Will refreshing products rescue Motorola?

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Mon, 06/04/2007 9:04 AM | Life

Zatni Arbi, Contributor, Jakarta

You are standing by the side of a road in Jakarta. The sound of un-mufflered motorcycles is deafening. Suddenly, the mobile phone in your pocket starts to vibrate. It is an important call you have been expecting.

You take out your cell phone and press the green button, but it is so noisy, you cannot understand a word the caller says. You max your volume and your ear begins to hurt.

Just then, the traffic light changes and the road is suddenly empty. Your ear hurts even more, now that it is so quiet around you while the volume is still at the highest possible level.

If you have the new Motorola RAZR2, you will not have such an experience. Motorola has implemented its new CrystalTalk technology to overcome the problem.

Using noise cancellation, CrystalTalk -- announced at a Motorola event in Bangkok last month -- reduces background noise and enhances the human voice. It also pumps up the audio volume as much as necessary.

And when the phone detects a drop in the noise around you, it will automatically revert the volume setting to normal. No more shattered ear drums, and you can hear the caller's voice even in a high-decibel area.

This is a technology that I would certainly like to see implemented in every new mobile phone -- not only Motorola's. It is a technology that is especially needed among the inexplicably noise-loving people of Jakarta.

What else is new?

You may also remember the common problem with touch-sensitive buttons, including the ones on LG's Chocolate and Motorola's own MOTOKRZR K1. Unlike the regular tactile buttons, these sensor-based buttons provide no feedback as to whether the devices have registered our keypress. Motorola solves this problem with what they call ""Haptics"": The device will respond by vibrating to let you know your keypress has been accepted.

These two features are not yet available in all of the new products unveiled at the Bangkok event, although Motorola says they will be incorporated in future product generations.

In the meantime, Motorola has refreshed four of its product lines, and during the press event they let us see and touch the new MOTORAZR, MOTO Q, MOTOROKR and a new kick-slider named MOTO Z8. All of these are targeted to the mid- and upper-market segments, and they can take advantage of 2.5G networks or faster.

The new MOTORAZR, which is called MOTORAZR2 (some journalists have dubbed it MOTORAZR ""Squared"" because of the superscripted ""2""), comes in three versions: the V9 is HSDPA capable; the V8 utilizes only GSM/GPRS/EDGE networks; while the V9m supports CDMA's EV-DO network.

The new model -- Motorola prefers to see it as a new product rather than a refresh of the existing one -- also runs faster. It is driven by a 500MHz ARM 11 processor. It also allows us to use a fully HTML browser for Web surfing.

The MOTORAZR ""Squared"" has a large 2.0-inch external screen, is 2 mm thinner than the original MOTORAZR that first appeared in 2004, and has a more luscious feel when you place it in your palm. The external screen is hardened with certain chemicals to prevent scratches. And with such a large screen outside, we can easily identify the caller, read messages and play music tracks without opening the flip cover.

While many consumer products such as LG's Shine mobile phone and Canon's PowerShot TX1 digital camera have an all-stainless steel casing, the MOTORAZR2 uses stainless steel in its frame. Motorola says they performed 100,000 open-and-close trials in their lab to check the strength of the aluminum hinge. The demo unit in Bangkok had a seamless casing and a glossy black metal finish.

The two new versions of MOTO Q are the MOTO Q9 and MOTO Q8. You may recall that these are BlackBerry-like devices with a full QWERTY keypad. The Q9 is HSDPA-ready, while the Q8 is limited to GSM/EDGE.

I still cannot figure out why Motorola should have these two different versions except for the price difference. Motorola has not announced the pricing yet, as the products are expected to become available starting July.

The MOTO Z8 has an interesting new feature. Normally, if you extend a cell phone by pulling down on the lower part of its keypad, it will slide straight out -- like pulling out a drawer of those cheap plastic cabinets you can buy at Carrefour. With the Z8, when you pull out the keypad it will kick slightly forward to fit the profile of your face. It gives the impression that you can talk more clearly because the microphone is closer to your mouth.

However, given the sensitivity and directionality of today's microphones, I do not think this really matters. Still, the kick mechanism is interesting to see.

Motorola also calls the Z8 ""Media Monster"". The moniker says it all. With its crisp screen, mobile TV-ready, can capture video at a speed of 30 frames per second, and has a ROKR-level music playing capability. Its memory capacity can be expanded up to 4GB with a MicroSD card.

Judging from the demo products that I saw at the exhibition, Motorola still has one of the best craftsmanship in the industry. The products have great fit and finish, and they seem to last a very long time -- even in the hands of abusive users. This is one thing I have always liked about Motorola.

After the MOTORAZR began to lose its ""gotta get one"" momentum last year, Motorola has seen its sales falling. The bottom line has suffered as the price of the original MOTORAZR began to fall rapidly.

In the meantime, other players such as Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung and LG have crowded the market for eye-catching mobile phones. The company thus badly needs new products to remain competitive.

In my opinion, its 2007 portfolio does not exactly contain any industry-changing products that will help Motorola regain their stock price, although their two new useful technologies -- CrystalTalk and Haptics -- are highly welcome. Their engineers will still have to work hard at their design tables if they want to repeat the success of the profit-boosting MOTORAZR.

Fortunately, Motorola is on the right track as they clearly know what consumers want: Beautifully designed mobile phones for mid- and upscale markets with features and technologies that let them do things they couldn't before. With a lot of hard work and some luck, I am sure they will be able to replicate their past successes.

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