Entertainment

Basic applications found on the V3i include an Alarm Clock, Calculator, Datebook and a program for saving passwords. While this is a limited list, users can download additional programs through the MEdiaNet service.

Utilizing J2ME (Java 2 Micro Edition) technology, one of the leading mobile platforms on the market, consumers have a wide variety of programs and applications they can choose from.

Designed more for entertainment than for business uses, the V3i offers limited applications but a long game list. The V3i comes pre-installed with:

- Asphalt Urban GT - Race on different courses in 8 cities while avoiding the Police and performing impressive jumps

- Bejeweled Demo Version (puzzle game) - Rubix cube-like puzzle game where you swap adjacent gems to line up three or more of the same jewel type horizontally or vertically and eliminate them

- Blockbreaker Deluxe - Wall breaker game set in distinctive night-life settings: cool bars, discos, , a casino, and more

- Tetris Demo - One of the most popular and addictive puzzle games of all time features updated graphics and animation

- Flee - Attempt to flee the country in this exciting adventure game

- Rebels - Eliminate all of the enemy space ships on each level

- Solitaire - Popular card game

An impressive feature of the phone is Motorola's speech recognition system, MotoSpeak. Allowing users to place name and digit calls with just the sound of their voice, the program does not require pre-recording or training. Users simply press the dedicated voice key on the side of the phone and say a command such as "Name Dial," "Voicemail," or "Camera."

Internet

A phone that was originally intended to be released almost a year ago, the V3i shows its age with outdated GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) Class 10 (4+2) packet-based technology. Users can expect to get 48 kbps download speeds, suitable for the occasional ringtone or song download but limiting for heavy multimedia users.

Failing to improve upon the original RAZR in this area, the V3i is not capable of accessing Cingular's EDGE (Enhanced Data rate for GSM Evolution) network, a 2.5G standard. The latest phones are already surpassing EDGE, offering HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access) for broadband 3G speeds which allow for downloads that are 3-12x faster than GPRS.

A new feature offered on the V3i is Motorola's SCREEN3 technology which offers zero-click access to news, sports, entertainment and other web content. The data automatically appears along a ticker like display at the bottom of the home screen without the user having to select it or run a program.

While the V3i is not intended for the heavy multimedia user, making the phone at least EDGE capable would have been an important improvement. If it had been released at its original launch date this would not have been as glaring a weakness but with even most mid-level phones currently offering EDGE capability, it is surprising for a higher end phone to not offer it.

< Prev Next >

This article is Copyright 2002-2008 Mobiledia Corp. and the review in part or in whole may NOT be reproduced in any electronic or printed medium without prior permission from Mobiledia. For information on reproducing any part of this review (or any images) please contact us.