Motorola
Motofone

The Motorola F3, known as the Motofone, was released in 2006. In the press release announcing the device, the company stated that the phone used "innovative materials and finish processes combined to make a device that's beautiful and affordable for everyone around the world." It was also Motorola's thinnest phone to date at just 9mm. Ron Garriques, the President of Motorola's Mobile Devices Division boldly proclaimed at the launch that "disruption creates opportunity, and the best way to stay ahead is to create disruption yourself". He went on to state that this was the philosophy Motorola had adopted for the Motofone and that the company was "changing expectations regarding what a phone can look like, feel like, and deliver and that the company hoped to "change the entire playing field for handset development." The Motofone had a large, high contrast electrophoretic E Ink screen which Motorola branded as a "ClearVision display". This had several benefits including outstanding battery life and being easily readable in direct sunlight - both characteristics that were well-suited to the emerging markets customers that Motorola was targetting. Despite these benefits, the display proved restrictive as it only allowed two lines of six characters plus fixed icons despite its 34 x 43 mm size. These limitations severely affected the user interface which drew criticism for being difficult to use. The Motofone was initially launched in India with network operator BSNL in both black and white variants. The bundled price from BSNL was 1,650 rupees (approximately $25) and users recieved 150 rupees of free talk-time every month for the next three years.  It featured a clock with alarm, the choice of 8 ring tones and the ability to send and receive SMS text messages. Some information courtesy of Nigel Linge & Andy Sutton, the authors of 30 Years of Mobile Phones in the UK (Paid Link)