The Motorola Q9: Still a rubbish phone and/or operating system

Way back in March, I left the States with my Motorola Q9 on Sprint. Obviously Sprint, being a CDMA network, isn’t a lot of use in the UK so I switched off the Q9 and never used it again until yesterday.

Strangely enough it still had half the battery charge! That’s about 6 or 7 months.

I walked into Sprint today and swapped my price plan from the ‘I’m on holiday $10 a month’ plan I was using, to one of their more-or-less-unlimited deals. 450 minutes, unlimited everything else, $69, if memory serves. Plus $4 a month ‘international’ fee so I can call the UK for tuppence. Oh, and $7/month device insurance. Always useful, given my history.

Sprint did a brilliant job. The customer service was top-notch. I was back online and operational within 60 minutes. I spent about 3 minutes in the store changing my price plan. Knowledgeable, smart, engaging sales people.

It took about 10 minutes after the phone price plan was activated before I realised why I can’t stand Windows-Sodding-Mobile and Motorola.

I’m on the phone, right? Calling someone. This the BASIC feature of the handset, yes?

I call the person. I talk. That bit works.

I say goodbye and I hang-up.

I’m still connected.

I press the STOP key.

I’m still connected.

I realise that the operating system has actually hung up ages ago. My call was still open — via the hardware. I was still talking. Just… the operating system wasn’t with me.

It’s a hugely unnerving experience.

I switch the phone off and go through the sodding rigmarole of waiting for it to switch on again.

It’s on. It’s good. I call my voicemail and listen to the machine talk at me… then I hang up. Just to test that it works ok.

It’s fine.

The operating system is talking to the phone’s hardware. All is good.

I phone a guy. We chat. I hang up. All is good.

I phone my voicemail. I listen. I hang….no… wait…

The piece of flocking shit.

AGAIN I am listening to the Sprint voicemail system natter away at me while the operating system is cantering along as though I’m not connected.

Try and make a call and the thing screws up and gets confused. You can’t hang up. You are PERMANENTLY connected.

The only way to STOP the voicemail system from chatting at you is to switch off the phone.

This is a modern handset. It’s still being sold in the Sprint store.

I’ve checked to see if there are any firmware updates from the Sprint portal. There are none.

Microsoft. Or Motorola. Or whoever: You have vomited out a lump of shit.

The phone has some excellent functions, it really does. I quite like it.

But when the OS appears to detach itself from the hardware, all confidence I have about Windows Mobile disappears immediately.

Say what you want about a Nokia handset, but I’ve never, ever, EVER experienced a Nokia doing this.

I’m going to try and get a video of this huge, piece of a fuming rubbish.

How can you — Mr Windows Mobile Developer — Or Mr Motorola — how can you LOOK me in the eye and call this a handset?

It won’t hang-up.

It doesn’t DO the primary expected function properly?

I’ll get a video. Then we’ll start the it’s-a-piece-of-shit-burn-them campaign. Agreed?