Well, if this isn't a sign that times are a-changin', we don't know what is: a new Moto handset with a non-capitalized, non-abbreviated word for a name has just garnered FCC approval. Granted, it's an absolute snoozefest of a phone -- and the name, "Ischia," doesn't exactly roll off the tongue -- but at least it's a step in new direction. Bluetooth and EDGE are included, there's a camera on board; hell, the only thing stopping us from saving up to buy one is the lack of GSM 850. That, and our fragile sanity.

Verizon has gone ahead and jumped its own gun by a week, launching the rugged Adventure V750 today for a penny under $100 on contract after rebates. The phone becomes the very first on Verizon's network to support Rev. A-based push-to-talk, a quantum leap in robustness and functionality over the older 1xRTT fare; the G'zOne Boulder is expected in the next few weeks, bringing Big Red a pair of durable units that should appeal to the typical PTT crowd. Buyers of the V750 can expect a 2 megapixel camera, external music controls, microSD expansion, GPS, and of course EV-DO Rev. A data, so it's a pretty well-spec'd setup considering its lot in life.

[Via phoneArena]

As boring (or in the case of the W6, difficult) as they may be to look at, we've got to hand it to Motorola -- they've managed to pack in a nice mix of interesting features into the latest round of wallet-friendly W-series phones. Starting at the bottom, the W231 candybar has an FM radio with RDS and recording capability, media player, microSD slot, "streamlined interface" for text messaging (your guess is as good as ours), and Moto's CrystalTalk noise reduction circuitry. The W388 and W396 -- a candybar and flip, respectively -- are dead ringers for one another on the spec sheet, with both offering VGA cams and Windows Media compatibility in addition to the W231's decent list of capabilities. Our personal favorite, though, has to be the W6 (pictured), which has a few really unique features: a host of built-in training software (and A2DP doesn't hurt either) for making the phone particularly useful on the jogging circuit, the ability to export recorded data up to your PC in Excel format, and the tendency to burn your retinas with one of the loudest, most painful shades of yellow we've ever seen on a phone.

[Via Celularis, thanks Mariano]

Read - Motorola W6
Read - Motorola W231, W388, and W396

Nothing says "I love you" like sending every single one of your hot new handset models your way, and that's pretty much the beautiful romance that's going on between Moto and China as of late. The A1600, A1800, and A810 have all induced various levels of lust from outsiders who can't get their paws on 'em (not yet, anyway), and now we've got another little bundle of Linux-powered joy to drool over, the VE75 slider. It'll happily swallow a pair of SIMs (as so many Asian market handsets tend to do) and offers EDGE data, a 2 megapixel camera, WQVGA display, and microSD slot. It'll be available -- and we use the term "available" loosely until a more global announcement is made -- in black and white.

[Via Unwired View]

It's hard enough for Motorola's handset division to go about its business these days without losing talent, but losing executives to Apple's iPhone team? That's just a straight-up slap in the face, and Moto's not gonna take it lying down. The We Generation has filed suit against Michael Fenger, the dude running its handset business for the EMEA market for six years until March this year, when he quit to take up a posh job as Apple's veep of global iPhone sales. That isn't a problem in itself -- businessfolk switch teams all the time -- but it seems Mr. Fenger had an agreement in place not to work for a competitor inside of two years following his departure. Moto claims he "was privy to the pricing, margins, customer initiatives, allocation of resources, product development, multiyear product, business and talent planning and strategies being used by Motorola" (not to say that data's worth much more than the paper it's written on these days) and wants over a million bucks back plus a court order banning him from working for Cupertino for those promised two years retroactively to March 31; non-compete clauses generally aren't valid in California, but since this one was executed in Illinois and the case is filed in Chicago, they've got a shot here. Note to current execs still out there in Schaumburg: better start righting that ship you're on, because you ain't getting on a more buoyant one without a fight.

[Via CNET]

The rumor mill promised us that the Motorola W388 would be nothing worth writing home about, and we've got to hand it to the mill -- it was spot-on this time around. Mobil.cz appears to have scored the first shot we've seen of the new low-end candybar, and while the design's positively retro, the microSD slot is still a notable inclusion for such a cheap (or cheap-looking, anyway) device. Music gets some special attention, thanks to a shiny d-pad with embossed music controls, a dedicated player button, and the inclusion (seemingly) of in-ear buds. A VGA camera rounds out the hearty feast of mediocrity. No date or price are given, but you know what they say -- if you have to ask, well, odds are you can probably still afford it.

Great news -- one of Motorola's ad agencies, Ogilvy London, has deduced the answer to Moto's product woes. Turns out the problem was that although everyone seems to know the infamous "HELLOMOTO" tag line, no one really knows what it means, so they're tacking a new one on: "We Generation." The new phrase is apparently designed to emphasize the social capabilities of the company's handsets (you know, like calling and talking to people, for example) and will hit virtually every ad medium starting this week. The agency's verbiage leads us to believe that ye olde HELLOMOTO isn't quite off to the cemetery yet -- and if the RAZR's ungodly lifespan is any indication, it won't be going anywhere any time soon.

