Sprint, Motorola unveil Android smartphones for business users

Motorola Mobility and Sprint today jointly unveiled two new Android smartphones, the Titanium and the XPRT, that target business users.

Sprint will start shipping XPRT phone on June 5 for $129.99 with a two-year contract.

The two devices look almost the same, with 3.1-in. touchscreens and physical Qwerty keyboards.

However, the XPRT has rounded corners and a sleeker look than the Titanium. The Titanium, meanwhile, has angular corners and is built military-grade tough to handle dust, shock, vibration, low pressure, solar radiation and high and low temperatures.

Rugged features such as those in the Titanium usually raise the cost of handheld devices significantly. Sprint did not disclose pricing or availability for the Titanium.

One of the biggest differences in the two devices is that Titanium alone is a push-to-talk device. It is the successor model to the Motorola i1 launched last year by Sprint.

Push-to-talk over Nextel Direct Connect offers sub-second connections without dialing. The technology is widely used by workers in warehouses, and in the repair and construction trades.

The XPRT, by contrast, is a world phone, supporting both CDMA and GSM networks. It also has mobile hotspot capability in Sprint's 3G networks, offering support for up to five Wi-Fi ready devices.

The XPRT runs a new version of Android, the Froyo 2.2, while Titanium runs Android 2.1.

The XPRT also has a larger Lithium-ion battery that the Titanium device -- at 1860 mAh, it offers up to 9 hours of talk time. Titanium's 1820 mAh battery offers up to 4.5 hours of talk time.

Read more: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9216435/Sprint_Motorola_unveil_Android_smartphones_for_business_users?taxonomyId=15