It's pretty fricking hard to believe that Motorola didn't have any touchscreen phones in the North American market before the Krave, isn't it? It's true, though -- so when it came time to draw inspiration for that all-important first device, designers looked to none other than Moto's own MING series, a popular (and fairly attractive, if we do say so ourselves) line of Linux-based smartphones sold in China for inspiration. In the course of its metamorphosis into a thoroughly Americanized phone, the Krave (Kring? MAVE?) lost GSM, gained CDMA and 3G, and found itself locked in to Verizon. All things considered, that's a pretty traumatic conversion there -- so how'd it end up faring? We took a quick look at the ZN4 to find out.

Motorola: a name that oozes with apathy amongst gadget aficionados these days. But what if we added the words "Android" and "Social" to the mix, would you once again take notice of the world's most invisible number 1 seller of handsets? According to BusinessWeek, Moto's Google-ified handset will feature an "iphone-like touch-screen, a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, and a host of social-network-friendly features." BusinessWeek's sources say that the device takes its design cues from the Krave ZN4 while resembling a high-end version of the T-Mobile G1 from HTC (while selling for less). Apparently Moto has been shopping the spec-sheet and images around to carriers over the last few months in preparation for a Q2 2009 US launch (Europe in Q3 2009) for the MySpaceBook crowd. Unfortunately for Moto, we expect the market to be flooded with Android handsets by then.

[Via TechDigest]

We had a feeling we'd get a mixed bag of reviews as soon as we first saw the Motorola Krave ZN4 -- it's one of those love it or hate it type things, you know? In some cases, reviewers chose to focus on the positives, noting that it was cute, unique, a good music player and a phone that would last and last without a recharge. Another batch of critics couldn't hold back the whip, pointing out that it lacked WiFi, packed a lackluster browser, included yawn-worthy software and offered a keyboard that was "straight-up awkward." As expected, overall ratings hovered between just below average to just above average, and it seems this phone will be exactly what you make it out to be. Moto fans will likely have plenty to cheer about, but those without a dog in the fight may want to give the writeups below a more thorough glance before dropping $149.99 and agreeing to a super-sized 2-year commitment.

Read - PC Magazine
Read - PhoneScoop
Read - Laptop Mag
Read - DigitalTrends
Read - CNET

Color us as unsurprised as ever, but Motorola's unique, if not fancy, Krave ZN4 just got official. The touchscreen-based flip phone is launching today on Verizon Wireless, bringing with it two layers of touch -- one on the interactive clear flip outside and another with the full 2.8-inch touchscreen inside. You'll also find support for V CAST Mobile TV, V CAST Video, V CAST Music with Rhapsody and VZ Navigator, not to mention the 2-megapixel camera, Bluetooth, HTML browser and visual voicemail capabilities. It's in stores today for a buck fifty after signing away your cellular soul for two years and waiting ages for a $50 mail-in rebate to arrive in your mailbox.

Here on the right coast of the US of A, it's not quite October 14th. That factoid aside, someone has still managed to acquire one of Motorola's peculiar (in a good way) Krave ZN4s from Verizon a few days in advance of its official release date. The touchscreen-heavy flip phone looks mighty impressive in the enviable photos waiting in the read link, and early impressions from the lucky owner assert that call quality is "very good," texting on it is a breeze and the touch response in general is quite satisfactory. For those of you passing this off as a gimmick before, see if you're still feeling the same way after having a look at the in the wild shots.

[Via phoneArena]

We're calling it -- the closest thing we yanks have to a MING is gracing Verizon on October 14 for $149.99 on a two-year contract after $50 rebate. Full retail for the Krave ZN4 will run $349.99, for those so inclined. Entertain yourself with a little press photography in the meantime, won't you?

For those of you who firmly believe that Verizon plus Motorola plus touchscreen equals pure, unadulterated bliss, heads up: we have a bit of information that might be of interest to you. phoneArena has scored a screen shot of what appears to be some promotional material for Moto's upcoming MING-esque doohickey, the Krave ZN4 -- and it looks like we'll be shelling out about $150 on a two-year contract for the honor of carrying one in our knockoff Louis Vuitton backpacks. Not a bad price for a phone clearly designed to rest toward the upper end of Verizon's non-smartphone lineup, we suppose, and we'll admit that it's looking better in this dolled-up promo shot than it was last time we saw it. Separately, they've landed pricing for the Moto VU204, a basic flip that's probably not going to turn as many heads as the Krave; that one is going to go out the door for $29, and you'll get three free with the purchase of the first for the ultimate four-pack of mediocrity. We don't have a solid line on when these are coming to market, but the Krave's still a possibility for this month.

Krave? Knack? New phones listed on Verizon's latest rebate forms has us believing that we may be approaching the product marketing End Times where naming conventions reach a level of silliness never before fathomed. Take, for example, the ZN4 Krave from Motorola -- a phone previously known as the Blaze -- or the Sway and Knack from Samsung, the former being the u650 slider with a 2-megapixel camera. Why can't we just call that one "u650," Verizon? We'd be totally cool with that. Returning momentarily to the land of sanity, LG nabs the VX8360 and VX5500 on the lower end, a market segment where neither real nor made-up words bother finding their way onto the labels. Kind of refreshing, we think -- especially if the alternative is "Knack."