Motorola K1 "Canary" Preview

Expected Q4 2006
19th July 2006

Note this handset has now been officially announced.

The Motorola K1 is a slim clamshell phone that represents the latest generation in Motorola's "RAZR" family of phones. Sometimes called the "Canary" or KRZR, the K1 is essentially a narrower handset than the existing RAZR line and features a very different exterior.

These initial pictures of the Motorola K1 form part of the company's FCC application. Although the K1 has not been officially announced by Motorola, we can expect to see it in the next few weeks.

It's a GSM phone with Bluetooth and most likely EDGE support. Outside, the front of the K1's case is covered in a glasslike clear coating, rather than the metallic V3 and V3i.

As far as we can tell, the Motorola K1 is pretty much a straight upgrade to the RAZR V3i in specification terms, with a 2 megapixel camera, microSD expandable memory and Bluetooth (possibly stereo Bluetooth).

As you can see, the Motorola K1 is substantially narrower than the older RAZR V3i, at roughly 43mm across rather than 53mm, but it retains the characteristic keyboard and "lip" at the moment, making it unmistakably a member of the RAZR family.

The official announcement date of the Motorola K1 is not known, but we do know that Motorola are also developing two other RAZR-like devices - the first of these is codenamed the Motorola Capri, and it's a slider, and then a device provisionally called the Motorola SCLPL which is an ultra-slim "candy bar" phone.

The Motorola K1 will be a very significant product announcement for Motorola, as they haven't announced any major products seen January with the missing-in-action ROKR E2. The K1 follows a tried and tested formula though, and it will almost definitely be a huge success.

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