Gizmodo
We're here in a nice old building in New York's Chelsea district to check out the unveiling of Motorola's new phones. First up was Ming touchscreen clamshell. Then Q smartphone refresh: the Q8 and 3G-capable Q9. Next was ROKR Z6 music phone and Moto Z8 entertainment phone. Coup de grace: RAZR 2.
10:55 - Ed Zander: "RAZR is not just a product, it's a brand, a brand we'll continue to market for years to come. Over 98 million RAZRs sold. This quarter, 100 million RAZRs worldwide. I believe it's the fastest selling consumer device ever. Five new colors for GSM markets. But..."
RAZR 2 - Super thin, super strong, RAZR 2: Worlds ultimate feature, style fashion phone - larger 2-inch display on outside. Twice the brightness and 10X resolution. Vacuumized metal front. Stainless steel and cast aluminum housing support. More scratch resistant cast aluminum. One-piece molding means less chance of breakpoints.
Features: 3G HSDPA, EVDO, or EDGE/GPRS. 500MHz ARM 11 processor. Race through menu to get apps you want. Rich graphics. Linux/Java phone - available on some versions of the RAZR 2. Complete UI redesign.
Crystal Talk noise-reduction technology. Talking phone. MP3 player with Windows Media capability. Highspeed USB 2.0. Stereo Bluetooth compatible with ROKR S9 headphones and front touchscreen. Google Maps application in cluded. Movies can be viewed portrait or landscape, multishot mode in still camera, "see what I see" video conferencing with live streaming footage. "Really simple," says Zander. Available in all technologies this summer.
10:45 - The new Moto Z8: this is the phone we saw Ed Zander using, which he calls the "media monster," a camera phone with cool bent slider action. "When form meets function this well, convergence becomes a reality. People want form to define function." Z8, 3.4Mbps. 2MP camera, video at 30 fps; first high-res screen with 16 million colors. HSDPA. Up to 4GB MicroSD card (10 movies); partnership with Universal Pictures; Bourne Identity preloaded; also working with Sony and Warner. Program it to download TV shows from DVR. SSX snowboarding will be preloaded at summer launch. Send photos to Flickr, MySpace or YouTube with just one click. "Complete out of the box multimedia experience; more capable than an iPod," says Jeremy Dale. Ships across Europe in June.
10:40 ROKR Z6: First true Linux Java product; solid feel "like Mercedes car door," says Jeremy Dale; music sync, music management, music enjoyment. Transfer speeds: download in less than 3 seconds. Storage capacity: external slot for 2GB cards (1,000 songs). Windows Media Player, album art, playlists. Simple "drag and drop" process. ROKR Modality: shut, it's an MP3 player with only keys for music; open it's a phone. Stereo audio, and stereo Bluetooth, with new pair of sweet red Bluetooth headphones (S9, to be included in-box in Europe).
10:25 Q8 and Q9 Introduction: Jeremy Dale - "At Motorola, we want devices to work for us rather than against us; single device, cell phone will be that device...Today we're announcing worldwide availability of Q8 and HSDPA-version of Q9. It redefines what a smartphone should be, Europe and other regions this summer. 3.6 Megabits per second, twice as fast as nearest competitor. Q9 is the fastest smartphone in the world today, and critically, where currency of the realm is time, speed matters."
Q9 details: New ergonomic design; seven dedicated keys, adaptive display for sunshine and indoor situations, using dual light sensors not found on any other product in this space. Only 2MP camera smartphone; Windows Mobile 6; 325MHz processor that can handle three activities simultaneously; stereo speakers. "Beautiful slim design."
10:21 - What's after RAZR? Jim Wicks, corporate VP of design: "Motorola invented thin, and will continue to do thin. We do it right, without compromise. Going forward, introducing a layering effect on top of thin, through Linux Java, touch; more digital than mechanics. Modality: when in music mode, it transforms itself to look like a music player; when a camera, it will look like a camera. Going forward, the focus will be less about one particular product, more about a suite of products that define the brand. Going forward, best of hardware will be married to the best experience. The resulting behavior is what becomes iconic. In doing this, we're able to launch a suite of products with immediate impact: not thin for thin's sake, not arbitrary form factor - it's a rich experience."
10:17 Here's Ed! Introducing peeps that are making it happen. He says "products", plural. New and exciting products. Plural. For sure.
10:15am - Movie pf people with Moto phones - including Will Ferrell and a bunch of much prettier people. Motorola all over the world. Moto on QVC. Kanye and Moto. RED Moto (with Charlie Sheen?) Lots of drums. Moto: Big in Japan.
10:12am - Some crunchy new electric folk music is playing, and the slideshow on the big screens depicts a multiple choice quiz about Motorola's history and trivia. (Motorola executed the first VOIP cellular phone call in what year? What was the year the first Motorola insignia appeared? One of the world's most expensive handsets, the Motorola SLVR L7 Diamond mobile retails for? Answer: 193?, 2006, $75,000)
Comments
please let this not be a stupid upgrade to some shit phone like the razr, krzr (which i happen to have), or another phone that rymes/ends with -azer, -izer, -zr
Damn, I live in Chelsea. I want to see a new phone too!
And let's hope they redesigned their UI.
another phone to try out for 15 days and return...
blazr?
If its the bendy phone my mate has been working on for the last few months, with the 3g and video mobile capabilities - its not very good...
you just sold your friend down the river!
I just hope that it can actually play true, un-DRM'd MP3's. My moto q says, "no."
Tazr
"It's a knockout"
I love reading this stuff.
Even if they blow it's still kinda interesting!
