the Krave's right edge, that turns that functionality off for when the phone is thrown in a purse or pocket.

There is plenty more to the Krave than just that Ming-inspired flip front, though. As mentioned above, the new touch version of the Verizon UI is pretty good and quite responsive. The large WQVGA (400x240 pixel) touchscreen display requires only light touches to activate, and provides vibration haptic feedback when touched. The UI also works pretty quickly, too. The built-in accelerometer handles automatic screen rotation tasks for apps like the browser, mobile TV, and the virtual keyboard, which works in QWERTY mode when held horizontally. Flip the device back to portrait mode, and users can use the typical 12 key keypad for iTAP predictive or triple-tap non-predictive text entry. The QWERTY keyboard is a bit difficult to use due to the Krave's flip getting in the way, but it is still great for entering in URLs and certain other tasks.

The aforementioned browser has a neat little semi-transparent finger control that makes it easier to select small on-screen links with a fingertip. I was surprised at how well it worked, and I could easily see other platforms adopting a similar pointer to make browsing easier. The browser also supports just enough Flash to be able to view videos on YouTube, too.

The Motorola Krave ZN4 is offered in a dark gray color scheme with soft-touch paint around back and a polished metallic frame on the front face. The Krave's battery is claimed to be good for just over 4 hours of talk time or 20 days of standby. At 130g, it isn't exactly lightweight, but we feel it offers a lot of functionality that makes the heft worth it.

The Motorola Krave ZN4 is available today from Verizon Wireless for US$149.99, after a $50 mail-in rebate when purchased with a new two year agreement.