Gizmodo: v9m

Motorola Penis Easter Egg

Jason Chen — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 15:20:38 EDT

Do you see the penis? Howard forum users discovered a penis image in the default Motorola analog clock in at least the V9M, the K1M and various other phones. Of course this Moto PNIS could just be a weird shadow, but it's a bit too penisy to just dismiss. Check your Moto, and if you've got this on your clock image, let us know. [Howard Forums via Boy Genius]

More Sprint Roadmap Leaks?

Jason Chen — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 16:30:36 EDT

We've gotten some independent confirmation/rumors on the leaked Sprint roadmap we posted on Tuesday. Our source is saying that the Moto ic602 and Moto V9M will come in September, the Sanyo S500 S1 and HTC Vogue will come in October, the Moto Q9c and LG 260 will come in November, and the international Blackjack will come in 2008. That lines up fairly well with the previous roadmap, but as with all roadmaps, the actual launch dates are anything but set in stone. [Thanks Tipster!]

Unconfirmed: Upcoming Sprint Roadmap Leaked? Palm Centro 10/14?

Jason Chen — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 12:45:07 EDT

A poster on the phonenews forum seems to have come up with the Sprint lineup for the next several months, all the way into early 2008. To start, they have the Motorola V9M on 9/4, the USB EV-DO Novatel U727 modem on 9/30, Palm Gryphon (code name for Palm Centro) and Sanyo S1 2500 on 10/14, LG LX260, HTC Vogue, BlackBerry 8130 Pearl 2 and PX600 on 11/4, Motorola Q9C on 11/23 and Treo 800w and Samsung Blackjack International in Q1 2008.

Even if these dates are solid now (assuming these are actually real), providers are known to switch up dates for various reasons. Use the schedule as a guideline more than a definite calendar. [Phone News via Gadgets on the Go]

Four of the Five RAZR2s Reviewed (Verdict: What a Difference a Carrier Makes)

Wilson Rothman — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 08:52:39 EDT

Sascha Segan at PC Mag just worked his way through testing the AT&T, Sprint, Verizon Wireless and Alltel RAZR2 models. Though all RAZR2s have similar specs—"luxurious metal-and-glass design," 240-MHz processor, roughly 100 MB of memory, a 2-megapixel camera and "the biggest, most beautiful external screen you've ever seen on a flip phone"—each carrier treated this differently. We gave you a nice run-down of feature differences, but here's how the actual user experience differs from carrier to carrier:

AT&T V9
• Best call quality thanks to CrystalTalk active sound-quality management during calls
• Best web experience because of Opera browser
• Free built-in e-mail
• Worst battery life
• No video sharing
• No Napster/Yahoo! DRM music
• A dedicated button for Cellular Video, a VOD service that "absolutely no one uses"

Sprint V9m
• Obigo HTML web browser works well
• Can view video on external screen
• Start camera from external screen
• No e-mail option

Verizon V9m
• Start camera from external screen
• Very good sound
• Best for basic Windows Media users
• WAP browsing (which sucks)
• E-mail for extra pay

Alltel V9m
• View text messages on external screen
• Best for experts and iTunes lovers
• WAP browsing (which sucks)
• No e-mail option

T-Mobile V8 (which Segan did not review)
• Linux-based OS
• CrystalTalk active sound-quality management during calls

Bottom line: All this variation represents carrier control, not freedom of choice. Says Segan: "We're stuck with the mediocre choices picked by our carrier overlords for us—and if you want something different, no soup for you!" I hate to say I told you so, but I freakin' told you so.
[PC Mag summary and individual reviews of each carrier's RAZR2]