Motorola has just introduced a new budget smartphone for markets outside of the US, the XT316. The candybar handset sports a hardware QWERTY keyboard and a 2.8-inch touchscreen. It comes preloaded with Android 2.2, though an update to Android 2.3 is due in the fall, and has the uncommon trick of changing out its jackets with those of different colors.
It gets a three-megapixel camera and Motorola’s Switch interface that turns the phone from a work-centric device to a social networking one. Storage comes from microSD memory cards up to 32GB in capacity. Otherwise, it includes Wi-Fi, an FM radio, assisted GPS functionality and a 1,420mAh battery for up to eight hours of talk time. On 3G, it supports quad-band EDGE networks and dual-band HSPA 3G.
It is now shipping in China and will arrive in mid-July in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Latin America. The rest of Asia and Europe will get it later in the summer. In Europe, the handset will be called the Fire and Spice Key in Latin America and ship with Android 2.3. If or when the handset is due to arrive in North America remains to be seen, but the dual-band 3G makes this less probable.
