Do you remember the summer of 2004? Spider-Man 2, The Bourne Supremacy, and Dodgeball all hit theaters that year. Usher, Hoobastank, and Juvenile were all tearing up the pop charts with their respective singles. The popular Bravo show “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” was making men across America pack up their cargo shorts in favor of linen blazers and light blue designer jeans. If you don’t remember any of these pop culture trends, you probably remember how we communicated them to each other with our Motorola Razr phones.
The Motorola company is looking to launch another line of smartphones that incorporates the name of one of the most iconic phone brands of all time. While everyone used a cell phone to personally communicate with each other back in the days of the “flip-phone,” everyone from a tech blogger to a pharmacy technician uses a smartphone in order to work and communicate different aspects of their lives.
Marketing
Before the introduction of the iPhone in 2007, the Razr was setting records for selling massive amounts of units in such a short time. Everywhere you turned, you saw someone picking up a call on their silver device. According to a business report on CNN.com, Motorola sold 110 million Razr phones between the years of 2004 and 2007.
While Apple has since shattered the Razr sales record, it took them four years to do so. With a crowded Android market and Apple remaining a dominant force in the smartphone market, Motorola is hoping that the Razr name sticks in consumers heads and gives them a sense of nostalgia when purchasing their next mobile device.
Specs
The Razr will have a 1.2 Ghz processor and a strong connection to Verizon’s super-fast 4G LTE network. The screen will be 4.3 inches and feature the patented Gorilla Glass which enables the device to resist scratching with the greatest of ease. It will have two cameras, front-facing and the original back of phone feature which will be able to capture HD quality videos.
At first, the device will run on the Android powered Gingerbread software. It is still unknown if the new version, Ice Cream Sandwich, will be available on the Razr devices.
Style
While most smartphones are generally rounded at the corners, the Razr lives up to its name with jagged edged corners not typically seen these days. The back of the phone uses a material called Kevlar which gives users a better grip on the device when they are actually making calls. The device is only 7.1 mm thick because of the internally locked battery that comes along with it; making the Razr Droid the thinnest smartphone on the market.
Cost
According to a report in USA Today, the new Razr Droid will cost $300 with a contract. The new iPhone 4S only costs $200 when you purchase a contract with AT&T, Verizon, or Sprint. The 32GB version of the iPhone 4S costs the same as the Razr, but it is still unknown if that will be enough to get customers interested.
The device will be available at retailers in early November with a pre-order date set for late October. It is highly doubtful that this new Razr from Motorola will be able to topple the iPhone from its perch as the leader in smartphones. However, if it is successful, the new Razr could bring Motorola out of its business slump and back to prominence.
