Motorola stole the show last year at CES 2011. The Moto Xoom and the Atrix with its web top keyboard dock… oh my! They were pretty amazing to see. Francis and I even had a chance to remote log into my iMac in New Jersey using the Atrix smartphone as the “computer” powering the remote access. Sadly, the actual experience of using the Xoom and the Atrix left a good deal to be desired. Judie, Thomas and I all bought one; we all returned them.
Judie and I visited Motorola again this year at CES 2012, and while they didn’t blow us away, the two smartphones we did see were pretty impressive in their own right.
The Droid RAZR MAXX is a beast. It offers 21 1/2 hours of talk time on a single charge thanks to the 3300mAh battery inside. Yet despite the humongous battery it is actually quite thin. In fact, it is SO think that they reinforced the back with Kevlar and used Gorilla Glass along with a special protective coating. The device was built from the ground up and was actually designed AROUND the battery. Not surprisingly, the battery is not removable.
A dual-core 1.2 ghz processor keeps it zippy. The phone is $299 on contract at Verizon.
As the Motorola representative made clear, their focus is on “the experience” someone has while using a Motorola phone. In keeping with that, they offer Smart Actions.
Smart Actions “automate the things you do daily” based on time, location or other variables. It can change the sound profiles, change what aspects of the device are running and more. Best of all, you can set them once and, after that, the device takes care of all the changes automatically.
We’ve seen this kind of functionality before, in fact such things were available on Windows Mobile back in the day, but if they REALLY work and do so consistently it is a huge convenience that would benefit all of us.
They are also offering their Motocast service.
It allows you to access and download content from your home or office without having to store it locally. This is the direction we have seen many companies and devices moving, think iCloud, and is a great convenience… so long as you have connectivity.
We also saw the Droid 4. It is the thinnest smartphone with a slide out qwerty keyboard. Motorola”took all the feedback from customers and built it into the phone”.
It has a 1.2 ghz dual processor, Motorcast, Smart actions and is Webtop capable although the keyboard dock from last year WILL NOT work with it. The keyboard is backlit and has a dedicated number row.
The Droid 4 next to Judie’s Titan
The Droid 4 next to my iPhone
If you are a fan of Android devices, then these are certainly worthy of consideration!
