Motorola gets Active with Moto W7 phone

If you dress like this for a trip to the shops, the W7 could be for you
If you dress like this for a trip to the shops, the W7 could be for you

Even if troubled manufacturer Motorola isn't in the best of financial health, its newest phone can help you stay in shape.

The Moto W7 Active Edition has an accelerometer that senses your body's motion, orientation and hand gestures, and doubles as a pedometer.

The accelerometer allows for button-free control of the 3G handset. For instance, you can flip the phone over to silence the ringer of an incoming call, snooze the alarm clock or pause music.

Shake, rattle and phone

Shaking twice will instantly launch your favorite application, such as the music player. When browsing the photo albums or music libraries, a flick of the phone to the right or left will move between songs and images.

For gym bunnies, a built-in step pedometer counts and records your daily walks and runs. There's a Personal Trainer application that creates a personal profile and helps you to set goals, create workout profiles and review summary reports.

The motion sensor works for games, too, letting you "shake, jump and dance" through pre-loaded games, including multi-player titles.

The rest of the spec is fairly pedestrian, with a 2MP, MP3 player, FM radio and stereo Bluetooth rounding it out.

The W9 will be on sale initially in Asia and South American, this summer.