Motorola announces GSM Moto Q and Q q9

Motorola Q q9

(Credit: Motorola)

Motorola Q (GSM)

(Credit: Motorola)

We had a feeling we'd see these smart phones debut today (though not quite with such an awkward naming scheme, but whatever), but now it's official. Along with a slew of other new phones, Motorola announced the GSM version of the Motorola Q and a more multimedia-rich Moto Q q9 (see what we mean?).

The quad-band (GSM 850/900/1800/1900; GPRS/EDGE) Moto Q will run the latest Windows Mobile 6 Standard Edition and features the same soft-touch finish and black casing found on Verizon's version of the sleek QWERTY device. The rest of the features and design remain the same as the CDMA model's. The Moto Q GSM is expected to be available in the second half of the year; however, pricing and carrier have not been announced at this time.

If you're looking for some more oomph, the Motorola Q q9 offers some new goodies. It also runs WM6 Standard Edition but sports a slightly redesigned body with more rounded edges and an "ergonomically-optimized" keyboard. The navigation controls have been tweaked as well, and the display has an sensor to automatically adjust the backlighting based on your environment. Aside from aesthetics, the Q q9 is HSDPA capable and is compatible with Windows Mobile PlaysForSure content, which you can access over the air or via files stored on either the device's 256MB internal memory or a micro SD card. The smart phone also has a USB 2.0 jack for faster PC connectivity, and Motorola says the battery has been optimized for "superior performance." We'll see about that. The Moto Q q9 will be available in Q2; we suspect the quad-band phone will be available through Cingular, but again, no official details or pricing were available.