REVIEW
David Shapshak
Motorola v.8088
The best thing about Motorola phones, a friend who lives in the United States and cherishes his tells me, is that they come apart when you drop them. The kinetic energy from the fall dissipates when the parts unclip, he says. Then it puts it all back together again.
I always thought it was the flip-open nature that reminds me of Captain Kirk and Star Trek. As I’ve only ever test-driven loans, I’ve been careful never to drop them.
However, I do know the thing I like least about the dinky little Motorolas is that you can never see who is calling you. The American cellphone maker though seems to think the same and has responded by putting a curved visual alert indicator screen in its v.8088 (the Vee dot), which offers you three different colour-coded flashes to alert you to who is calling.
These visual alerts let you use up to six groups you can choose red, green or yellow and a flashing option for each and file stored numbers accordingly.
The obvious example is red for your mother-in-law or boss, that kind of thing. This neatly overcomes the disadvantage of having a phone that folds in two, although on the whole the small size, consistent sound quality and generally usefulness makes up for it.
Also, you can compose your own ringer tone, which requires a rudimentary understanding of music sheets. You can change the octave of the notes, too.
Of course it’s WAP-enabled, but that’s not what will immediately strike you about the Vee dot. In fact, it’s probably not the primary feature that will sell the latest phone in their range aimed at the hip, young market that is dominating the growth in cellular sales.
It has good games, including Baccarat, with neat little cards and smiley/frowning faces for winning and losing. And the L-shaped ergonomics of the open phone will suit your face better.