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We’ve continuously been fans of the odd form factor espoused by Motorola’s longstanding Ming series of devices in China — a form factor seen only briefly in the US with Verizon’s Krave — and at this time that Moto’s made the leap to Android across its global smartphone lineup, it makes sense to move the MING from custom-cooked Linux to Android, too. The A1680 has been floating around in the wild since back in April of this year, but Motorola’s MOTDEV site for developers has at this time spilled the beans on all the crucial specs. Strangely, there are some basics missing like proximity and ambient light sensors — usually must-haves for touchscreen devices — and the 624MHz PXA935 core should doom it to the decrease end of the performance spectrum, but at least it can scale up to 32GB of add-on storage and you’ve got a WVGA display at your disposal. Hey, Moto, if you’re listening: we still think this kind of design is pretty cool, in the odd chance you’re game to give Westerners another shot at it.

It may not be the EX112 / EX115 they seem to be getting down in Brazil, but the Motorola Grasp isn’t far off, proving that Motorola’s still committed to delivering non-Android phones in market segments where… well, Android might kinda be overkill. The CDMA / EV-DO phone is capable of operating both on 800 / 1900MHz and on AWS bands, meaning we wouldn’t be surprised to see it land on regionals like MetroPCS where AWS has started to play a prominent role. It’s got a 1.3 megapixel cam, 3.5mm headphone jack, AGPS, stereo Bluetooth, microSD expansion to 8GB, and — something Moto has been playing up since the Renew — an eco-friendly design with a completely recyclable shell when you’ve finished texting on that QWERTY keypad for the last time. Look for it to launch this quarter.

Motorola Grasp reminds us company still does Android-free gear originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Mon, 02 Aug 2010 23:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Moto didn’t stray too far from the gene pool to find someone to fill the Motorola Mobility president’s post, tapping Dan Maloney — a dude served as the president of Moto’s Home and Networks Mobility business before his most recent role as CEO of electronic component supplier Technitrol. When he starts clocking in at Motorola next month, he’ll be tasked with helping to prep the company for its upcoming split, after which he’ll be serving as president of the independent venture right under CEO Sanjay Jha. Not to say anything negative about Technitrol… but sure, we can see how that might be a little more exciting of a gig. Follow the break for Motorola’s press release.

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