GOOGLE MOTOROLA: INTRODUCING THE DROID RAZR FAMILY IT’S OFFICIAL:
The presentation started off with an inoffensive but good Rock / Pop outfit from Australia. I didn’t catch their name, however I can’t see me buying their stuff as well as it was sung and played. Unfortunately for them their audience was just interested in getting the lowdown on the new products so that they could get an “exclusive” – they were poor in participating with the singing brothers’ sing-a-long! Seeing as the launch / presentation is being beamed around the world I don’t know how “exclusive” the news was going to be! When the band did their thing it was show time!
ERIC SCHMIDT
Google’s Executive Chairman, Eric Schmidt eloquently stated the achievements of Motorola and why they (Google) had to acquire it! Of course, it made perfect sense – you can’t argue with such logic. I do like listening to Schmidt because it is clear that he is a highly intelligent man and he’s able to enthuse about the past, present and future without knocking the competition: this is Motorola; here’s the history of achievements and this is where it’s at now! And here’s a glimpse into the future! Schmidt handed over the reins to CEO of Motorola Mobility, Dennis Woodside.
Once on stage Woodside took the metaphorical baton from Schmidt and talked about the remarkable advances that Motorola have been making and continue to make with 4G LTE (we badly need this in the UK). From there he introduced the new Droid RAZR Family with a short film which featured a Punkified version of Carpenter’s ‘We’ve Only Just Begun’. Oddly… …well, it’s not so odd, but odd that I should be reminiscing the days when I heard Karen Carpenter’s unique voice over the radio when I should be excited about this new RAZR tech from the Google assimilated!
Well, I have to admit straightaway that I wasn’t bowled over by the look of this family – that “coffin” look doesn’t say, “Come and get me!”
I was wowed with some of the spec i.e. the HD screen that is said to hold more colour information than iPhone’s Retina display. Good, good… The battery on the RAZR HD is a big 2500 mAh one that is said to offer up to 16 hours talk time! The HD Maxx comes with a 3,300 mAh for 21 hours of talk time, 27 hours of streaming music, 10 hours of streaming video, or 32 hours of "mixed use" time. The battery is equal in size to the original Razr Maxx.
Both features Qualcomm's latest 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor with 1GB RAM. The Droid HD comes with 16GB of storage, the Maxx HD comes with 32GB of storage, and both are expandable through a micro SD card. Both come with an 8-megapixel camera capable of shooting 1080p HD video. A little unadventurous I think!
CHROMED
After Woodside did his presentation it was time for Senior Vice President and Product Management, Rick Osterloh to show off the practicalities – namely the preinstalled Google Chrome. Unfortunately, the Chrome demo didn’t work – I think it was because the demo phone was on Wi-Fi instead of using the 4G LTE network! Oh, well… …these things can happen! I gotta say that the Droid RAZR family started to become endearing. I would have to give it a thorough testing before I make my mind up!
THE COMPETITION
Both Woodside and Osterloh talked practically about the competition: iPhone and Samsung regarding the battery life. Did I pick up upon a tiny-weeny bit of vitriol aimed at Samsung? I dunno… It could very well be that Samsung have a beef with Google for the litigation mess it has gotten into with Apple (but the battle is far from over). I think Apple is still in talks with Google over patents in secret. I reckon Apple is afraid that the Motorola patents could land them in hot water when the fifth generation iPhone is revealed on the 12 of this month!
There was just a wee bit of a taunt regarding the RAZR HD screen being sharper and packed with more colour information.
I am very curious to see how these handsets fit into the market! The RAZR M features a 4.3” screen but the bezel is reduced significantly so that the HD screen is “edge to edge” without having the burden of a bigger body. I do like the design of the RAZR M more; it appears to be available in only two colours: black and white.
HAVE GOOGLE MOTOROLA DONE ENOUGH TO STAVE OFF IPHONE 5?
Now there’s a question! The iPhone 5 is shrouded in a bit of a mystery… Well, I can’t see anyone really caring about the iPhone 5 because the Apple PR machine has stalled! Anyone can see now – if they weren’t able before – those bigger screens and a more versatile operating system is more desirable and that’s currently what Android is doing! Android leads that market or should I say Samsung? Yes, it seems as though it is thanks to Samsung we have those larger screens and it comes as no surprise that the Galaxy SIII has become the number one handset over the iPhone 4S(h!t). Maybe Apple should not have shouted so loud – if at all - in the litigation wars – it makes consumers realize that the competition (subliminal message: SAMSUMG) must be better!
I don’t think it’s down to the screen size and Android alone… Uh-uh… …it’s some of the widgets / features that Samsung add on top i.e. Direct Call, where instead of replying to a text you just raise the handset to your ear to make a call; Smart Stay whereby when your eye wanders away from the screen it goes to sleep and other interesting features. I reckon sales of the SIII will sky rocket once it receives the Jelly Bean Android 4.1 upgrade! People are going to nuts for Google Voice Search, Google Now and Voice Typing without having to be connected to the Net!
What were missing with Motorola’s presentation are these extra features! Apart from the battery and better screen what does the latest Droid RAZR family have over the competition, Ice Cream Sandwich? Noooooooo, while Ice Cream Sandwich is better than iOS it is Jelly Bean that really delivers a truly outstanding performance! I am taken aback with the lackluster press event! Ah, that reminds me… Someone from Google Motorola said something along the lines of, “We wanted to have magic, but this is so much better…” Yes, I believe that was aimed at Samsung’s Unpacked event last week! I don’t like that… Google Motorola must not get into this grandstanding, self-aggrandizing, sickly goading of the competition and unjustified smugness.
Google Motorola, let your products do the talking.
NOKIA BOUNCES BACK AS SHARES PLUMMET
Also today (or yesterday… by the time I have finished writing this blog it’ll be the sixth day of September) Nokia revealed their new Windows 8 phones just under a week that Samsung revealed theirs! Enter the Lumia 920 and the cheaper Lumia 820! They look like fun handsets what with all those colours! Somehow I can’t see the Nokia Lumia models taking off! But I hope that they do because the mobile device industry NEEDS competition. It’s clear that Apple has lost the race, Android has won. But that shouldn’t be the end of it – litigation aside! Competition inspires invention! Nokia’s shares plummeted soon after the phones were revealed.
Nokia as a name is very weak at the moment and has been for a long time; now Nokia faces competition from Samsung’s own ATIV S Windows 8 phone let alone Android! Some analyst said that if Samsung is serious about the ATIV S in competition with Nokia that they have to invest heavily into marketing! Personally, I think that’s rubbish! The fact is that Samsung’s name and reputation is riding high at the moment despite the $1 billion slap on its buttcheeks!
If anything, Samsung has to invest into taking the emphasis away from Android (rather than to advertise against the Nokia), which is kinda odd because Android has made them (in the mobile phone world). Android might be a pain in the butt for Samsung right now, but they have to get some perspective on this thing with Apple! Like I have said, Apple suing Samsung is another best thing that could have happened to them aside from Android. I am convinced that Samsung will land some painful blows to Apple in due course! Mark my words!
Thanks for reading!
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