Moto claims 4G RAZR speeds burn the iPhone 4S, while the MotoACTV wristphone is intended to help burn off calories

Dan Jones, Mobile Editor

October 18, 2011

2 Min Read
Photos: Moto Gets Skinny With 4G RAZR

The first new challenger to the Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPhone 4S might come in the form of an old friend with a new friend as Motorola Mobility LLC launched the heroin-chic skinny DROID RAZR in New York City Tuesday.

Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha was at the Midtown event to unveil what he called the "thinnest smartphone ever," which will run over the Verizon Wireless Long Term Evolution (LTE) network. It will cost $299 and be available in November.

As you can see from the slide show below, the 7.1-mm-wide RAZR is a phone in need of a sandwich or two:

Key specs
The Android-powered RAZR sports a 4.3-inch super-AMOLED display with a dual-core 1.2GHz processor and 1GB of onboard memory. It weighs in at just 27 grams.

The network
Verizon Wireless CMO Marni Walden turned up to tell us that what network the RAZR runs on "really matters." In this case, the phone connects via LTE, when in range, or defaults to Verizon's 3G CDMA network.

Walden says that Verizon will have LTE in 178 markets by year's end. "That's over the half the population," she said, claiming that rivals will take three years or more catch up.

MyCloud
Software and ease-of-use will particularly matter if the RAZR is to take on the iPhone 4S. To that end, Jha showed off the MotoCast "personal cloud," which uses a PC as the hub to sync content among the phone, tablets and other devices.

"All of our content will be in the cloud at some point, but today only about 15 percent of us store content in the cloud," Jha claimed. [Ed note: I'd be shocked if it was that many.]

It should be noted that Jha had some trouble with the live demo. The PC went offline a couple of times, messing up the synchronization.

Phone yourself fitter
Motorola psyched out the crowd somewhat by spending about 20 minutes introducing its MotoACTV fitness-focused wristphone before it even got to the new RAZR. The ACTV, which starts at $249, combines a heart-rate monitor -- in the wireless headphones -- with an MP3 player and a phone. It even knows to prioritize songs that you work out harder to when you need to feel the burn, bro.

— Dan Jones, Site Editor, Light Reading Mobile

About the Author(s)

Dan Jones

Mobile Editor

Dan is to hats what Will.I.Am is to ridiculous eyewear. Fedora, trilby, tam-o-shanter -- all have graced the Jones pate during his career as the go-to purveyor of mobile essentials.

But hey, Dan is so much more than 4G maps and state-of-the-art headgear. Before joining the Light Reading team in 2002 he was an award-winning cult hit on Broadway (with four 'Toni' awards, two 'Emma' gongs and a 'Brian' to his name) with his one-man show, "Dan Sings the Show Tunes."

His perfectly crafted blogs, falling under the "Jonestown" banner, have been compared to the works of Chekhov. But only by Dan.

He lives in Brooklyn with cats.

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