Linux powers "Ming" smartphone in China

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Mar. 17, 2006

Motorola is shipping its Linux-based A1200 smartphone to distributors in China, where the phone will be sold under a "Ming" model-name, according to a hardware blog at TheRegister. Ming means "bright, clear, open and clear-sighted," TheRegister reports, reflecting the phone's translucent cover and open-source operating system.

Motorola A1200
(Click to enlarge)

The A1200 has a slimmer, more compact form-factor than previous Linux smartphones from Motorola. It runs MontaVista Linux on an Intel XScale PXA270 processor. The A1200 debuted in January at a media event in Beijing, where clothing designer Vivienne Tam led a crew of Chinese beauties who modeled the A1200 and several other new Motorola phones.

The A1200 has a compact, keypad-less design with a clear plastic flip lid that enables it to have only one LCD, a 2.4-inch QVGA (320 x 240) TFT touchscreen display with 262K colors. The device weighs only 95 grams, or about 3 ounces.

A version of the A1200 has been registered with the FCC, suggesting Motorola may also plan to distribute the phone in the US. The US A1200 will be a GSM/EDGE phone operating on the 850/1800/1900MHz bands, and will have a bluetooth radio, and a built-in 1.3-megapixel camera that doubles as a business-card scanner. One clever feature is a mirror just below the camera lens, to assist with self-portraits.

Additional details about the A1200 "Ming" version launched in China can be found in TheRegister's hardware blog, here, and in our earlier coverage here. More details about the version registered with the FCC can be found here.

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