Motorola I365
Otilia Mojarro
Like most Nextel phones, the i365 meets military specifications for dust, shock, vibration, temperature extremes, and solar radiation. Though it's not completely waterproof like the G'zOne Boulder, it also meets military specifications for blowing rain and humidity. A rubberized casing ensures maximum protection, and the battery cover uses a secure locking mechanism. Unlike most current phones, the i365 uses an external antenna, which can extend to boost coverage.
Below the display is the i365's superb navigation array. We had no complaints with its spacious layout and pleasantly tactile controls. The rubberized covering on the keys felt great beneath our fingers and we liked that they give a distinct "push" feeling when pressed. There's a four-way toggle with a central OK button, two soft keys, a dedicated menu button, a power control, and Talk and End keys. They keypad buttons also have a great design. We could dial and text quickly, and dial by feel. The backlighting is a bit dim, but it should be fine for most users.
The remaining controls consist of a volume rocker and a PTT button on the left spine, and a covered 2.5mm headset jack on the right spine. On the top of the phone, you'll find a speakerphone button and a control for placing calls when the phone is closed. Also, the battery port on the bottom of the i365 has a tight-fitting cover.
Features
The 600-contact phone book has room in each entry for seven phone numbers, an e-mail address, an IP address, and a Direct Connect number. Contacts can be organized further into a variety of groups, for regular or push-to-talk calls, and you can pair contacts with one of 18 polyphonic ringtones. Other essentials include a vibrate mode, text and multimedia messaging, a calendar, a voice recorder, a speakerphone, a notepad, call timers, and call forwarding.
The i355 also offers Bluetooth, voice dialing, and plenty of Direct Connect PTT services. International Direct Connect connects you with PTT users in other countries; Group Connect enables you to chat with up to 20 others via PTT at once; and Direct Talk gives you out-of-network PTT-chat capabilities with another Direct Talk handset within a range of up to 6 miles. You'll also find NextMail, which sends voice messages to any e-mail address, and Direct Send, which transmits your contact information to other compatible phones.
Another useful feature is Nextel's second line service, which allows you to add a second line to the phone with a different phone number. It's perfect for users who want separate digits for personal and business use. Nextel was one of the first U.S. carriers to offer the functionality. It will cost extra, of course, but you can have separate ringtones, separate billing statements, and even phone numbers with different area codes.
You can personalize the i365 with a variety of wallpaper, colors, themes, clock style, and alert sounds. If you don't like what comes on the handset, you can download more options and more ringtones with the WAP 2.0 wireless Web browser. You get a fair choice of Java (J2ME) applications, including Nascar Sprint Cup game, My-Cast 5 Weather, and TeleNav and Trimble subscription-based navigation services that take advantage of the i365's GPS support. It is pretty cool to be able to pinpoint your longitude and latitude exactly to figure out your location.
Performance
We tested the dualband (iDEN 800/900) Motorola i365 in San Francisco, using Nextel service. On the whole, we had no complaints with the call quality. The audio was loud and clear, and voices sounded natural. Also, we had no static or interference.
On their end, callers were pleased as well. They could hear us without any problems and some couldn't even tell we were using a cell phone. Occasionally, there was a very slight background hiss, but it wasn't at all distracting. Speakerphone and Direct Connect calls were satisfactory, too.
The i365 has a rated battery life of 5 hours talk time. According to our tests, it has a talk time of 6 hours and 1 minute. According to FCC radiation tests, the i365 has a digital SAR rating of 1.09 watts per kilogram.
Sprint unleashed four new devices on Tuesday, two of which add to its roster of Nextel Direct Connect handsets -- the Motorola Renegade V950 and Motorola i365 -- and meet military specifications for ruggedness. The other two are billed as affordable multimedia devices designed to boost productivity.
First up is the Motorola Renegade V950 (pictured), an ultra-rugged handset that the carrier adds to its portfolio of Nextel Direct Connect devices. According to Sprint, the Renegade V950 is built to military specifications for dust, shock, vibration and blowing rain, while tying in Nextel push-to-talk services and Sprint Mobile Broadband.
