Motorola FONE F3
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| Motorola F3/F3c (MOTOFONE) | |
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| Screen | electronic paper (ClearVision Display) |
|---|---|
| Ringtone | Polyphonic |
| Networks | GSM / CDMA |
| Physical size | 47 x 114 x 9.1 mm |
| Weight | 68 g |
The Motorola FONE F3 (frequently known as the MOTOFONE) is a candybar style mobile phone from Motorola, based on the SCPL design platform. The Motofone is available in two telephone formats, the F3, which is a GSM phone and was released on 28 November 2006, and the CDMA F3c, which was to be available Q4 2006.
Unlike most phones, the MOTOFONE F3 is designed to appeal to the low-end market and developing countries, making it less functional, but also less expensive than most phones. Motorola made it appealing to developing markets by using only simple symbols and using speech to identify tasks in the menu, helping those who can't read.
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[edit] Display technology
The F3 is the first mobile phone to use electronic paper in its screen. Motorola uses the term ClearVision to describe the new display, which is manufactured using E Ink's electrophoretic imaging film. The electronic paper main display allows for the phone's thinness (no glass), longer battery life, and outdoor viewability (paper-like reflectivity). It has a backlight for the keypad and a slit that projects the backlight onto the screen so the display can be seen in darkness.
The characteristics of the display are fairly restrictive. The text display contains only two lines of six characters each, making the use of data services and text messaging (SMS) less practical than on standard LCD displays. The display uses a fixed 'digital clock' style font, with no functionality for changing between upper case and lower case text. All SMSs sent by the F3 are received entirely in lower case, and each character of any SMS received by the F3 is displayed in whichever case makes the most sense using the font. Also, the non-alphabetic characters are severely limited due to this display, as the phone can only provide support for the following characters:
- Comma (,)
- Hyphen (-)
- Question mark (?)
- At-sign (@)
- Asterisk (*)
- Hash (#, displayed as 'H')
- (+), to write this character keep pushing the key 0
No other non-alphanumeric characters can be entered, and on receiving an SMS any non-alphabetic character not listed above is displayed as a hyphen.
Although the display can be restrictive when it comes to text applications, the display is very energy efficient and conducive to extremely long battery life.
[edit] User interface
Since the F3 has only two lines of (fixed) stuff icons on the top and bottom of the display, as well as one line of six 14-segment characters and another line of six 7-segment numbers available on its display, the user interface is very different from the usual menu structure normally found on mobile phones. The only thing resembling a (flat) menu is accessed by pressing left/right on the central button: It allows writing an SMS, reading a saved SMS, call history, choosing the ringtone (out of seven melodies), setting date and time, and setting the alarm clock. The menu is visualized by fixed icons in the bottom row, following the left/right pattern of the navigation button.
The F3 has a few dedicated buttons for opening the address book (top right), canceling any action (the red button), dialing the currently displayed number (the green button) and an "action" button (top left). A few more functions are available by shortcuts: When making a call, pressing the action button twice switches the loudspeaker on/off, while pressing up/down controls the speaker volume. The same button used in standby toggles voice prompts, while pressing up/down controls ringtone volume. When the phone rings, due to incoming calls, the ringer can also be silenced by pressing up/down. All activated features (set alarm clock, activated vibration mode, roaming, ...) are indicated by simple icons in fixed positions in the top row, every successful action is acknowledged by an "OK" icon flashing on and off a few times. The only context-sensitive button is the action button which is used for "OK" on options as well as choosing a number or address book entry when writing an SMS or for answering a received SMS.
Rarely used "advanced" settings (like changing the PIN or choosing a network) are accessed by typing in number codes found in the manual. These are documented below.
Reception strength (left) and battery status (right) are constantly displayed in two prominent strips above the actual display. Both are readable in any light condition and from considerable distances.
[edit] Special features
The F3 Motofone is designed for usage in developing countries and sports not only a display which copes well with both bright sunlight and very dim light (experience shows it is readable by candlelight even without the backlight) but also voice prompts explaining the current function in a choice of languages (depending on region, a unit bought in Germany offers German, English and Italian). It is also fairly solid and rugged and should survive not only rough handling but also very dusty and/or damp conditions well, as the case has only two openings (a charger/headset jack and the battery cover) as well as a totally sealed keyboard. There are even videos on the internet showing the F3 being thrown from a 3 story building into tarmac, and being run over by a car on a gravel surface[1]. The phone survived intact.
The charger/headset jack for the F3 Motofone (and variants) is not a standard 2.5 mm or 3.5 mm headset port. It is a DC connector that can support mono sound quality. This is not well-documented at Motorola and internal documentation indicates the jack is a standard 2.5 mm TRS connector jack. The jack is shown on the Motorola site[2] and clearly has a pin in the center of the jack, prohibiting use of a standard 2.5 mm plug. The headset is available as part number CFLN6103AA and the name of it is Motorola S215 Pedestrian Kit.
