Tag Archives | Motorola

Where Are the Cheap Tablets?

Posted by Harry McCracken on January 24, 2011 at 11:32 am

Motorola’s upcoming Xoom tablet is going to cost $699. Or maybe $799. Both prices are rumors rather than confirmed realities, but they seem to point to the Xoom starting at a much higher price than the iPad, which costs $499 in its most minimalist configuration (16GB of storage and no 3G).

If the Xoom goes for $699–or maybe even $799–it’s not because Motorola has grossly overpriced the thing. Specswise, it’s a far more potent device than the iPad, with a dual-core processor, four times as much RAM (1GB vs. 256GB), a slightly larger screen with more pixels, two cameras vs. no cameras, a MicroSD slot, and a standard 3G data connection that will be upgradable to 4G for free. Motorola clearly decided to err on the side of making the Xoom beefier than the current iPad–an entirely logical strategy given that it will surely compete with an iPad 2 that boasts some of the same specs that it does. But anyone who hasn’t bought an iPad because $499 sounds like a lot of money is even less likely to spring for a Xoom.

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The Motorola Atrix 4G: This is Huge

Posted by Jared Newman on January 9, 2011 at 12:45 pm

Not to get all gushy or anything, but I think one of Harry’s best opinion columns here was the one from March 2009 about how smartphones are destined to replace the PC, and how the comforts of full-sized computing — keyboard, mouse, monitor — will become dumb shells for our powerful handsets.

Motorola’s Atrix 4G is an indication that he’s right. The phone itself marks a technological leap, as one of several new Android handsets with dual-core processors, but the real revolution is an optional dock that acts like a laptop when the phone is plugged in. There’s also a separate HD dock for televisions and external monitors, with USB ports for full-sized keyboards and mouses. Ladies and gentlemen: your dumb shells.

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This Dumb Year: The 57 Lamest Tech Moments of 2010

Posted by Harry McCracken on December 21, 2010 at 1:33 am

Progress–to swipe an ancient General Electric slogan–is the technology industry’s most important product. Its second-most important product? That’s easy: blunders. In fact, you could argue that the two are inextricably intertwined. An industry that was more uptight about making mistakes might be more cautious and therefore less inventive.

It’s also sometimes difficult to tell where progress ends and blunder begins, or vice versa. If you believe that Google Wave was a bad idea in the first place, you might think it was smart of Google to kill it this year–but if you thought Wave had promise, then it’s Google’s early cancellation that’s the gaffe.

All of which is a roundabout way of saying that while the industry’s lame moments are…well, lame, they can also be important. Last year, I summed up a decade’s worth of tech screw-ups and came up with 87 examples. This time around, I’m covering only a single year–but I found 57 items worth commemorating. No, tech companies aren’t getting more error prone; I was just more diligent. And as usual, there was plenty of ground to cover.

Thanks once again to Business 2.0’s 101 Dumbest Moments in Business and, of course, to Esquire’s Dubious Achievement Awards for inspiring this. Here we go…

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Great, Now Microsoft is Suing Motorola

Posted by Harry McCracken on October 1, 2010 at 12:56 pm

Microsoft has announced that it’s suing Motorola for making Android phones that violate Microsoft patents. I’ve lost track of all the phone-related suits out there, but off the top of my head: Apple is suing Nokia, Nokia is suing Apple. Apple is suing HTC, HTC is suing Apple. and Oracle is suing Google. Oh, and Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen is suing…well, pretty much everyone except Microsoft, but I’m not sure if any of the patents in question relate to phones.

Microsoft VP Horacio Gutierrez has a blog post up in which he says:

Our action today merely seeks to ensure respect for our intellectual property rights infringed by Android devices; and judging by the recent actions by Apple and Oracle, we are not alone in this respect.

I dunno–I’m in favor of intellectual property, but I’d like someone (ideally someone who isn’t in the process of suing anyone else) to explain how the current patent system and its impact on the technology industry helps the industry, consumers, or the country. Is it possible to root against everyone involved?

Also, can someone explain to me how this suit will help Microsoft become relevant again in the phone business, or why it’s a better investment of time and money than pouring as much effort as possible into Windows Phone 7?

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Latest Motorola Android Phone to Debut.. On Oprah??

Posted by Ed Oswald on September 13, 2010 at 11:02 am

Color me slightly confused on this one: Motorola is set Monday to debut its Defy phone on Oprah as part of the show’s season premiere — which is also its last. I guess it may be a good marketing decision considering the ratings for the show would probably be quite high, but then again are soccer moms a good target audience?

