Competing with both the current and the upcoming iPhones is no laughing matter, and the whole mobile phone industry knows this. Verizon Wireless, for one, has been piling up on various touchscreen handsets in an attempt to devise an effective iPhone-busting strategy, and eventually gain its share of satisfied touchscreen-loving customers. The scheme may not have fully worked yet, but Verizon has once again pulled something out of its sleeves.

Verizon Wireless calls its new offering the Motorola Blaze. The Blaze comes with a haptic-feedback touchscreen that brings to mind Motorola’s MING mobile phone variants. The touchscreen is protected by a transparent plastic flip-cover which makes it possible to use the handset even when the cover is in place. The phone also has a 2-megapixel camera, support for Visual Voicemail, EVDO Rev. A, Bluetooth and GPS, and mobile TV features. Its proprietary Verizon Operating System, however, isn’t something many are delighted about.

For now, it’s hard to say which path the Motorola Blaze will tread. But it’s definitely something we’d love to stick around for – come July 11 when the handset becomes available.

Labels: Motorola

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