The new Motorola VE66 handset is a slider style design obviously pitched at the consumer looking for a neat, compact phone with a reasonable, but not incredible, range of features and functions.
At 103 x 49.
5 x 15.
2mm, the VE66 is a touch smaller than many of the range handsets currently available.
An obvious consequence of this is the screen size having to be reduced, however at 2.
2" the screen is ample considering that there is a separate keypad which is revealed when the screen is slid upwards.
The screen displays a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels with a colour count of 262k.
A five way navigational button is located beneath the screen, with its primary function being the navigation of the on screen menus.
The handsets weight of 121 grammes is pretty average amongst its competitors.
Motorola seem to have put a lot of thought into the design of the VE66's integrated camera facility.
The 5 mega pixel camera comes complete with autofocus to ensure that your snaps are always clear.
An LED flash means pictures taken in low light conditions no longer need to be a "point and hope" affair.
An image stabilizer, 8 x zoom, auto colour saturation and red eye reducer are also include to further enhance to quality of pictures.
Video can also be shot with the handset.
A very useful technology that is incorporated into the Motorola VE66 is named Crystal Talk.
Focusing on the fact that this is indeed a mobile phone, a fact often overlooked by other manufacturers, Crystal Talk amplifies your conversations whilst at the same time reducing background noise, meaning a much clearer and more audible experience when making and receiving calls.
A second microphone built into the handset analyses and helps eliminate the background noise, ultimately resulting in this improvement.
Motorola built in music player is the same one used on there other handsets such as the ROKR E8.
It is an excellent quality player, arguably one of the best amongst manufacturers so Motorola have quite rightly taken the decision not to change it.
A downside to the audio part of the VE66 however is the lack of a 3.
5mm stereo jack plug, meaning the user cannot plug their own headphones into the phone.
An RDS tuner however is a nice addition, and rather than using plugged in headphones as the antenna, the phone has its own internal antenna, handy for tuning in whilst listening on the built in loudspeaker.
Wifi, Bluetooth and USB 2.
0 connectivity means the VE66 is well equipped for connection to the internet as well as other devices such as laptops and pc's.
And in a move to appeal to fans of smartphone's Motorola have made this the first handset of theirs to be able to download widgets.
This allows the user to be kept up to date with a host of real time information such as weather, sport and news via widgets that are activated on your main display.
Some of these come pre loaded when you purchase the phone.
All in all the nice design coupled with impressive camera and other features make this a very appealing mid range phone for the modern market.
The Motorola VE66 is coming soon.