The Defy launches on T-Mobile later this year, and sports a 3.7-inch scratch-resistant touchscreen, Android 2.1, Motorola’s BLUR interface, five-megapixel camera, and a “rugged” exterior shell. This extra rigidity keeps out dust and water better than other smartphones, Motorola claims.

Motorola also will include noise-canceling technology on the device as well as Adobe’s Flash Lite, a feature that seems to have become ever more popular on recently released Android phones as of late. T-Mobile’s product management chief Paul Cole is calling it “a connection hub wrapped in a layer of protection.”

Another interest feature is built-in DLNA support. DLNA allows electronics to share content between devices supporting the technology. A cool feature, but it obviously requires other DLNA-equipped devices in order to truly be useful.

Pricing has not been announced — that will be part of the Oprah debut. So I guess you have to tune in and find out if you’re interested in the Defy. Now I guess it *might* make a little sense?

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Report: Motorola, Verizon Working on TV Tablet

Posted by Ed Oswald on August 3, 2010 at 2:41 pm

The Financial Times is reporting that Motorola has teamed up with Verizon Wireless to develop a Android-based tablet device that would allow users to watch television on it. While it’s not clear if this is a mobile DTV-based offering or what, it appears somehow tied to Verizon’s FiOS entertainment service.

The device would have a 10-inch screen — which is in line with Apple’s iPad and BlackBerry’s apparently upcoming tablet device — and would likely launch in the fall. That autumn release date is also what RIM is targeting, meaning it could be an all out battle royale for tablet supremacy this winter.

Motorola has made it no secret that they are lusting after carving out their own spot in the tablet market, one that is all but owned by Apple’s iPad at the moment. The television functionality, depending on how it works, could provide a crucial differentiating point in attracting consumers to the device. Also working with Verizon Wireless, who currently has the most widespread 3G network, is also a crucial selling point.

The device will also support Flash, just like RIM’s tablet, which means the iPad again stands alone as the only modern tablet device not to support the now near-ubiquitous multimedia format.

My question is now with all these competitors, is Apple itself prepared for trench warfare? Obviously the easiest way to compete with Apple is on price — the “Apple tax” is well documented. But functionality of the iPad is going to have to also increase, meaning we may see new versions of the device sooner than the typical upgrade cycle from Cupertino.

Personally, a price break is what I’m waiting for.

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Droid X on Lockdown, But Hacks Won't Brick It

Posted by Jared Newman on July 16, 2010 at 5:28 pm

If the Droid X’s U.S. launch had just one pockmark, it was the hoopla that transpired when one Android enthusiast declared the phone would become a brick when hacked.

It all started when My Droid World forum admin p3droid declared that a chip called eFuse was triggered to blow when the Droid X’s digitally-signed bootloader is tampered with, rendering the phone unusable. Attempts to run custom ROMs on the phone, such as Cyanogen, would likely produce a Motorola-branded doorstop that only the company could fix. MobileCrunch’s Devin Coldewey ran with the story, as did other sites, and a debate ensued on whether the phone does, in fact, have a hardware-killing security feature.

So Engadget cleared the air with Motorola, who said the phone is not rigged to blow, but it does go into “Recovery Mode” when booted with unauthorized software. This is for security reasons, and for meeting carrier, partner and legal requirements, Motorola said. Re-installing Motorola-approved software restores the Droid X to normal.

Okay, great. But I think the debate yesterday was misdirected. The problem is not that the Droid X becomes a brick when hacked, but that it cannot be hacked. While the lack of a phone-killing security feature means hackers are at a greater liberty to tinker, they won’t get anywhere. Motorola Milestone, the original Droid’s overseas sibling, has the same digitally-signed bootloader, and its security measures haven’t been broken yet. There are workarounds for loading custom ROMs on the Milestone, but they are difficult to perform, and there are other drawbacks, as explained by TheUnlockr.

Any tech topic with the word “brick” in it makes for a better headline, but I’d rather see the discussion focus on why Motorola doesn’t want its users hacking the Droid X, rather than what nasty things will happen to the phone if they do.

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A Really Big Droid

Posted by Harry McCracken on June 15, 2010 at 2:25 pm

Engadget’s Joanna Stern got her hands on Verizon’s upcoming, unannounced Droid X. With a 4.4″ display, it looks like a handful indeed, and a neat one–Verizon and Motorola’s answer to Sprint and HTC’s EVO 4G. I don’t expect supersized phone displays to completely take over–too many people want a smaller device-but I’d love to own a phone with one someday. Wonder if there’s even the slightest chance of Apple unveiling an iPhone 4XL?

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