Orange County Register

Irvine’s Boost Mobile has repeatedly said it’s not going after the iPhone crowd — obviously a marketing tactic since Boost can’t offer iPhones. So, should we be surprised that its latest phone offers a bit of touch-screen goodness?

The new Motorola Stature i9 is flip phone with a 2-inch touch screen on the cover to control the music player. It uses Motorola’s ModeShift technology, which appeared in past phones like the ROKR E8, MotoZINE ZN5 and the ROKR EM30. The smooth screen lights up on touch so users can skip songs, fast forward, etc. without opening up the phone.

There’s also a 3.1 megapixel camera (Boost’s first) with flash and auto focus, a memory card slot (extra memory not included) and stereo Bluetooth. Plus, at 15 mm, it’s the thinnest flip phone available using Boost’s iDen technology.

Boost, which recently introduced a new unlimited plan for $50/month, will have the i9 on sale the end of February for $299, with parent company Sprint adding it to its lineup shortly after for $199 with 2-year contract.

More photos (images courtesy of Boost Mobile):

From the web:

• ModeShift Helps Motorola Rokr E8 Stand Out (Information Week)
• Motorola i9 hitting Sprint/Nextel (Cellphone Signal)
• iDEN Motorola i9 with ModeShift shows up on FCC site (Mobile Guerilla)
• Sprint’s upcoming Motorola i9 comes out of hiding (Boy Genius Report)

More cell-phone news: Check out the Gadgetress Guide to local cell phone services. Latest mobile-news headlines: 

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