Verizon Wireless and Motorola announced the launch of the new Motorola A455 Rival, a compact QWERTY messaging phone that supports an array of Verizon’s value added services, including GPS navigation, Visual Voicemail, V CAST Music and both personal and corporate email.
The device will definitely appeal to LG Rumor/Samsung Rant fans, but has a smaller form factor and a compact but well laid out 4-row QWERTY keyboard that worked extremely well. The keyboard even has a dual-mode backlight system that lights the numbers and symbols in green when the function key is activated.
The Rival features a number of touch sensitive controls that add a bit of a twist to the typical user interface found on phones like this. The touch sensitive softkeys light up when available, which makes them easy to find in both landscape and portrait modes. When opened up in landscape mode for messaging tasks, the on-screen button at the bottom of the display can be activated by touch or by clicking on the d-pad’s center button. The touch keys seem a bit unnecessary, perhaps, but at least they provide haptic feedback in the form of vibration pulses. The full touchscreen can only be used when in the dial-pad mode, for entering numbers. Motorola seems to be trying to allow touchscreen use only when necessary, which has kept the UI experience pretty close to that of similar non-touchscreen phones.
Other features of the phone include a 2 megapixel camera that can also record video clips, and a music player that can take advantage of 3.5mm jack equipped stereo headphones as well as wireless Bluetooth stereo headphones. The built-in microSDHC card slot supports cards as large as 8GB in size (not included), which will provide plenty of room for photos and music.
But when it comes down to brass tacks, the Rival is about messaging. The text messaging system provides a IM-like threaded view, and the actual IM client works with AIM, MSN, and Yahoo! instant messaging services. Email support for both personal and corporate Exchange support is also available.
The Motorola Rival is available in black/purple and white/silver color schemes starting today from Verizon Wireless for US$99.99 with a two year contract after a $50 rebate.
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