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HARDWARE
"I need the heft," said a female friend, looking with suspicion at the V8160, the latest mobile phone in Motorola's tiny V series. The role reversal was striking: To me, this "feminine" design (which for products has always meant smaller) has its own masculine logic. At 3 by 1.5 inches, it's about the size of a mob informant's taped-to-the-stomach wiretap; its macho swagger comes in the form of how easily you can hide it - and show it off when the time comes.
The browser-equipped V8160 is the smallest dual-mode phone available. Earlier entries into Motorola's high-end V series were analog; this latest model is ready for coverage in any part of the US with analog as well as two types of CDMA digital reception. As a day-to-day communications device, it succeeds by overcoming its size, blossoming from a minute, chrome-accented shell into a fully functional (and comfortable) phone, with backlit keys that are actually larger than those on phones twice as big, and a Braille-like array of side-mounted smart keys that are surprisingly tactile and intuitive. The speaker is resonant, and the bright green display is vivid.
There's a reason the screen seems easier to read: The V series displays are among the first to use organic electroluminescence, developed by Japan's Pioneer. Unlike traditional LEDs, the emerging flat-panel format uses electrified carbon to create a light-emissive environment - rather than backlighting - meaning the screen is brighter, easier to read in sunlight or from an angle, and more energy-efficient. Motorola says the V8160 will sustain 150 minutes of talk and 125 hours of standby on a single charge, but Web browsing tends to burn a lot of calories, and my own (admittedly browserless) Nokia 6185 seemed to consistently outlast the V8160 prototype model I carried around.
With access to real-time information and a Web-based calendar and address book, the phone has clear appeal: You would have one less device to carry - ostensibly making the Palm redundant. This latest V phone shows that bigger is better, though bigger here refers to what it can do and the worlds it can tap into, not its physical size.
V8160: $700. Motorola: (800) 331 6456,www.motorola.com.
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