The press photos for the super sweet looking Motorola ZN300 have made their way to the public. The slider is expected to have a 3-megapixel camera, a peculiar navigation pad, a QVGA display, and a 3.5-inch headset jack. Software-wise the handset will be rocking Opera Mini on a Linux-based OS. The phone looks pretty awesome, its interesting that Motorola didn’t decide to show it off at Mobile World Congress last week. The pictures were leaked rather than being officially released by Motorola, so no word on when we’ll see this baby hit the streets or what pricing will be like for the device. [via UnwiredView]

Nokia and Samsung are still king and queen of the cell phone game, but LG has reason to celebrate after shipping the third-most handsets worldwide in 2008. Sales reached 100 million for LG last year, barely beating Motorola’s 99.9 million sales and 96.6 million sales by Sony Ericsson. Motorola’s slip from the top three isn’t earth-shattering news, seeing how Motorola has undergone several layoffs and was blasted by an analyst for releasing a “half-baked mess” of products last year. As for LG, it’s got a ways to go before catching up to the top two. Nokia and Samsung sold 400 million and 200 million phones, respectively, last year. [DigiTimes via Engadget]

Phone Scoop is reporting that Motorola will be making serious cutbacks in their handset division this week. The layoffs are expected to potentially be close to 50% of the entire operation. In addition to cutting back on staff, Motorola will not have a booth at this years CTIA Wireless trade show in April (the largest wireless trade show in the US), and will only bring twelve new phones to the market next year- only producing one smartphone, in this case running Google Android. [PhoneScoop]

Motorola is adding a new handset to its already stellar lineup. The MOTOROKR EM35 uses Motorola’s CrystalTalk technology to reduce noise, has a 240 x 320 resolution display, and has a slew of music controls including an iPod-esque scroll wheel and the ability to play music through the handsets integrated dual speakers or wired Bluetooth headsets or headphones. Adding to its lists of features is a 3.1 megapixel camera, full web browser, and support for popular instant messaging programs. The phone is expected to hit AT&T later this year, no word yet on pricing. [via Electronista]

Motorola has announced two energy-saving cordless phones. The Motorola D10 and D11 both have an eco-mode to reduce power consumption and are made with 20% recycled material. Both phones offer a 100-number phonebook, speakerphone, backlit display, and SMS messaging with the D11 also offering three-way calling. Expect both models to be available in the UK by the end of the month, no word on when (if ever) we can see them in the US. [via coolest-gadgets]

Motorola’s new Hint QA30 is now official. The handset has a 2.5-inch 320 x 240 screen, 3.5mm headphone jack, GPS, Bluetooth 2.0, 2 megapixel camera, video capture, and can support up to an 8GB microSD memory card. No word yet on pricing or when we can see the device hit the market. [Motorola]

Motorola is showing off a new member to its handset lineup. The Motorola VE66 has a 5-megapixel camera with autofocus cam and LED flash, image stabilization, WiFi, CrystalTalk noise reduction, FM radio, and a “FastScroll” one-touch navigation wheel. Look for it to hit stores some time this quarter, no word yet on pricing. [Motorola via Engadget]

Motorola phones aren’t as stylish as they used to be, but this v70 look-alike pulls off the switchblade design quite nicely. Part of the reason that the v70 looked so terrible was because it had a square monochrome screen in the center, which made the circular design look awkward. Motorola improved this flaw by introducing the “world’s first” full color circular LCD display. It doesn’t stop there though, the screen is coated in 62-carat sapphire to prevent scratches. But really, $2,000? This could have been a good way to remind the consumer of why we fell in love with Moto in the first place. I think it’s safe to say: “this isn’t going to sell”. [Motorola via Gizmodo]

Motorola says “screw progress, touch screens are for puffs!” with their new Moto Q 11.  In a release expected to excite few and inspire little, the Q11 has been officially revealed today.  Maybe we’re being a bit too hard on Moto, but with all the big news from Blackberry, HTC and others, we were hoping for a bit more out of Motorola.  Those who love QWERTY keypads (like us) will be happy to know that the Q 11 gets the better camera, the wireless connectivity, GPS and A/V functions of the touch screen big boys.  The Q 11 may not inspire rabid gearlust, but last we checked, being “just right” was what got goldilocks her porridge in the first place.  See if you can make sense of THAT!  [motorola]