THE NEW RAZRs
Motorola recently announced the latest versions of the RAZR. The slinky RAZR Black resembles the original V3 aluminum model, but it comes in jet black. A magenta model also is available. Recently, pink and ice blue models were introduced for the Hollywood "it" girls who demand attention-grabbing colors. Special colors like ash silver and cosmic blue can be purchased through specific carriers.
A more recent addition to the line is the RAZR V3i. This enhanced version of the original V3 has a new spun aluminum housing. It's loaded with all the latest audio and video multimedia features, like a 1.23-Mpixel camera with x8 zoom, video capture, and a fullscreen viewfinder. Photos taken with the camera can be shared via e-mail or Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS). Alternatively, users can store the photo on a removable, hot-swappable MicroSD memory card or print the photo directly from the phone. Audio features include Motorola's Digital Audio Music Player with airplane mode and iTunes music software. And, it supports a mini-USB stereo headset.
This is a true multimedia phone. It uses Motorola's SCREEN3 technology solution, featuring zero-click access to news, sports, entertainment, and other program content. It has rich pre-loaded or downloaded J2ME games, screensavers, wallpaper, and MP3 ring tones. Also, it has its own browser and messaging keys. Bluetooth Class 1 technology is built in.
RAZR, up to now a GSM/ GPRS-only phone, now comes in two CDMA flavors. First is the CDMA RAZR with EV-DO (evolution, data optimized), which is a high-speed data version of Qualcomm's cdma2000 technology. Supported by Verizon and Sprint/Nextel, EV-DO is becoming widely available across the U.S. It can achieve data download speeds in the 400- to 700-kbit/s range, making audio, video, photos, and other multimedia functions work much faster. This model also has many of the same features of the V3i, including the 1.23-Mpixel camera.
The V3x is Motorola's 3G/UMTS RAZR model. This CDMA phone specifically targets areas of Asia and Europe where wideband CDMA of the UMTS 3GPP 3G standard is implemented. While the general features are similar to the original RAZR, the V3x includes a 2-Mpixel camera with real-time, two-way video calling, as well as still and moving image capture. Other features include Bluetooth that supports Motorola's stereo headset and an externally accessible Transflash/Micro SD memory card.
Motorola isn't done either, with more RAZR models soon to hit the market.
THE ENVELOPE, PLEASE
The RAZR phone has won an amazing number of prestigious awards:
- CES 2005 Best of Innovations Award
- 2005 GSM Association Award
- Andrew Seybold's Outlook for Mobility Innovation Award
- Wireless Week Excellence Award
- SID 2005 Display of the Year Award
- PC World's 2005 World Class Award
- Laptop's 2005 Mobile Innovation Award
- CNET Editor's Choice Award
- Most Innovative Product in the UK Award from Mobile News Awards 2005
- Asian MobileNews Award Phone of the Year
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