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Review: Motorola krave ZN4

Form Basics Extras Video Wrap-Up Comments 15

Menus Calls/Contacts Messaging

home / main menu

home with flip open

Krave's menus are essentially variations on a theme of Verizon's default white or red on black/maroon Brew-based interface.

You get one set of four shortcut menu options when the touch cover is down, and a different set of four when you lift it, both sets arrayed just beneath the status bar. To me, these different sets of shortcut menu options defeat the purpose of the touch cover – shouldn't I just be able to operate the phone the same way regardless of whether the touch cover is up or down?

For instance, when the touch cover is up, you get shortcut menu icons for messaging, phone dialpad, menu and contacts. When the touch cover is down, you get icons for the music player, V CAST TV, My Pics and VZ Nav, Verizon's GPS navigation software ($9.99/month). In the middle of the screen are icons for text message waiting, voice mail waiting and missed calls.

You cannot access any other menu item when the touch cover is down, a navigation design decision that makes no sense to me.

There doesn't seem to be way to customize which applications icons appear in which touch cover position, a stunning omission. Why can't I have access to my phone book or the Web regardless of what position the touch cover is in?

When you flip up the touch cover, you still have to press the Menu icon to get the full array of 12 main menu items arranged in the familiar three-by-four icon grid. Why this full menu simply doesn't appear as soon as you flip the touch cover also mystifies me. Flip the touch cover down, and you automatically revert to the default home screen with its differing set of shortcuts.

On all screens is a "back" arrow (a left-pointing caret symbol) to navigate back through an application's menus or out of the application, usually located in the upper left corner of a screen but occasionally on the bottom left.

Next page: Calls/Contacts

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Motorola Krave ZN4

2.8" display 240 x 400 pixels
950 mAh battery
Memory Card Slot, Headphone Jack (3.5mm)

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