[Via IntoMobile]

Things have been looking pretty bleak for Motorola and its attempts to salvage its handset division for some time now, but a number of analysts are now painting an even clearer picture of just how bad things might be. According to BusinessWeek, some analysts are saying that with spin-off plans looking less and less likely, Motorola may revert back to its original plan to sell off the handset division outright, although Envisioneering Group's Richard Doherty says it "would be lucky to fetch $500 million." As BusinessWeek points out, that very same analyst pegged the business at a hefty $8 billion just last year. Analyst Richard Windsor of Nomura even went so far as to say that Motorola might actually have to pay someone to take the division off its hands. Now that's an idea we can get behind.

[Via Unwired View]

So how much is it going to cost you to play Verizon's EV-DO Rev. A push-to-talk game this month? $99.99, that's how much -- assuming you take advantage of a two-year contract and a $50 mail-in rebate. Documentation for Motorola's musclebound V750 Adventure suggests that it'll be available to buy in all channels (meaning web, store, telesales -- you name it) on July 28, offering a 2 megapixel cam, microSD slot, VZ Navigator support, and all the walkie talkie action you can handle. We don't know yet whether the G'zOne Boulder will launch on the same day, but if it does, we could have quite a PTT smackdown brewing here.

[Thanks, anonymous tipster]

Though the document doesn't exactly look magazine-quality, this is a case where we'd argue that it doesn't have to be to be real; it's clearly for internal use only, for one thing, and secondly, we don't know where else the picture of that new Sanyo Katana Eclipse would come from. The Eclipse is just one of several pretty nifty releases claimed to be lined up between now and September, with the Motorola VE20 Vegas and a pair of data cards joining it on August 17. September should bring the Motorola i365 and V950 Renegade, Samsung m220 and m320, and the HTC MP6950 -- which we assume to be either the Touch Diamond or Touch Pro -- clearly in desperate need of an actual name by the time it launches. Go-go gadget, product marketing team!

[Thanks, Owen]

The new A1600 and A1800 out of Moto's touchy MING series have already been fully outed, but it turns out Moto wants to bundle a third touchscreen Linux piece in there to make a complete set: the A810, which goes to retail without that MING name attached. In the press release, Motorola comes right out and calls it "entry-level" -- and considering that the 2 megapixel camera and polarizing styling fall well short of the more elegant, luxuriously appointed MINGs, that's no big shocker. It's available in black and white, features an integrated 3.5mm headphone jack, and is available now in Chinese retailers.

Anyone looking to relive the original RAZR's glory years without making the monumental leap up to the RAZR 2 might keep a close eye on Sprint over the next little while. The FCC has revealed the VE20 "Vegas," a flip that smacks of the V3's design cues while taking an ever-so-cautious approach to updating the styling and making sure that the package still stays firmly planted beneath the V9 in the food chain (or at least that's what the abundance of plastic would lead us to believe, but with Motorola, who the hell knows). It'll do EV-DO, a 2 megapixel camera, and touch-sensitive external controls on a fairly generous secondary display whenever it gets around to launching -- just don't expect the excitement, expense, or debauchery of an actual weekend in Sin City.

[Via phoneArena]

The best cameraphone ever made? That's Motorola's boastful claim about the new ZN5, but Crave UK's quick initial impression of it suggests that it might not be a baseless, ridiculous claim after all -- not totally, anyway. The cam apparently fires up lickety-split after popping the lens cover into its open position, and the xenon flash seems to outperform anything with an LED (no surprise there). The lack of 3G is a bummer, but at least you've got WiFi there to upload your crisp, clean photographic work. Crave also sends a shout out to Moto for including a 3.5mm headphone jack, and also for delivering a design that clearly contains absolutely no roots in the RAZR. We'll second that motion -- and if Moto can either deliver this mega-cheaply when it launches in September or pop out a second version with 3G at a slightly loftier price point, we're thinking this could end up being one of the most highly-praised products to come out of Schaumburg in a long, long time.

[Thanks, T.I.]

Alright, Rogers customers, stop your poutin' that your friends south of the border on T-Mobile got the ROKR E8 and you didn't -- because yeah, now you guys have it too. Best Buy is now offering the E8 on Rogers for $149.99 CAD (about $147) on one of those crazy three-year deals, and since local stores are stocking it, you'll be able to freak out your friends with the morphing keypad before the day's out. Get to it!

[Via MobileSyrup]

It looks like Motorola and Verizon are getting ready to take a third crack at the Q9 form factor, following up the Q9m and Q9c -- and this time around, there's a little something extra in store. On top of the EV-DO Rev. A radio, the so-called "Napoleon" (codename, of course) features GSM, because -- surprise, surprise -- businesspeople who use Windows Mobile devices tend to do just a bit of traveling. It looks like Moto has taken this opportunity to give the Q9 meme a little nip-tuck job, too, with a rounded body and a tastefully-applied ring of chrome around the top edge. They've even tossed in a fingerprint scanner for good measure, a tip o' the hat to the suits who'll undoubtedly populate the upper 90 percent of this sucker's client base. No word on a release date or price, but can we cautiously submit a thumbs-up for the design direction here?