Motorola Bluetooth-Ready Phone a Futuristic Glimpse

Imagine a world in which wristwatches also function as telephones and mobile phones have built-in cameras that can be used as videoconferencing tools.

That kind of future might be a few years away, but Motorola Inc., the world’s second-largest mobile phone maker, unveiled next-generation mobile phones that bring it one step closer at the Personal Communications Industry Assn. conference this week in Chicago.

As part of its Bluetooth product series, Motorola introduced its Timeport 270 phone at the conference, its first Bluetooth-capable mobile phone. Bluetooth is a new short-distance wireless technology that eliminates the need for cables between electronic devices, such as personal computers, mobile phones, headsets, hand-held computers and printers.

The new phones, to be made available in December, would allow consumers to access the Internet on their portable computers as much as 30 feet away from their mobile phones without having to find a physical data connection.

The Timeport 270 also features a large graphical display and a hands-free speakerphone that can be used from as far as about 10 feet away. The battery life for the phone is four hours of talk time, or nine days of stand-by time.

Robert Garriques, corporate vice president and general manager for Motorola, told reporters Wednesday that the phones initially will be made for CDMA networks and offered to consumers through wireless service providers, such as Sprint PCS Group and Verizon Communications.

CDMA is one of three kinds of wireless network standards that exist in the United States.

Motorola expects the phones to retail for $300 to $400, Garriques said. They might also be packaged with Motorola’s Bluetooth PC cards, and Smart Module accessory, both of which are needed to establish a connection between Bluetooth phones and computers.

Motorola also introduced two other phones at the conference that merge the functionalities of a mobile phone into a short-messaging device.