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When Verizon Wireless starts shipping the sleek Motorola Q soon, it'll be one of the lowest-priced new smartphones out with a QWERTY thumb-keyboard, at $200 with a 2-year contract. The most recent BlackBerry models, for example, go for around $300 with a service agreement, while Palm, Inc.'s just-announced Treo 700p - due from Verizon and Sprint - will sell for a hefty $400 to $550, depending on how long a commitment you make and with which carrier you sign the dotted line.

It's been a long road to market for the Q. Motorola first talked up the handset, dubbed the 'RAZRBerry' internally because of its RAZR-like thinness, at .45 inches (11.5 millimeters), last summer. And the Q initially popped up on the rumor mill well over a year ago. The Q was supposed to ship in January, but didn't due to rumored software/hardware integration problems.

Did the long delay hurt the Q's chances or help build up demand for the smartphone? As we've said before, it does seem the Q has caught the imagination more than any other communicator-class Windows Mobile 5.0 device. Although the Q hadn't been released yet, numerous vendors conspicuously used it to demonstrate their wares at CTIA Wireless 2006 in April, about the same time theFederal Communications Commission (FCC) finally approved it for release in the U.S, for example.


Palm Treo 700p

Direct Push
Had the Q shipped on time then Verizon wouldn't have been able to offer support for Microsoft's Direct Push e-mail technology out of the box or soon after it shipped.

Microsoft only started providing push e-mail support to Exchange through the wireless messaging-centric Exchange Server Service Pack 2 on the backend last fall. In February, it unveiled an on-device client for Windows Mobile smartphones to take advantage of push e-mail.

Since that time, some carriers and manufactures have announced a Direct Push client or AKU2 (Adaptation Kit Update) upgrade for their smartphones. The Treo 700w, which shipped in January - also available from Verizon for $400 with a 2-year agreement, and Palm's first Windows Mobile model - didn't receive its Direct Push client, in a major software patch called Updater 1.10, until the end of last month, for example. (PDAStreet is in the process of reviewing Microsoft-based push e-mail through a 700w.)

Q users would have had to wait for months, like those who owned the Treo 700w (for example). That could have been a blow to the Motorola's enterprise aspirations for the communicator. You see, while Treos have devoted followings outside the enterprise, what's the use of Motorola shipping a new smartphone aimed squarely at enterprises if one of its main functions hadn't been enabled yet. Perhaps this was one reason for the Q's delay. Verizon says Microsoft-based push e-mail should arrive shortly.


BlackBerry 8700g

Then again, even with Direct Push enabled, it may prove to be a weak point for the Q, according to Gartner analyst Ken Dulaney. Microsoft "has underdelivered with the capabilities of its e-mail client," Dulaney said to IDG last week. Corporate users experienced in BlackBerry will "throw it back," he added.

In the meantime, it supports Good Technology's e-mail software to link to a number of different coporate e-mail accounts.

In addition to the BlackBerry and Treo in the communicator-class segment, there's also Nokia's just released—but still not available in the U.S.—E61. Like all Nokia Eseries smartphones, the E61 - another supposed BlackBerry-killer - supports a wide swath of mobile e-mail services, including (unlike the Q) BlackBerry e-mail and data access solutions; through Research In Motion's (RIM) BlackBerry Connect program, making it an easy plug-in to existing BlackBerry Enterprise Server ( BES) deployments, unlike the Q. The E61 runs on the Symbian OS and S60 interface.

And then there's a major differentiator between the Q and the 700w as Windows Mobile device. The Q runs the Smartphone version of the platform while the 700w is a Pocket PC Phone.

This means the Q doesn't feature a touch screen - hence the BlackBerry-like thumb-wheel - and support for far fewer third party applications. Of the 18,000 apps available for Microsoft-based handhelds, only two to three thousand are compatible with Windows Smartphones like the Q.

Nonetheless, Palm's stock took a hit because of concerns about how the Q will affect Treo sales. According to Business Week, Bear Sterns even downgraded the rating of the company's stock because of the Motorola's Q announcement even.

"There is no question that the market is overreacting to the launch of the Q," Creative Strategies analyst Tim Bajarin said to Business Week. "While this is a worthy competitor in the field of smartphones, I don't see it being that big a competitor to Palm's Treo 700W since the Palm device uses Windows Mobile Pocket PC edition that is very data centric and is already a big hit with enterprise users."

Outside the Firewall
If not corporate customers, then to whom will Q appeal? Well, Gartner's Dulaney thinks prosumers - professionals who buy the device themselves - for one are an important demographic for the Q; because of the superiority of BlackBerrys in corporate environs, and because of their head start in the enterprise.

Yet all signs point to the new 700p, which is getting excellent early notices, as becoming as widely accepted as earlier Palm OS Treo models. Like the Q, the 700p supports high-speed EVDO networking, and will be available from Verizon, but should eventually be offered by Sprint as well.

Unlike the Q, it has the earlier reputation of its predecessors to build upon.

Sure, the 700p is priced for the high-end; but what that means, is it'll also push the cost of the Treo 650 and Treo 600 - still popular and heavy sellers - down into Q territory. Those thinking about spending $200 dollars for a Q may not be in the market for a 700w or a 700p, for they are- at a minimum - a couple of hundred dollars costlier. Put another, cheaper, Treo in front of them, however, and their devotion to purchasing a Q might waver, just a little.


Palm Treo 700w

Then again, both Treos support lower-resolution cameras and include other (now) dated features - especially the Treo 600 - and are Palm-based, not Windows Mobile devices. Sometimes, it is the platform the drives a consumer to a particular device.

And as many readers of this Web site know, its is Windows Mobile that is on the rise, while the Palm OS, while still popular in some quarters, is in limbo as developer PalmSource turns its attention to ALP, its upcoming Linux-based platform for smartphones and mobile devices.

Although Palm has done a remarkable job of building upon the Palm OS with the 700p, adding its own enhancements, how long can it keep this up? There's a question as to whether a high-speed broadband edition of the 700p for GSM networks - based on UTMS technology - is even possible with the latest, increasingly dated and likely last version of the platform; even with the manufacturer's wizardry.

A GSM/UMTS Q is in the works for end-of-the-year deployment by Motorola.

IDC analyst Kevin Burden agrees with Gartner's Dulaney, that the Q will appeal more to individuals than enterprises. He also thinks the Q could challenge the Treo's dominance.

"The form factor, the bright screen, the multimedia services, this all says individual sales and less enterprise sales," Burden explained to The San Francisco Chronicle. "This device might be about organizing a professional life but they're trying to appeal the consumer in all of us."


Nokia E61

Text messaging and e-mail are key components to attract customers to the Q, as with other communicators. One of its chief competitors, BlackBerry, doesn't have the best reputation as a phone, however. Since Q is built by the number two mobile phone vendor in the world, you'd think that would mean an emphasis has been placed on its phone capabilities as well. Nokia asserts the same for its E61.

We'll soon see.

See links below for more on Motorola Q, Palm Treo 700p and Nokia E61. We've already got the Treo 700p in for review and expect to receive a Q shortly.