Buzz gets louder

Calcutta, Nov. 14: Imagine continuous news tickers on your mobile phone at no extra cost!

Come 2007 and Indian consumers can avail of Motorola’s global technology — Screen3 — to feed tickers in its handsets. The company is also set to launch its smart phone, the MotoQ, in India next year.

“The CDMA version of the MotoQ currently sells worldwide and as soon as the GSM version is developed, the handset would be launched early next year. The handset is aimed at improving business mobility and would cater to the enterprise segment,” said Lloyd Mathias, director marketing, mobile devices, Motorola India.

At 11.5 mm, this smart phone is touted to be 50 per cent thinner than its competitors and is among the early devices to run on the new Windows Mobile 5.0 platform.

The domestic smart phone devices market is set to grow by 100 per cent annually in the next four years.

The MotoQ would be Motorola’s second model in the business mobility or enterprise segment after MotoMING. However, competitor Nokia has eight models, including the communicator and the E-series.

Mathias said some of the MotoRAZR models like the V3i are well equipped for business mobility solutions.

The Screen3 technology is so named because Motorola believes the mobile phone screen is the third after the television and computer screens to revolutionise lives.

“This technology would entail a three-way tie-up among media houses that would provide content ranging from news, weather to entertainment to mobile service providers and Motorola. While the phone lies idle and at no extra cost, information could be available in the form of television news tickers. Only when the subscriber clicks a particular item to see the details, it would entail a charge,” Mathias added.

The company, which is on the upswing and expected to garner 20 per cent of the market share by 2007, has also revamped its weak distribution network.