http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/02/27/motorola-throws-back-unveils-startac-iii-ms900/ Engadget Mobile Comments for Motorola throws back, unveils StarTac III MS900 http://www.engadgetmobile.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadgetmobile.com en-us Copyright 2008 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/02/27/motorola-throws-back-unveils-startac-iii-ms900/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/02/27/motorola-throws-back-unveils-startac-iii-ms900/Feb 27th 2007 12:10PMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/02/27/motorola-throws-back-unveils-startac-iii-ms900/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/02/27/motorola-throws-back-unveils-startac-iii-ms900/Feb 27th 2007 12:16PMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/02/27/motorola-throws-back-unveils-startac-iii-ms900/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/02/27/motorola-throws-back-unveils-startac-iii-ms900/
Also might do well on Verizon or Alltel pre-paid service in the States if it's really cheap.

]]>Feb 27th 2007 12:35PMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/02/27/motorola-throws-back-unveils-startac-iii-ms900/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/02/27/motorola-throws-back-unveils-startac-iii-ms900/
The thing that upsets me, and what makes this phone NOTHING like the original StarTac, is the stupid silver accent color.

What made the StarTac a colossal success was its stealth factor. I was a young IT consultant in Motorola's hey day and the standard outfit (for myself and the vast majority of my colleagues) was a pair of black pants and a dark merino wool sweater, often also black. The StarTac's ingenious belt holster, when positioned just behind your hip, camoflaged the duo into virtual invisibility. Coupled with vibrate mode, the phone was nearly undetectable. You had the convenience of a belt clip without the nerd factor. At some point during its reign, a newer holster was released that allowed you to rotate the phone 90 degrees, completely concealing it along your belt.

With all the shiny colors, LEDs, and other goofy crap affixed to the outside of cell phones, the stealth factor has all but been lost. The PEBL is the closest to recapture it so far but unfortunately I don't know of a similarly low-profile belt clip.]]>Feb 27th 2007 1:16PMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/02/27/motorola-throws-back-unveils-startac-iii-ms900/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/02/27/motorola-throws-back-unveils-startac-iii-ms900/Feb 27th 2007 1:49PMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/02/27/motorola-throws-back-unveils-startac-iii-ms900/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/02/27/motorola-throws-back-unveils-startac-iii-ms900/Feb 27th 2007 2:07PMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/02/27/motorola-throws-back-unveils-startac-iii-ms900/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/02/27/motorola-throws-back-unveils-startac-iii-ms900/
But this isn't exactly the first time a company has tried to capitalize on the brand equity of a previous success. Aside from the lack of an external display, I don't see any similarities. I've been waiting for Motorola to do this for a while, I just hoped they'd do a better job.]]>Feb 27th 2007 4:06PMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/02/27/motorola-throws-back-unveils-startac-iii-ms900/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/02/27/motorola-throws-back-unveils-startac-iii-ms900/
Why is this so hard?]]>Feb 27th 2007 5:19PMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/02/27/motorola-throws-back-unveils-startac-iii-ms900/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/02/27/motorola-throws-back-unveils-startac-iii-ms900/
1) New StarTAC - T-Mobile #
2) My Treo 750 on Cingular.]]>Feb 27th 2007 10:22PMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/02/27/motorola-throws-back-unveils-startac-iii-ms900/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/02/27/motorola-throws-back-unveils-startac-iii-ms900/Mar 2nd 2007 10:15AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/02/27/motorola-throws-back-unveils-startac-iii-ms900/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/02/27/motorola-throws-back-unveils-startac-iii-ms900/Mar 6th 2007 11:24AMhttp://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/02/27/motorola-throws-back-unveils-startac-iii-ms900/http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/02/27/motorola-throws-back-unveils-startac-iii-ms900/
The phone companies need to learn that there are LOTS of places that don't allow camera phones. Try getting into a federal building or any courthouse with one. They'll make you go back to your car to dispose of it. Lots of employers don't allow them either. Verizon offers ONE phone without a camera, a Blackberry.

I welcome a phone without one, and one without an external display, which might be the most moronic development ever, when it's positioned in a belt clip right at door knob, desk corner and countertop height where it's easily cracked. Geez, when you're actually working onsite somewhere the last thing you want to be doing is digging in your pocket or extracting your phone from some stupid protective pouch to answer the phone.

The old StarTac was bulletproof and survived MANY multistory drops to concrete at a construction site without ANY damage. My RAZR was destroyed after being bumped off a desk onto carpet. BOTH screens cracked, and it crashes a lot too. Have to take the battery out to restart it.]]>Mar 17th 2007 2:20PM