My Moto Q plays un-DRM'd mp3's just fine. Nice job spreading mis-info.
isn't it going to be the LAZR?
i thought that was announced already.
or
maybe it's the FRCKN SHRK WTH LAZRBM now.
But there is a neverending stream of possible names. Poopr?
someone should get rid of zander.
ROKR = Rocker... since it plays music. Boy that's CLVR. What, did they FYR the MARketing DEPRtment (okay those last two didnt work) 4 EYRS ago. They just can't let that R shit go.
It's a shame really. Motorola has such excellent engineering and design that they put into each an every phone. But their software leaves much to be desired. Perhaps this round will yield phones that look good and function flawlessly. Doubt it though - their software has been crap since the 90's.
No U.S. Z8 announcement makes me think Motorola's a bunch of LAMRS. :/
addictedtothegroove: funny you should say that, wait for later today where they announce their latest phone, the ZNDR!
Four letter, vowel-less acronyms are all the rage! :)
Isnt there supposed to be an iPhone killer or something? So far doesnt look promising.
Really, that's it? This is the iPhone killer?
I know it's been out for about a year over seas, but why no pics of the ming? It's gorgeous.
Well...it does seem slightly thicker, sliders arent always super thin like clamshells....so it may be more sturdy, I like the design, but if it has problems....I'm gonna say no to it....if ti comes in red, orange, and black like the photo....maybe a yes......unless theres a black LG8700
The minge? errr ming?
man, zander is going to have to try a LOT harder if he's going to see his stock options.... he's really deluded if he thinks these phones are going to do the trick.
like BillyShears says, these phones are LAMRS!!!
Wow, what a thorough waste of time.
I dig the main pic with black and red colors!
They should call their new campaign STPD cause it really is. Why doesn't Motorola realize that most of the cell phone consumers out there don't care as much about aesthetics as they do gadgetry. Convergence is key and stuffing more devices into a single unit is a much bigger seller then making it slide/flip/rotate while showing Flash animation.
I don't know if I speak for everyone, but who the hell really cares if their 2 inch screen on their phone shows 16 million colors or 250k. Do people really stare at their phone screen with amazement or are they just using it as a brief distraction between life events that really matter?
On second thought - I'd like to throw out a suggestion for what I'd really like to see in a phone.
A phone with a projector on the back that displays a virtual 20 inch monitor and also projects a laser keyboard on the desk and you prop the phone up with a kickstand. Then you can use it as a virtual terminal to surf the web and use it as a network-based thin computer.
I don't know if anyone else would like something like that, but I'd find that extremely useful.
i agree with jessenj. when i saw that their 'media monster' could display 16 million colours, my first thought was "who the hell is going to distinguish 16 million colours on a screen that size??".
i think the aesthetics do matter, but they really need to sort out the OS. it's probably what's really dragging motorola down... (that and a really uninspired range of phones).
and another thing...
10:55 - Ed Zander: "RAZR is not just a product, it's a brand, a brand we'll continue to market for years to come.
he's really full of it. it's not just a product, it's a brand??? hahaha....
twit.
the new phones continue the line of post-silver-RAZR, called the SUKRs, which feature: dead-horse beater, creativity-killer, and tired-design.
History repeats itself, Motorola is going down just like it did after the success of StarTAC. They create something spectacular, and then get comfortable. Off your butt, Eddie!
..."like Mercedes car door,"...
Wasn't that the exact wording that the Helio Ocean people used to describe how they wanted their phone just a week or so ago? Whoever writes this guys speeches should get kicked in the face.
I couldn't agree more jess. While all of the flash and wiz-bang look-at-me stuff is cool, this stuff doesn't do anything for real world use. A great display is a big thing if your computer is a quasi-umpc of sorts, but for your average candy bar form factor phone or small slider, who cares. If the interface sucks, the whole thing sucks.
==letdown
This was horrible. I didnt see anything that was worth any time to look at. I guess its till the iPhone.
They might as well of announced the Motorola LOSR...
you beat me to it, emulsifide! i was *just* going to say "LOZR"!!! hahah!
GAZR
The KRPR.
@ lindsey8675:
actually, the ming is the red one in the "group" pic.
But yes, why isn't there more mention of the A1200 Ming? It's got touchscreen and does what every other pda/phone does and its also pretty cheap... iPhone killer!
SHT
Wow, talk about a lot of dopes here.
As was mentioned, the RAZR has sold nearly 100 million phones worldwide. Please point out any cellular device that's EVER been that popular.
I'll wait.
No, really I will.
Exactly, there hasn't ever been. So while you continue to whine and moan about the lack of an iphone killer, Motorola will continue to sell tens of millions of phones while the apple fanboys while have photos of the iphone above their beds, much like their recently replaced photos of maxim magazine girls. The similarity between the two? You'll never get EITHER OF THEM.
The RAZR2 will set in boatloads, the new RAZR (V3xx) already has a much improved and responsive menuing system over the old RAZR. Perhaps if you geeks would pull your noses out of your laptops and actually tried new hardware, these would be things you'd know.
Gofastmini2005:
As was mentioned, the RAZR has sold nearly 100 million phones worldwide. Please point out any cellular device that's EVER been that popular.
I'll wait.
The Nokia 1100: Over 200 million sold.
http://www.engadget.com/2007/05/07/nokias-1100-handset-ove...
Whammy 1: Napster will be delivered directly to Motorola's phones, and the two companies will pow-wow on conquering North America, England and Germany with thusly-equipped handsets.
Just because they gave my grandfather a razr for free with a two year contract does not make it a cool phone.
gofastmini2005 - talk about dumb. Your saying that most apple fanboys wont get an iphone? Are you sure about that? Id say thats the dumbest comment ive read on giz yet. Congrats and get a new car, unless your a girl that is.
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