CHICAGO — Remember Motorola’s Razr? It’s back.
Motorola
Mobility on Tuesday unveiled the Droid Razr, an 7.1-millimeter thin
handset that Chief Executive Sanjay Jha said is the world’s thinnest
smartphone. The Droid Razr is powered by Google’s Android operating
system and runs on Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE network. It will be
available in early November and cost $299.99 with a two-year contract.
The
original Razr, the ultrathin flip phone that Motorola introduced seven
years ago, became the world’s best-selling handset. The Droid Razr
borrows its predecessor’s name and thin profile, but is updated with
what Jha said is leading-edge hardware and software. The device has as
much processing power as a typical PC, allowing for faster Web browsing
and multitasking, or running simultaneous applications. It also has a
4.3-inch touch screen and a splashguard, which Jha described as
nanotechnology that protects against water damage.
Jha
said the Droid Razr’s battery also provides for 12.5 hours of talk time
on a 3G network. As an additional boost to battery life, the phone
comes with software called “Smart Actions” that automatically conserves
power by dimming the display, for example, or slowing the speed of the
handset’s processor. Jha said using this software can squeeze up to 30
percent more battery life from the Droid Razr.
The
device also uses Motorola’s webtop technology, a feature introduced
this year with the launch of the Atrix at AT&T. The webtop
application connects a smartphone with a laptop dock to simulate a
desktop experience.
As for other software
features, Droid Razr is the first phone to carry MotoCast, a service
that allows content to be shared between mobile devices and a PC. Jha
said that while “we all believe that all of our content will be in the
cloud at some point,” the majority of consumers’ photos, music and other
files still currently reside on PCs at home or at the office. Jha said
MotoCast “could be quite a powerful piece of software” because multiple
members of a household could share content among their mobile devices
while using the PC as a central hub.
Motorola
Mobility and Verizon are aiming the Droid Razr toward the business
market, as Jha noted that two-thirds of devices being used in offices
today are bought by consumers rather than issued by corporate IT
departments. The Droid Razr has government-grade data encryption and
allows the phone’s memory to be remotely wiped if it’s misplaced. These
business features go “above and beyond what is found in a basic Android
device today,” Jha said. “We hope it differentiates Droid Razr as we go
out to the enterprise marketplace.”
The new Razr
is the latest member of Verizon’s “Droid” line-up, which comprises
high-end Android devices from Motorola Mobility and other manufacturers
such as HTC. The Razr name represents one of Motorola’s biggest
triumphs, but it is also emblematic of troubles from which the company
is still recovering. The company failed to produce successor devices to
the Razr, instead wallowing for years in competing software platforms,
redundant designs and sliding market share. Motorola was also late to
smartphones, allowing Apple to define and lead the category with
itsiPhone.
Motorola hired Jha as its co-chief
executive to run mobile devices in 2008. He pinned the division’s
turnaround on Android, a strategy that has proved fruitful. Motorola
spun off Motorola Mobility at the beginning of 2011. The company is now
in the process of being acquired by Google for $12.5 billion.
Motorola
Mobility and Verizon announced the Droid Razr at a media event in New
York. Jha, trading his customary CEO suit for a sport jacket and jeans,
also announced MOTOACTV, a new Android device designed for fitness
enthusiasts. The lightweight gadget straps around a wrist and contains
an MP3 player, GPS and biometric sensors to measure heart rate, calories
burned and other variables. When it’s within Wi-Fi range of the user’s
PC, the device automatically uploads information about recently
completed workouts to a website.
MOTOACTV will go on sale on Nov. 6 and come in two versions, an 8 GB device costing $249 and a 16 GB one costing $299.
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©2011 the Chicago Tribune
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