Motorola Motozine ZN5 Is More Camera Than Phone

When every mobile device maker is popping cameras into their lineups of cell phones, Motorola on Monday announced it's taking a reversed approach, partnering with Kodak to offer a device that centers on the camera and imaging, but with the click of a button reverts back into a cellular phone.

Motorola on Monday unveiled the Motozine ZN5, a candy-bar form factor device that, in partnership with Kodak, claims to create "brighter, more vivid pictures that you'll want to show off." The centerpiece of the ZN5 is the 5-megapixel camera and the inclusion of Kodak Imaging Technology and Kodak Perfect Touch Technology, to enhance photos with brighter colors and sharper details, Motorola said in an announcement.

"The Motozine ZN5 is built to share too: you can upload your photos to the Web the instant you take them, or save them to share later on up to 4GB of optional expandable memory," Schaumberg, Ill.-based Motorola said in the announcement. "When you're done, with ModeShift technology, just slide across the lens cover and your 5-megapixel camera instantly transforms back to a phone."

Motorola is billing the ZN5 as the first and only device that is co-developed with Kodak to let users upload and manage images using the included Kodak Easyshare software. The device lets users upload photos via the Kodak Gallery Link and share them to the online Kodak Gallery in one click. Additionally, using Easyshare software enables fast transfer of pictures from the device to a PC via a USB connection, letting users organize, edit, print and share photos.

For on-the-go photography, the device enables photos to be sent via MMS messages, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, or uploaded directly to Kodak Gallery or another photo site via ShoZu. Photo slideshows can also be displayed on television with one cable or printed wireless to a Kodak all-in-one inkjet printer using Bluetooth connectivity.

The Motozine ZN5 boasts a 2.4-inch 240 pixel by 320 pixel 262K TFT display and offers 350 MB of memory with an optional removable 4GB memory card, which can house up to 3,000 photos when in use.

The 5-megapixel camera features auto-focus which is low-light optimized with a Xenon flash. It also features a multi-shot mode and capture and edit modes that let users select to shoot photos in panorama, grayscale, sepia, negative, reddish, greenish and blueish. The camera features a fixed optical zoom lens, has a focal length of 5.56 millimeters, offers 2.8/5.6 aperture and has a digital viewfinder.

The ZN5 weighs in at 114 grams and measures 50.5 millimeters wide, 118 millimeters long and 12 millimeters thick, with 16 millimeters at the thickest point.

And while the camera features are the piece de resistance, the phone offers standby time of between 310 and 579 minutes and talk time of 349 to 574 minutes. It is a quad-band device that operates on various wireless bands, such as GSM 850/900/1800/1900; EDGE Class 12 and GPRS Class 12.

The phone also features CrystalTalk technology; offers SMS, MMS, instant messaging and personal email; full HTML viewing in an open source browser; and Wi-Fi and WLAN connectivity via 802.11 b/g/i. The ZN5 also has a 3.5 millimeter A/V jack, an FM radio and a music player and supports Microsoft Windows Media Player 11. It also supports H263, MPEG4 and C/P 15 frame-per-second video and TV output.