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Motorola's Q is hot, sleek and relatively inexpensive for a smartphone at $200 with a two-year service agreement. Even at that 'low' price, many people jonesing for the ultra-thin device haven't plunked down their doe yet; either because it's still too much money for them or there's not enough of an incentive to switch over to Verizon Wireless, the exclusive provider of the Q.

It is known that Motorola plans to release a GSM/UTMS version of the Q later this year, greatly expanding the breadth of the phone's availability. A new research note by Bear Stearns analyst Andy Neff confirms this.

Speaking at the 17th Annual Bear Stearns Conference, Motorola's Mobile Division president Ron Garriques said the new version of the Q would ship when the company's exclusivity with Verizon ends at the end of 2006, according to Neff.

So while the Verizon edition is compatible with that carrier's CDMA network and high-speed EVDO (Evolution Data Optimized) broadband technology, which averages data connection speeds of 400 to 700 kbps, the GSM edition could end up with an operator like Cingular in the U.S. and any number of other providers worldwide. (There are projected to be something like 2 billion GSM customers worldwide by next month.) GSM's UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) 3G technology sends and received e-mail, video and the Web at comparable speeds to EVDO.

Neff added that Garriques said the Q has been selling strongly. So much so, the smartphone's sales have mirrored the initial ramp up of Motorola's cash-cow the RAZR during that handset's launch. With that in mind, Garriques expects volume rates to grow to the point where the subsidized cost of the Q will drop from today's $200 to an incredibly low $50 in six months time.

Yes, half a year is a lifetime in the world of smartphones—when the Q and its features already arrived six months later than they were supposed to. Yet while the current model may seem a bit dated to high-end users by then, a $50 price tag will certainly expand its appeal to a market segment not used to a device with this kind of power and the kind of ARPU-generating services (e.g. push e-mail, streaming video and audio) operators would love to see engendered on a wider scale

Garriques also noted his company's significant IP (intellectual property) portfolio as another important determinant in helping to keep the cost of its products down; as compared to the competition, such as Palm and ODM HTC, which have to pay more in licensing fees.

Not content to sit back and wait for its shot at the Q, Cingular released the $200 RIM BlackBerry 7130c (with a two-year contract) this week. The new smartphone has a slimmer, narrower phone-like design than previous Cingular BlackBerrys and aims to appeal to a broader user population; something America’s largest mobile operator would like to emphasize.

The the 7130c nixes the traditional BlackBerry QWERTY thumb-keyboard for SureType technology, which merges a keypad and a keyboard, just like other 7100 series models. For text entry, each key supports two letters, while predictive text software helps you accurately input text-so when you press a key the 7130 knows which of the two supported letters you mean to use.

As you can tell by the price, the 7130c is priced to compete with the Q. Cingular even offers a new data plan that's aimed please. The hosted plan costs $29.99 month for unlimited e-mail and Web browsing.

The solution - based on RIM's BlackBerry Internet Service - provides automatic wireless synchronization of read, deleted and sent e-mail from the user's handset to their e-mail account. Users with multiple e-mail accounts can choose from multiple "sent from" e-mail addresses when sending an e-mail. Customers can also browse the Web wirelessly via Cingular's MEdia Net wireless Internet access service or use the BlackBerry Browser for HTML Internet browsing.