Preparing for the iPhone: Motorola introduces Razr2 phone

New York (NY) - Apple’s iPhone may not be on the market yet, but it already shows its impact, as several established cellphone companies are stepping up their game : Motorola today introduced a stylish new Razr generation that only comes with new features, but comes in a stylish new package made of aluminum, magnesium and plastic.

Motorola’s success lately heavily depended on the success of the Razr, a cellphone that allowed the company to close the gap to Nokia in terms units, but also brought huge profits into the company last year. However, as the Razr gets older and sales are declining, Motorola’s entire handset division has been hit : CEO Ed Zander described the financial performance in the first quarter as "unacceptable", with net losses amounting to $181 million for the whole company.

All hopes seem to laying now on the new Razr, which has been presented today. The Razr2 easily will be one of the most stylish phones on the market and certainly will not look out of place next to an Apple iPhone. It follows the traditional flip-phone form factor, is 2 mm thinner compared to the first generation Razr, but introduces a new range of materials. The device is built using steel for the internal frame ; aluminum, magnesium and plastic parts are visible to the eye on the outside. The company claims that the casing of the phone is scratch-resistant, with the lens cover being made with chemically hardened glass. At least as far as we can see from the first pictures, Motorola has put a lot effort into increasing the subjective value perception of the Razr phone.

The Razr2 will be offered in three versions - the V9 (3G HSDPA), V9m (EVDO CDMA) and the V8 (GSM). At the core of each phone is a 500 MHz ARM11, which Motorola says is about 10 times faster than the original Razr. The feature set also includes a 2.2" QVGA display (320x240 pixel), a 2-megapixel camera with multi-shot capability, 512 MB or 2 GB of integrated memory, a micro USB port support USB 2.0, physical "vibrating" feedback in response to finger taps, Windows Media (Janus DRM) audio playback capability as well as 176x144 pixel video playback at 15 fps. The device runs on a Linux/Java platform with a newly designed user interface that, according to Motorola, allows users to find their contacts faster.

The phone is expected to be available from all major carriers in the U.S. in July of this year. Pricing has not been announced.