The clamshell device measures 4.1 inches by 2.1 inches by 0.66 inches and weighs 4.16 ounces. The device is a digital dual-band, operating on 1900 MHz and 800 MHz. The display screen measures 2.2 inches and has 240 by 320 pixels.
The Nextel Direct Connect features offer instant, one-to-one push-to-talk to other Direct Connect subscribers, along with Group Connect, which lets users communicate and coordinate with up to 20 other subscribers all at once, or TeamDC, which lets users communicate with up to 34 users at once. The Call Alert feature lets users send a repeating alert view text to other subscribers to let them know a user is trying to reach them. Users can also use a single number option for both cellular calls and Direct Connect communications and DC permissions let users block or allow incoming push-to-talk and call alerts from select users.
The Motorola Renegade V950 (pictured from the side) also features Bluetooth support; a 2.0 megapixel camera and camcorder with four times zoom; an MP3 player with external controls; and a MicroSD card slot for storing pictured, video, music and more.
The V950 also gives users access to the Sprint Music Store, Sprint TV, Sprint PCS Picture Mail, and Sprint GPS Navigation. Additionally, subscribers can access NFL Mobile Live; mobile email from AOL/AIM, Yahoo, Windows Live Hotmail and more; instant messaging; SMS text messaging; speakerphone; and Sprint Mobile Sync.
The Motorola Renegade V950 is available today for $129.99 with a two-year service contract and $50 mail-in rebate.
Along with the Renegade V950, Sprint and Motorola on Tuesday also unveiled the Motorola i365, a second Nextel Direct Connect device.
Taking on a so-called "monolith form factor" the i365 measures 5.3 inches by 2.1 inches by 1.2 inches and weighs in at 6.7 ounces. The i365, which runs on IDEN 800/900 MHz, features a full-color 130 by 130 display and offers roughly 300 minutes of talk time.
It is military specification certified for ruggedness, meeting humidity, blowing rain, dust, shock and vibration requirements. It also offers Bluetooth connectivity, multimedia messaging, GPS navigation, VibraCall alert and speakerphone. Users can also add a second line to the i365 with different area codes, so users can have one line for personal use and one for business, or both for business.
The device also offers a host of Nextel Direct Connect features including instant connect, Group Connect, International Direct Connect, Direct Talk, Direct Send and NextMail.
The Motorola i365 costs $89.99 with a two-year contract after rebates and discounts.
Sprint on Tuesday also revealed two new devices from Samsung, the M320 and the M220. The Sprint-exclusive devices were designed to target users looking for communication and productivity boosts.
According to sprint, the M320 (pictured) and M220 offer easy-to-use menus, bright displays, speakerphone, Internet access, SMS voice and text messaging and Bluetooth connectivity.
The Samsung devices offer access to downloadable games, ringers and screen savers and feature picture caller ID. They enable Web and email access with Sprint Vision and feature an internal phonebook with a 300-number capacity, speaker independent voice dialing, and a built-in scheduler, calendar, to-do list, world clock, calculator, stopwatch and alarm clock. The M320 and M220 can record up to 10 60-second voice memos.
The M320 measures 3.5 inches by 1.9 inches by 0.8 inches and weighs 3.1 ounces. The main display measures 1.1 inches by 1.38 inches TFT, or 128 by 160 pixels. The external display is 96 by 96 pixels. It runs a standard lithium battery with up to 3.5 hours of continuous talk time.
The M320 features a VGA camera with zoom, while the M220 does not.
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Editor's Note: Product not yet tested by editor. The following description is from the manufacturer.
The i365 enables hands-free, short-range wireless communication using a Bluetooth headset and wireless uploading/downloading to or from a computer. The i365 is a rugged and durable handset certified for military specification requirements including humidity, blowing rain, dust, shock and vibration. This phone also features an embedded Global Positioning System (GPS) chip necessary for utilizing the E911 emergency location services where available and receiving audible and visual turn-by-turn driving directions, mapping your location, or conducting local searches direct from your handset.