Future Motorola Phones

Future Motorola phones announced ahead of CES 2009

Well, it seems that Motorola have started their big comeback tour, according to their press release from yesterday. Coming up are two brand new mobile phones from the American manufacturer, which they predict will set the world alight. So, let’s have a look and see how accurate that claim is, shall we?

First up is the big daddy of the two mobile phones, the new Motorola MotoSurf A3100 which isn’t, despite what I thought when I first saw the name, the MotoSmurf. As you can see, it’s going to be another Windows Mobile phone, but this time, fully keyboard-less, lending it more of an iPhone-esque air. Or so Motorola would have us believe, anyway. Well, actually, they’re billing the MotoSurf as a true social smartphone, putting things like RSS feeds, Facebook access, and quick links to messaging and all your communication tools on the home screen, so that staying in touch is just one finger-touch away. So, kudos to Motorola for shouting about a completely new innovation in the world of mobile phones, that HTC, Sony Ericsson and Samsung have already been doing for a while…


I cite the example of the HTC Touch HD, there…

However, that’s not to say that the Motorola MotoSurf is without merit, because it is a nice looking mobile phone, if a bit cutesy for my tastes. The trackball’s a neat addition, and with the touchscreen, it should make for a phone that’s easy to navigate round. What I don’t like, so much, is the fact that the screen’s only 2.8 inches across, and is a much lower resolution than something like the HTC Touch HD, and so, won’t look half as good. The really annoying thing, though, is that Motorola should have released a mobile phone like this 6 months ago, and should, right now, be releasing something much more spectacular.

You know, since if it gets released in the UK and America, its release date will be around a similar time to (and hence, it’s going to have to take it on) the Nokia N97, which, as a smartphone, completely mullers it…

Meanwhile, in the world of non-smart mobile phones, Motorola have something else to shout about, and this one’s a bit more impressive, since it’s said to be the word’s first ever carbon-neutral mobile phone: the Motorola Renew W223. Made from plastic recycled from old water bottles (and one site is cynically suggesting they should’ve stayed as plastic bottles…), and delivered in a box made from purely recycled paper (toilet roll tubes, anyone?), the manufacturing process is also efficient, using much lower energy, and therefore saving the baby pandas. It even hammers the point home by being painted green!

Ok, I may sneer, but the Renew could steal a much bigger market share than its big brother, the MotoSmurf… sorry, MotoSurf. Y’see, the MotoSurf’s going to have some stiff competition from mobile phones like the aforementioned Nokia 5800, but the Renew… well, if it’s going for the cheap and easy market, it only needs to be cheap and easy to compete, and you know some people will buy it just for the whole eco-save-the-baby-pandas thing. Which isn’t a bad thing, since it’s got just about zero competition for that little prize, and the only other one I can think of, off the top of my head, is the Baby Panda Phone (oh ok, the Bamboo phone) that I’m convinced will take root if you leave it in a cupboard overnight.

Basically, as long as the Renew doesn't fall to bits the first time you look at it, Motorola could be onto a winner! There’s no word, yet, on whether either of these mobile phones will even reach British shores, but if and when they do, we shall have them on site for all to see!