Motorola lines up Qs for the UK

Take two...

UK users will soon be able to get their hands on two new versions of Motorola's Q smart phone - the company's stab at sexing up the enterprise market.

The Q device, first launched last year in the US for CDMA networks, will now be coming to Europe with a GSM and an HSDPA edition. The higher speed device, called q9, will be available in the second half of this year while its 2G cousin will debut in the next quarter.

Both phones run on the latest version of Microsoft's mobile software, Windows Mobile 6, and come in Motorola's trademark skinny form-factor.

Echoing the granddad of enterprise devices, the BlackBerry, one of the Qs will sport a thumbwheel and both will offer a Qwerty keyboard, as well as mobile email support for Motorola's own Good offering and other third-party software.

The GSM variant will be targeted at developing economies and the HSDPA version at more mature markets, although Bruce Hawver, head of Motorola's enterprise device business unit Companion Products, told silicon.com he expects both versions to be available in Europe.

Hawver told silicon.com there are more Qs scheduled in the future and WiMax connectivity is likely to feature at some point, as will new form-factors such as sliders and clamshells.

Despite a recent commitment to Linux from the handset market - Motorola promised that 50 per cent of its phones will use an open source OS in the next couple of years - enterprise phones are not likely to make a contribution to that figure any time soon.

Also on the enterprise roadmap is greater integration with Symbol, which Motorola acquired last year for $3.9bn. Hawver said: "From that standpoint, we're just starting to scratch the surface."