For those of you who have not heard about it already, Cingular Wireless and RIM unveiled the new Blackberry 7130c smartphone recently, a week following the release of the Motorola Q. Nearly six months after it was supposed to hit the market, the Moto Q’s much hyped CDMA launch happened in the last week of May.

As I attempt the daunting task of outlining a fair (and concise) comparison of the two, the first aspect that comes up is Moto Q’s sleek form factor. At 0.45 inches and claiming to be the world’s thinnest, lightest QWERTY phone, it couldn’t get much better. The Moto Q is extremely thin and fits very comfortably in the palm of your hand. The Blackberry 7130c isn’t so bad either, but it doesn’t score any brownie points in this category as it is quite similar to the rest of the 7100 series, offering a cell-phone-like form factor and a SureType keyboard that may not appeal to users of the traditional QWERTY layout.

Priced at US$199 with two-year activation and qualifying plan, and $419 full retail price, some of the major highlights of the Moto Q that create a tilt in its favour are :

• Sleek 2.4-inch QVGA 320x240 display
• Excellent phone quality and text/email functions
• Superior video and voice quality
• Jog dial
• Mini SD expansion slot

The quad-band 7130c, priced at $199.99 with a two-year contract, attempts to beat that with the following highlights :

• Sharp 240x260, 65,000-color screen.
• Powered by Cingular’s nationwide EDGE network that allows usage as a wireless modem for a laptop or PC.
• Bluetooth wireless technology for hands-free connectivity and car kit support
• Noticeably faster Web browsing, application performance and attachment viewing

For most users, perhaps the most significant drawback of the Moto Q is the absence of push email ability without using SMS or a third-party client. The Blackberry conveniently scores here as Cingular’s BlackBerry Internet Service provides push email to the handset. However, for me personally, the absence of integrated push email facility is not really vital, as I am not a keen instant email user. The other drawback with the Moto Q is that there is no possibility of using the device as an EV-DO modem for a PC, which could be rather disappointing.

Overall, however, my first impressions of the Motorola Q place it a notch higher than the Blackberry 7130c. This time around, Motorola seems to have got it right, and this phone has potential as a Blackberry killer. Check out the CNET reviews site for updates.