Gizmo

Motorola T720 mobile phone

Motorola has done a nice job of recovering from what would have otherwise been a disastrous path. A couple of years ago, when menu-based screens became the norm in cellular phones, the company had no idea how to design them. The devices were so frustrating that you’d want to toss them into traffic.

No so with the Motorola T720, a petite, color-screened cellular phone. Then again Motorola did some serious research into fixing the problem. And it shows.

The T720 is very easy to navigate. The key areas on the phone's screen are indicated by four icons which you can toggle between with a four-way thumbpad. And there’s a “more” button to take you deeper into the functions as needed.

So the $149 T720 is usable and intuitive. You can’t put lipstick on a pig, they say, but this device isn’t such a porker. It’s indeed sleek and handsome and at 3.9 oz and 3.5 x 1.9 x 1 inches it’s the right size for a pocket or purse. Better, it has a fixed nub of an antenna which doesn’t get in the way.

And it has the typical features we’ve come to expect of cellular phones in 2003. There’s voice recognition, a variety of fun games including MotoGP, a 3D motorcycle driving game for the bus-stop clan. Plus it supports ringtones so you can set the phone to sound like something other than a beeping heart monitor. (I used a tune from Mamas & Papas) Plus for meetings and cinemas, it has a vibrate mode.

The color screen on the device supports a resolution of 120x160 pixels. That means it’s a low-grade, ugly attempt at a color screen. Competitors do a much better job with their screens - definitely sharper than the one on this gadget.

The bottom line is this is one of those phones that makes sense for a sensible small business person or around town urbanite. It’s not fantastically cool compared to some of the other cellular phones out there, but you’re not going to be mocked by your teenager for carrying a granny phone either, Mamas & Papas ringtone notwithstanding.

Price: $129.99 U.S.
More info: www.motorola.com
Buy it: Amazon.com

-Andy Walker, Cyberwalker Media Syndicate

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Copyright © Cyberwalker Media Inc. 2002