Mobile Mania

The Motorola QA4 gets even more mysterious as additional information about this touchscreen slider is uncovered. The handset made its way through the FCC way back in September 2008 with 800/1700/1900 CDMA bands, suggesting that the phone was intended for use on US Cellular, MetroPCS or Cricket. As of Monday, the supporting FCC documents (manual, test images, etc) surrounding this handset are now available for public view. From these documents, we can glean that the QA4 has EV-DO Rev. A, aGPS, Bluetooth with A2DP, AVRCP and DUN support, on-screen landscape QWERTY keyboard, widget support and built-in syncing with Google contacts, YouTube and Picasa. The QA4 reviewed by the FCC also sports a slightly different keyboard than the recently leaked press photos suggesting that the model the FCC approved was an early design. The handset was initially rumored to land at US Cellular but was shelved indefinitely as it reportedly failed to pass carrier testing. Dying but not dead, the handset made a second trip through the FCC on 3/5/2009 with a Class II permissive change. This latest revelation coupled with the handset’s recent appearance on Motorola;s website suggests that the QA4 may still be on Motorola’s radar for launch in the near future.

Here we go again. On the one hand, rumorsville is buzzing with Speculations surrounding the Evoke QA4, a rather intriguing touchscreen slider reportedly headed to US Cellular, MetroPCS and/or Cricket. On the other hand, you’ve got the VE465.

• CDMA 800/1900/1700/2100 connectivity
• 1.9 inch TFT internal display with 176 x 220 pixels and 65k colors
• 1.05 inch CSTN external display with 96 x 80 pixels
• Brew OS
• Stereo Bluetooth
• Music player
• Video player
• MMS, SMS, Instant Messaging, E-mail
• 1.3 megapixel camera
• USB 2.0
• MicroSD up to 4GB
• Talk time: up to 4.5 hours, Standby time: up to 12 days
• 1.8 x 3.9 x 0.7 inches, 3.8 ounces

We’re not sure exactly how this handset carries ruggedized devices forward but apparently Moto did something right as it has already been picked up by two known carriers, Alltel and TELUS. Release timing and pricing are still unknown but we’re hoping carrier subsidies take it down pretty low. Any of you outdoorsy types out there looking forward to snagging one?