Update: Moto’s superbrilliant answer to the RAZR? Uh, another RAZR . . . RAZR 2. Jesus. Wonder how long were they working on that followup — a lot longer than the 5 seconds we spent when we jokingly referred to a RAZR 2.0 in the morning post. Though, it does have some nice features. The “media monster” is also the Z8. Exhale sigh of disappointment.
From earlier: Motorola’s CEO Ed Zander is set to show off new cell phones on Tuesday, likely including the “media monster” that he briefly mentioned last week. Do they need an iPhone killer, a RAZR 2.0, or just a compelling mobile device? We’d pencil in ‘D’ for all of the above.
One of the devices will likely be a movie-playing — 30-frames per second — device with removable storage cards which can hold feature length films. Om and I met with Motorola CTO Padmasree Warrior last week and she said the company had been in Hollywood the week before striking deals with movie studios like Universal (more interview details from Om later on).
Placing a bet on feature-length films and long form mobile video content, seems like a pretty clear shot at Apple’s iPhone and iPod franchise, as well as Nokia’s recent emphasis on the high-end multi media converged mobile device. But how can a recently beleagured Moto top the iPhone buzz — even Roy is planning on getting one.
Even worse for Moto, Nokia said yesterday that its market share will rise in the second quarter, pushing its stock up, and widening the gap between the two. And by now everyone’s heard the Carl Icahn (failed for now) saga and Ed Zander’s struggles.
Barron’s even wonders if Nortel’s CEO (and former contender for Moto CEO) Mike Zafirovski would have been a better fit to fight this battle. Ouch. Listen to Zander himself at 10AM eastern for the company’s ‘big’ announcement.