Alphabet soup as Motorola launches new cellphones

Stuart Corner
Tuesday, 25 July 2006 18:02

Business IT - Technology

Motorola has launched five new cellphones all with spectacularly unmemorable and unpronounceable names.

There's the MOTOKRZR and MOTORIZR, and there's the MOTORAZR xx and MOTORAZR maxx and the MOTOSLVR 7c.

Got that? OK, here's what they do. But first, here's what they look like as fashion and form seem to be as important as function these days, if not more so.

The MOTOKRZR "meets and surpasses the MOTORAZR standard for slimness, with more than a centimetre shaved off its width." Sporting a "multi-dimensional, metallic gloss finish for visual depth," it "exhibits subtle elegance through magnesium, polished chrome and hardened glass." The solid piece of glass on the front of the phone, claimed as a technological first for a large volume mobile "results in a high-gloss lustre balancing the velvet-like soft touch finish on the back."

The MOTOKRZR comes in both GSM and CDMA versions and will be available globally during the second half of 2006. In addition to its aesthetic attributes it has 2.0 megapixel camera, stereo Bluetooth audio, and an updated phone directory and new messaging applications. Both the GSM and CDMA versions offer integrated music players and expandable memory up to 1GB, but the CDMA version has touch-sensitive music controls, support for 1x EV-DO data services and location-based services capabilities.

Suitably impressed? Good, but don't flip, because you can slide instead, with the MOTORIZR, Motorola's first GSM slider phone. it also comes with 2.0 megapixel camera, programmed point-and-shoot keys and a built-in music player

The MOTORAZR xx and MOTORAZR maxx are Motorola's premier high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) handsets able to handle download data at up to 3.6Mps. The MOTOSLVR L7c, is for use on 1x EV-DO networks.

On the MOTORAZR xx, users can watch live streaming video over broadband-like connections and conduct two-way video calls with 15 frames per second. The MOTORAZR xx includes an integrated music player and Bluetooth wireless technology stereo music profiles for streaming music to compatible Bluetooth-enabled wireless stereo headphones.

Described as "impossibly thin", the MOTORAZR maxx supports HSDPA and EDGE technology, has VGA and 2.0 megapixel cameras for two-way video calling, and an integrated music player.

The 1x EV-DO MOTOSLVR L7c has real-time, streaming audio and video capabilities, over the air downloads via BREW technology and integrated GPS technology for optional location-based applications.

The MOTORAZR xx, MOTORAZR maxx and MOTOSLVR L7c are expected to be available in Q4 2006.