MotoPebl

I just received the MOTOPebl or better know as the Motorola Pebl. Seems these days Motorala has issues with spell checker. Good thing for them I do kind of like this phone.

I tend to not read manuals because most humans (especially men) do not read the manual first thing. I want to see how easy it is to figure out the phone. Getting it open was even a chore. They I gave the phone to my wife to look at. She immediately slid the cover down and the spring loaded top half of the clam shell flipped up and to life. Nice discovery. I like this feature. It gets a little cumbersome the bigger the hands you have but if you can hang on to it, then it really is a clever way to open this phone up. I nearly tossed it across the room the first time I opened it this way. The spring is pretty good so if you don't have a good hold, you will drop it.

It is a sleek unit and nice on the eyes. Some will have issues with the outside screen but I don't mind it. It is different and that plays into the phone. The phone has three buttons on the outside. One is for ringer volume, one is for the camera and one is for the voice activated menu.

The voice activated menu is what sold me on this device. Push the button and up comes a menu of the different options you can speak. These options are: Name Dial, Digit Dial, Camera, Voicemail, Redial and Received Calls. It really works slick and recognizes your voice astonishingly well. I rattled off my phone number into the device in less than 2 seconds and it heard every number correctly and even read it back to me. Sweet!

The camera is pretty standard with a 4x optical zoom. It won't get you a close up of the White House or anything but it works ok. The camera also does video. Nothing special.


The keypad is nice and easy to use. Each number has a raised....squiggly? It works. Not sure what else to say about that...so I won't.

The screen is also nice and clear but pretty MotoStandard. Nothing, again, that stands out.

Games. It comes with two Java powered games. A Bejeweled demo (very short demo) and another called skipping stones (of course-get it? Pebl?). Skipping stones is Chinese Checkers. That's it. Chinese stinking Checkers. Oh well.

With it's polyphonic ringtones, games, design, voice activation and ability to download 15 second clips of your favorite 80's tunes, you just can't go wrong. The phone is not for everyone but it does break the candybar mold. Heck, in two years when the MotoFlea comes out, you can take the Pebl to the local pond and see how many skips you get out of it before it sinks to the bottom to be with all its friends. See image below:

Can you find the Pebl in Motorolas PeblPond? Ick, give me a MotoBreak.

Oh ya, and I forgot to mention. Those 15 second rad clips from the 80's (or whoever else you decide to download) are $1.99 EACH. The whole song on iTunes is only $.99. What is that deal!?

I give it 4 out of 5...Pebls of course!