Motorola A1200/MING Linux-based smartphone

by Thomas Ricker, posted Mar 17th 2006 at 10:23AM

We first caught a glimpse of the Motorola A1200 back in December. It has since been rebadged the MING which apparently means something like "open" in Chinese or "nasty" if you happen to be mingin' in the UK -- guess that's why this pup is heading to the greater China market first, eh? In a schizophrenic fit, Moto claims to be targeting business users with this device yet lists it under the "entertainment series" of handsets on their .hk site. No matter, the MING delivers both. See, Moto runs Linux on an Intel PXA270 processor deep below that sweet transparent flip and then packs in distractions such as a 2 megapixel camera, music player, FM radio, and Bluetooth with A2DP support for true stereo thumpin'. That large touchscreen LCD, the Pocket Office Suite of applications, integrated business card scanner (using that 2 megapixel shooter) and optical-character recognition software are sure to keep executive-types grinnin' too. These should be available soon in Hong Kong but pricing and availability (and a new name) for the rest of world remains a mystery. More pics after the break.

[Via Slashphone]

Filed under: Handsets, Motorola, Linux

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

wulff @ Mar 17th 2006 10:58AM

one of the big linux distros needs to write a Distro Mobile X.0 type suite and try and bully in on MS' market share....

and beautiful devices like this would be a great place to start (yes I realize it already runs linux, but i'm talking a standard set of smartphone distros.)

Neutral

Christian Fredrickson @ Mar 17th 2006 11:18AM

http://wirelessimports.com/ProductDetail.asp?ProductID=603

Here is a link to a vendor who lists phone and how much it costs.

Neutral

DA @ Mar 17th 2006 4:11PM

You'd think, given the design, that ming (明）would be better defined in terms of clarity or brightness than 'open', if you're only going to list one meaning. But one of the great things about Chinese characters in a situation like this is that it can deliniate more than one feature (ming can also be associated with understanding, a nice name for a smartphone). Slashphone put those first, and congrats to them. Engmob, you need to exploit your compatriots on your chinese portal a bit more.

Neutral

Ian @ Mar 17th 2006 6:52PM

This is a great looking phone. I'm all for smartphones!
Nokia 6620 for a while and an Audiovox SMT 5600 on the way :)

This is one sexy device.

Neutral

ramone @ Mar 18th 2006 3:44PM

How do you dial a number?

Neutral

Joe Mobile @ Mar 19th 2006 11:00PM

Oh, Ramone! The sad state of U.S. consumers... Simply select the dialing pad function and push the digits displayed on the LCD screen. This is standard in Asia (see Moto E608i).

Neutral

DONNA @ Jun 17th 2006 8:31PM

DOES THE A1200 MOTOROLA HAVE AN ONSCREEN KEYBOARD?

Neutral

faye @ Aug 22nd 2007 2:15PM

yes i have the black one i love it but cingular can not program it you have to call motorola company.

Neutral

Michael Braundar @ Nov 18th 2006 8:01AM

I purchased this phone in Dubai. I have been a long user of Moto phones, from before the Startac series. This one is finally where Moto has it all together - a great package in a smart-looking phone! As a regular phone, the use and sound quality is excellent. The full outlook-like address book excels over the Razor's miserable one entry per phone number arrangement. The multi-functionality, with the MP3 player, FM radio, and camera rivals the best from SonyEricsson or Nokia, all is a compact classy package. Excellent phone. But not available in the US (according to Moto, this is for the international market only)? Unbeliveable.

Neutral

patred @ Nov 23rd 2006 11:45PM

can I use/synchronise this with my linux Desktop OS (Kde)?
Addressbook and calendar with Kontact, music with amarok, pictures with GTKam??? or do I need a windows operating system on my desktop to use this linux phone together with my laptop using motorola proprietary software???

Regards

Low Ranked

Paul @ Dec 13th 2006 9:23AM

I thought I couldn't buy a worser phone than the Samsung SGH-P300 credit card phone. But the Ming A1200 takes top prize for the worst phone I have ever owned. To boot, I can not open the transparent lid. It's not that I have large fingers, it's just that the design of the phone makes it near impossible. Next, the design of the interface looks like it was designed by a 12-year old. This phone does absolutely no justice to Linux. Windows Mobile users must be laughing.

Take the camera: I can not get a half decent picture from the camera. Every picture I take has motion blur. The phonebook only has entries for a single telephone number -- get that, a single field for a single telephone number. That means 2 entries if I want to include my wife's mobile and her office number. Click on dial and you get a dial pad, that's it! Redial numbers are 3 menus deep. I might was well just input the numbers, it's quicker! Voice activation, never works! Ringer types: loud, soft, vibrate. no ascending. no profiles. PC connection software -- rubbish. Have yet to get it to fully sync, bluetooth keeps losing connection.

Don't waste your money, the A1200 is total rubbish!

Neutral

xconan @ Apr 2nd 2007 1:44AM

#10 The A1200 phone is quite easy to use. To add an entry to the address book click on the people pad. Click on menu with the 3 bars on the left and select new contact. To enter text click on the line and enter. Select your preferred input method. It has 2 entries per section for mobile, home and business. The interface is quite simple and intuitive. Read the manual for certain issues like security. Only peeve is that the micro sd slot could have been better designed. Maybe the E6 will solve this issue.

Neutral

Eric @ Apr 6th 2007 4:33PM

Is this phone compatible with Verizon service (non sim card) which is also EVDO..VERY highspeed wireless internet

Eric

Neutral

Vidi @ May 9th 2007 11:34AM

13. I'd like to confirm that i CAN sync to my office e-mail, which comes onto microsoft outlook online service when i use a browser.

If I buy the ming, it would be my first time with Linux and smartphones, so please excuse total duh-ness factor of question.

Neutral

prashant @ Jun 21st 2007 4:41PM

plz tell me whether a1200(ming)is "symbian" enable phones?

Neutral

Jack @ Oct 11th 2007 6:57PM

If you are planning to get a new C-Class Benz, this phone was by far the quickest to connect and download the phone book into the cars Bluetooth unit.

Neutral

Janelle @ Nov 3rd 2007 12:54AM

So, if i bought this phone off Amazon - I'd be able to use it in the US.. right?

And does anyone have a picture of what the on-screen keyboard looks like?

Neutral

vasanth @ Sep 4th 2008 10:03AM

Hi!...I am using motorola a1200 phone and i want to use this phone as a modem for my mac. But the sync software which came with the phone doesn't install in mac. Please let me know how to connect my motorola a1200 with my mac

Add your comments

Your comments:

Remember me

E-Mail me when someone replies to this comment

Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments.

When you enter your name and email address, you'll be sent a link to confirm your comment, and a password. To leave another comment, just use that password.

To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br /> tags.