There is no way to drown out the competing voices that scream at prospective phone buyers. “Buy me, hear me, try me, baby.” The marketing pitch is louder than ever; it could even be mistaken as lyrics of a desperate love song.
Consequently, phone companies are constantly inventing and reinventing their offerings to cater to an overly pampered market. Even classic phones that have stood the test of time are getting a remake such as Motorola’s famous Razr line.
Introduced a few years back, the Razr defined “thin” in a market once dominated by “thick” phones, ushering in a new era of chic in handset design.
Now it’s time for a makeover and the enhancements may just be in time for the anticipated holiday shopping frenzy.
Razr’s latest line of phones is, to say the least, sturdier, slimmer, sexier than its elder siblings in the Razr family. The Razr2 V8 clamshell phone, for example, is quite a beauty in a market dominated by other beauties.
Packed inside this quad-band phone is a two-megapixel camera with 8x zoom, an MPEG 4 video for capture and playback, a music player, and an HTML Opera browser. It has Class 2.0, Version 2.0 Bluetooth technology up to 30 feet, 420MB end-user memory or a 2GB internal memory, high-speed micro USB 2.0 cable, and a large QVGA (320 X 240) 262K color external display.
What can these seemingly ordinary tech specs deliver?
Form factor
Because Motorola has long eliminated the bulge in its Razr line, the Razr2 V8 is now only 11.9 thin, a slim, chic fit by any phone standards.
Yet, it’s not only about being thin. Its well-chiseled stainless frame and metal and glass housing make you feel like you’re holding a real phone, not a fancy, fragile toy gadget.
“Sculpted” and “jewelry-like” was how Motorola describes its new design concept for the Razr2 V8. This granite black phone will easily blend with a black leather back, a black wallet and a business suit. But it could also be a very elegant accompaniment to tweeds and pants and more casual, comfy wear.
A few months after the launch, its cross-generational appeal is becoming evident, with young people being drawn to its look and multimedia features.
Non-stop music
For people whose day begins and ends with music, the V8’s internal and external memory combined can accommodate 1,000 songs or 120 minutes of video, according to Motorola. With a promised battery life of up to 500 minutes talk time and 280 hours standby time, the music could last a day or until the next charge time.
Sure, it’s not the first music phone in the market and many could argue over the advantages of other models. But the real clincher here is that file transfer of music files from PC to phone is a breeze through a high-speed micro USB 2.0. There is no need to download or install any software. Just plug in the cable to the PC USB drive and the file transfer begins. This makes it easier for non-geeks to start appreciating mobile phone music.
Still in the area of simplicity, if you’re playing the MP3 player, you don’t need to open the clamshell phone to switch to other songs or to playback a favorite. The V8 has a dual touchtone screen.
Simple connectivity
The IM generation would have a party with the Razr V8. This is because Internet connectivity is not a problem with this phone — whether you are checking mails from a Yahoo account, chatting over YM or trying to find something from Google. It doesn’t require any installation or re-configuration to make Web surfing possible.
Understandably, the download time is quite slow compared to a PC or Mac and the phone’s screen — large as it is already by phone standard — is still small to make chatting over YM comfortable. But it is a good alternative when a real PC screen and Internet connection are possible.
As it is always with gadgets, it boils down to the power of choice.