The F3 has two internal antennas to maximize reception even when partially shielded by a hand or other obstacles and a loud maximum volume for ringtones and loudspeaker to facilitate usage in crowded city environments or public transport. The unique default ringing mode is vibrating silently for some seconds, then ring in modest volume, then ring with full volume (one can also set a vibrate-only mode or modes with fixed volume). To ease repairs or recycling, it can be opened by four Torx screws on the back.
[edit] Variants
The Motorola Motofone comes in two two-band variants: The F3 900/1800 MHz GSM for Europe and much of the rest of the world except the Americas; and the F3 u2 850/1900 MHz GSM for Mexico and a limited number of Central and South American countries. See GSM frequency bands for specific country coverage. Although both variations work on networks in the United States and Canada, Motorola only offers the GSM model through its e-commerce site. In addition, Mexican models are imported to the U.S. through some online retailers.
Both variants come in four different colors: black, blue, red and a silverish grey.
According to its very low price (starting from 20 to 30 €/$) the F3/F3c is mainly sold with prepaid (pay-as-you-go) SIM cards and it seems that the sellers often (but not always) implement a SIM-lock. However, for slightly more (starting at ca. 30€) it can also be bought without SIM-lock or card, giving full freedom to choose any provider.
In Brazil, this phone (without SIM-lock) is sold for BRL 99.00 as of February 2008 (approx. USD 57.00). The SIM-locked version can be purchased for BRL 29.00 (on telephone carrier stores). The F3 is currently Brazil's cheapest cellphone.
In Hungary it could be purchased in Dec/2007 for a total of HUF 2000 (approx. USD 11.58 (~7.87€) at that time), with the price already including a prepaid card from T-Mobile with a balance of HUF 600 (approx. USD 3.46 (~2.35€) at that time). Prices for mobile-phones in Hungary usually are higher than in other industrial nations.
In the UK, this phone is being sold by Home Bargains (as of 29/04/2008) and £-Stretcher (as of 07/06/2008) with a Virgin Mobile SIM (T-Mobile network) for £7.99 (£6.99 £-Stretcher). The phones do not seem to have any sort of SIM network lock and have been sucsessfully used with Orange, Vodafone and O2.
[edit] Number codes
The Motorola Motofone accepts many options which are not directly available from the standard menu. These codes are generally used to configure more advanced options.
[edit] Usage
The codes described here have a three asterisk prefix (***) and an asterisk suffix followed by the up action key ( *↑ ) on the top left of the keypad.
***<code number>*↑
There are also (unrelated) codes for phone information details (* * 9 9 9 9 * ↑) and phone IMEI (* # 0 6 #).
[edit] Documented codes
The following are officially documented codes:
| Function | Code Numbers | |
|---|---|---|
| Reset Factory Settings | 000 | |
| Restricted Calling (Phonebook only) ON | OFF | 160|161 | |
| Keypad tones ON | OFF | 250|251 | |
| Auto keypad lock ON | OFF | 260|261 | |
| Set SIM Pin | 300 | |
| SIM Pin ON | OFF | 310|311 | |
| Select time format | 470 | |
| Prepaid Balance Display ON | OFF | 500|501 | |
| Voice Prompts ON | OFF * | 510|511 | |
| Change Language | 520 | |
| Set Balance Inquiry Number to # * | 642 | |
| Set Voicemail number | 644 | |
* Toggling voice prompts is also possible by going to the ringer volume screen and pressing the action key.
[edit] Undocumented codes
Be advised that some of these undocumented codes can cause problems with the SIM-based address book, including a loss of data.
| Function | Code Numbers | |
|---|---|---|
| Display total time of accepted incoming calls | 111 | |
| Display total time of outgoing calls | 121 | |
| Minute reminder beep ON - OFF | 130|131 | |
| Display cell information ON - OFF | 400|401 | |
| List available networks with option to change to another network | 402 | |
| Display network currently receiving service from | 480 | |
| Display list of networks within range | 481 | |
| View / Edit Service Centre Number (SMS Service) | 643 | |
| Delete ALL stored messages | 700 | |
| Enter SMS prepay query code (?) | 701 | |
| How long an SMS is offered / will be tried to deliver (?) | 743 | |
When the Minute Reminder Beep feature (code 130|131) is ON, the phone beeps every one minute during a call. It helps to monitor the total time of conversation, and as a side benefit, it helps you keep track of the minutes of your life that are spent on any particular phone call.
[edit] References
- Motorola. "MOTOFONE Makes its Global Debut Introducing Stylish Connectivity for Everyone". Press release, November 28, 2006.
- Pradhan, Priyanka. "Motorola's Motofone F3 Launched", tech2.com, November 29, 2006.
[edit] External links
- Motorola Motofone
- Motorola Motofone F3c
- Review: Motorola Motofone F3
- Hands-on review
- Live Pics with short review
- Another review by The Register
- Motorola Motofone F3 Dissassembly
- Pin layout of the data connector
- Bicycle-mounted dynamo charger for Motofone
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