T-Mobile Motorola Defy to debut on Oprah today

Android hasn’t had much trouble finding its audience amongst the Geekerati out there, but it’s not quite a household name just yet. No product has ever reached its true potential until it’s embraced by that ever-important but always-overlooked group: Moms. Soccer Moms, stay-at-home Moms.. whatever genre of Mother we’re talking about, there’s one way to reach them all: Oprah.

Realizing this, Motorola has managed to secure themselves a spot on Oprah’s 25th season premiere, where they’ll be debuting their latest venture into the Android game: the T-Mobile Defy. Can’t bring yourself to watch Oprah? Don’t sweat it — we’ve got the specs after the jump.

• Operating System: Android (presumably 2.1) with MOTO’s custom BLUR skin on top
• Display: 3.7″ WVGA screen
• Camera: 5 megapixels, with camera flash
• CrystalTalk noise reduction
• DLNA
• Semi-rugged;Scratch and water resistant, dust proof

No word yet on pricing, unless you’re in the audience on the Oprah show today, in which case it’s presumably free. YOU GET A MID-RANGE SEMI-RUGGED SMARTPHONE!! AND YOU GET A MID-RANGE SEMI-RUGGED SMARTPHONE!!

Verizon's anti-iPhone gets its first commercial: 'Droid Does'

We knew Verizon Wireless would soon be throwing caution to the wind in an effort to sway uncommitted smartphone buyers towards Big Red, and it looks like the November-bound Motorola Droid will be VZW's anti-iPhone. The spot, which launched tonight and can be view in its entirety after the break, is a 30 second clip that begins by mocking Apple's cutesy music and iconic font typically seen in iPhone plugs. It reels off a number of things that the iPhone can't do, and then abruptly goes into full-on tease mode by flashing glimpses of a robot-controlled future and a tagline that simply states: "Droid Does." No shots of the actual Motorola Droid (or Sholes, as it was known in the past) are shown, but a dedicated teaser portal has already been erected; through that, we're told that the phone will boast Android 2.0 and a 5 megapixel camera. At this point, we'd say the gloves are definitely off -- AT&T, have anything to say for yourself, or is the iPhone doing just fine on its own?[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Motorola Cliq

I got a brief chance to handle the Motorola Cliq Android phone—no pictures yet, unfortunately—and came away pleasantly surprised. The phone itself is about as tall as an iPhone, but it's definitely thinner than most QWERTY sliders.

Compared to the G1 this thing is svelte, and the keyboard is aligned correctly with the screen so there's no weird jarring going on when you're typing. The addition of the D-Pad, like we noted in the liveblog, is going to be fantastic for gaming/emulation gaming, and works like a D-Pad when navigating the phone as well. Very useful.

The sliding mechanism feels solid and desirable, as in, I want to open and close the thing all day just to hear the sound. The version I saw was white, and the finish was classy without being ostentatious, and definitely not cheap feeling. There's a heft to it, but it's definitely not heavy.

Motorola Aura Specs

The Return of Artistry, AURA™ by Motorola is a timeless, classically designed device that delivers a sensory experience that is second to none for those with refined taste.Motorola Aura is a simple quad-band GSM device, with a basic 2 megapixel digital camera and 2GB of internal memory. The AURA lacks 3G support, WiFi or GPS.

Features:

• 16 Million Colors - World’s first 16 million color, circular display with 300 dpi resolution in the mobile phone industry
• 62 Carat Lens - created from Grade 1 62-carat sapphire crystal, one of the most scratch-resistant materials on earth
• Meticulously Crafted - Stainless steel housing with chemically etched textures and patterns takes nearly two weeks to sculpt, etch and polish
• Swiss-Made Main Bearing - At the center of the mechanical heart is a Swiss-made main bearing, which serves as the foundation allowing the blade to rotate with seamless precision
• Custom-Engineering - Custom-engineered rotating mechanism has 130 precision ball bearings that drive the assisted-opening blade — like opening the door on a high-end luxury car. On the 100,000th opening, the blade glides with the same fluidity and grace that it did on its first
• Tungsten Carbide Coated Gears - Gears composed of Rockwell 50-55 hardened steel are protected with the same coating used in high-performance racing engines
• 700+ Individual Components - Comprised of features including up-scaled, nickel-chrome-plated exposed screws
• CrystalTalk™ Technology - CrystalTalkTM technology delivers supreme clarity and deep resonance to every single conversation an AURA owner has, even in noisy environments
• Mirror Polish Finish - PVD coating, the same used when making luxury watches, gives AURA its polished, mirrored shine
• Aluminum Keypad - Individual aluminum keys are formed, anodized, spin-finish applied and assembled

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.