It may not be available here just yet but the latest handset from newly Google-owned Motorola could make the company the comeback kings of the communications technology world.
By Leo Stiles
We don’t really talk about phones that are only available in the US, but when Motorola decides to show of its latest handset, you just have to sit up and take notice; even more so when it is the first phone from a company that is now owned by Android developer, Google.
The Droid line of handsets in the US has been a badly needed success story for Motorola and they should have another hit on their hands with the Droid RAZR which even on paper looks like a phone that could go toe-to-toe with the best that Samsung and HTC have to offer.
The stats are certainly impressive:
- a Gorilla Glass 4.3-inch qHD Super AMOLED screen(we think that this just means it’s super-shiny goodness)
- a 1.2GHz processor
- 1GB of RAM
- 16GB of storage that can be expanded to 32GB via optional SD card
- 8 megapixel camera capable of 1080p recording
- a startling thickness of just 7.1mm
It’s a beast for sure, but Motorola have added in an energy management system called Smart Actions which you can configure to turn applications and services on and off depending on things like location, sunlight and time of day. This can result in things like reducing processor speeds when doing less intensive tasks, automatically turning off Bluetooth when you get home or the wi-fi off when it gets past your bedtime.
Now that Motorola is part of the Google family, it’s looking highly likely that Motorola handsets will get those all-important Android updates first which would be a a bit of a coup. This isn’t confirmed but Motorola’s Xoom tablet is heavily rumoured to be getting Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) before any other tablet.
Motorola really are the comeback kings of the communications technology world and have sprung back from near death more than once. The first was in the early noughties when the insanely popular RAZR handsets became the must-have mobiles for a couple of years. This success quickly faded after they failed to innovate further and things were looking bleak for the company that practically invented the mobile phone – in 2009 their market share had fallen to just 6% from highs of 19% just years earlier.
The company certainly has a habit of setting and spotting trends. They pioneered the first GSM mobiles, the first flip-phones and the first clamshell-phones and with the RAZR, the obsession for ever more anorexic handsets. This talent for spotting a winner saw them recognise the potential of Android early on in the platforms development and their Droid phones in the US secured them a lifeline as they struggled to cope with the sudden push towards smartphones precipitated by the arrival of the iPhone.
Google’s acquisition of the company this year has all but secured their future and you can bet the bosses over at Mountain View will be keen to expand the Motorola brand beyond the United States once more.
With phones like the Droid RAZR, it looks like they have hit the ground running and while we won’t be getting our hands on this latest Droid in the immediate future, we can gladly say: welcome back boys, we’ve missed you.
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