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Another Entry-Level Android Hits Market

Basking Ridge, N.J. – Another
sub-$100 Android smartphone hits the market Nov. 11 with the launch by

Verizon Wireless

of the Motorola Citrus
at $49.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate and two-year customer agreement.

The Citrus follows the

recent
launch by T-Mobile

of four Android phones priced from $9.99 to $99.99 and
Sprint’s launch of two models at $49.99 and $99.99.

The launches represent an
expansion of the Android OS into new lower price tiers.

 The touchscreen-only Motorola Citrus operates
on Verizon’s slower 1x EV-DO Rev. 0 data network and features Android 2.1, full
touchscreen, onscreen keyboard equipped with Swype, preloaded Bing Search and
Bing Maps, 528MHz processor, and Backtrack touchpanel, already available on
several Motorola phones. The Backtrack touchpanel on the back of the phone lets
users navigate websites, home screens, emails, music and more without the
user’s fingers obstructing the display.

 Citrus users must subscribe to a Verizon
Wireless Nationwide plan (beginning at $39.99 monthly access) and a Data
Package (beginning at $15 monthly access for 150MB)

 
T-Mobile’s low-priced Android phones are the:

 
–T-Mobile Comet, available Nov. 3 at $9.99 after a $50 mail-in-rebate
with a two-year service agreement and qualifying data plan;

–LG Optimus T with Google,
available Nov. 3 at $29.99 after a $50 mail-in-rebate with a two-year service
agreement and qualifying data plan;

 –Motorola Charm, available at $49.99 after a
$50 mail-in rebate and two-year agreement with qualifying data plan; and

 –ruggedized Motorola Defy at $99.99 after a
$50 mail-in-rebate with a two-year agreement and qualifying data plan.

  For its
part, Sprint’s entry-level models are the LG Optimus, which became available
Oct. 31 in Sprint channels at $49.99 after $100 rebate with data plan, and the Sanyo
Zio from Kyocera. It debuted Oct. 10 in Sprint channels at $99.99 with two-year
service agreement and after a $100 mail-in rebate. Sprint’s Optimus operates in
3G mode on Sprint’s CDMA 1x EVDO Rev. A network and incorporates mobile Wi-Fi
hot spot.

 Although Verizon added an entry-level Android
phone from Motorola, the carrier also recently added a high-end Motorola model,
the Droid Pro, promoted as the first Android
smartphone optimized for business use. It became available Nov. 9 as a pre-sale
order at select Verizon Wireless Communications Stores and online at

www.verizonwireless.com

and will be
available in Verizon’s stores Nov. 18 at $179 after a $100 mail-in
rebate with a new two-year customer agreement.

 The Droid Pro is bar-style, global-roaming phone with hard
QWERTY keyboard, touchscreen, a 1GHz processor, latest Android 2.2 OS, Adobe
Flash Player 10.1 for displaying web video, multitouch 3.1-inch display, and such corporate
features as Exchange email
and Gmail for business
and
built-in security
features such as VPN integration,
remote wipe of device and SD card, and complex password support. Device and SD
card encryption will be available in early 2011, Motorola has
said.

 The Pro operates in Verizon’s 800/1900MHz Rev.
A network and roams in 850/900/1800/1900 GSM/EDGE networks and in 3G W-CDMA
HSPA networks in the 850/1900/2100MHz bands.

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