Motorola's RAZR reboot: three new phones, new Google integration

At the outset of Motorola's "On Display" event last week, new CEO Dennis Woodside declared the arrival of a "new Motorola." That's not exactly true yet, though. It's only been three short months since Google officially completed its acquisition of Motorola, and the Droid RAZR HD, RAZR Maxx HD, and RAZR M were certainly in the works long before that. But beyond the devices, Google's vision of a future "new Motorola" failed to address the most important part of Motorola's recent past: Verizon.

Motorola has been overly dependent on Verizon's business ever since the launch of the original Droid. At the time, both Verizon and Google were hoping to stop the onslaught of the iPhone on AT&T, without much success: Verizon originally bet on RIM's BlackBerry Storm to predictably disappointing results, and Google had yet to catch fire with Android in any real way. The original Droid, developed by Motorola in deep collaboration with Google, changed the fortunes of all three companies, and turned Android into a market force to be reckoned with. But the real collaboration was between Google and Verizon: in return for Verizon agreeing to push Android as the main competitor to the iPhone, Google radically softened its stance on net neutrality.

Earlier today, Motorola and Verizon revealed the Droid RAZR M, a $99 smartphone that sticks a 4.3-inch, practically edge-to-edge screen into a decidedly tiny package. Now, Pocket-lint is reporting that Motorola intends to re-use the same RAZR M design for its first Intel-powered smartphone. We've been eagerly awaiting the fruits of a Motorola-Intel partnership ever since the companies announced one at CES, and soon after that we saw some alleged pictures of the first phone. Look familiar, no? Now, it appears that the device will be sold in both dual-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon and Intel Medfield Atom models, though Pocket-lint says the Intel version won't have the same name when sold.

Neither Motorola nor Intel would confirm or deny the report, but both companies have an event scheduled in London for September 18th, and we'll be there to bring you all the details. We're particularly interested in what the device might cost, as previous Intel phones have offered some pretty decent bang for the buck, and at $99 after rebate, the existing RAZR M appears to do so as well.

Today was a big day for both Motorola and Nokia. Motorola introduced the RAZR HD, HD Maxx, and RAZR M, while Nokia announced two Windows Phone 8 devices, the Lumia 920 and Lumia 820. If you missed our live coverage of the announcements, you can get a taste of all the excitement, bad promotional videos, and questionable bands by watching the events in their entirety. Motorola's show is now up on YouTube, while Nokia's event is available for viewing on its Webcast page. Enjoy!

When it comes to the Droid RAZR M, an edge-to-edge 4.3-inch display gets top billing, with Motorola claiming users get 40 percent more screen real estate than the leading competitor — which again is Apple's iPhone. It's expected that the upcoming iPhone 5 will carry a 4-inch display, so the RAZR M will maintain the edge there should rumors pan out. Motorola also says users can expect 40 percent more battery life over the 4S, though we presently in the dark as to how Apple's next handset will fare in this department. Sadly we also can't say whether Nokia's brand new Lumia 920 will be competing with the refreshed Droid RAZR line on Verizon, but we've included it here nonetheless.

Google bought Motorola Mobility, but Motorola's just-announced RAZR phones won't come with the latest version of Google's Android OS. What to do? Well, if you plan to play with your own builds of Jelly Bean, you could spring for a Developer Edition. For the not-inconsiderable price of $549.99, you can pre-order the new Droid RAZR M Developer Edition with an unlockable bootloader today, and it should ship the week of September 13th. There's also a pre-order page for its 4.7-inch brother, the Droid RAZR HD Developer Edition, though there's no word on pricing or availability yet. Find both pages at our source links below.

We've just snagged a look at the Droid RAZR HD and it's slightly-thicker brother, the Droid RAZR Maxx HD. Both nearly live up to Motorola's description when it comes to the 720p screen: it's bright and saturated, perhaps too much so. Motorola tells us that the display on these two phones as well as the RAZR M is Super Amoled, which would account for some of the saturation but is also likely to be a source of complaint from LCD fans. Hello again, Pentile, we'd hoped we'd left you behind:

The RAZR HD's big selling point is the minimal bezel around the screen and though it's still present, the phone feels tight and compact, a feeling buttressed by the Kevlar back. The other big selling point the battery life on both of these devices, and while we obviously can't speak to that right now, we can say that the Maxx is definitely thicker but by no means a chunky monster. In fact, just looking at the phones it's almost difficult to distinguish them — they're easiest to tell apart by weight.

We've just had the opportunity to take a look at Motorola's just-announced Droid RAZR M, which, just as rumored, has a 4.3-inch qHD display.

The leaks that cropped up last week were largely correct — Motorola has just announced the Droid RAZR M 4G LTE. As CEO Dennis Woodside said earlier, the Droid RAZR M 4G LTE will have Android 4.1 Jelly Bean by the end of the year, but at launch it'll be running Ice Cream Sandwich with Chrome as the default browser. Naturally, it runs on Verizon's LTE network and includes a relatively high-capacity battery, but its 2,000mAh capacity trails both the Droid RAZR HD and Droid RAZR HD Maxx.

There aren't a whole lot of details about this phone, but the highlighted features include 8GB of storage space (plus a microSD slot), 1GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel camera with 1080p video capture, and a 4.3-inch screen — but there was no resolution announced. We're hoping it isn't the same 960 x 540 resolution that last year's Droid RAZR featured. The Droid RAZR M will come in both black and white, and will be in stores next week for $99 (with a two-year contract, of course). If you want to pre-order, you can do so starting today at 5 pm.

Motorola has just announced the Droid RAZR Maxx HD, promising it will have the longest battery life of any Android smartphone. It'll have the same 1.5GHz dual-core processor and 4.7-inch HD display as the just-announced RAZR HD, but with a far larger 3300mAh battery. Despite the larger battery, the RAZR Maxx HD is still only 9.3mm thick.

Motorola doesn't have the best reputation for timely Android updates, but CEO Dennis Woodside claims the company is turning over a new leaf. He says that "most" Motorola devices released since 2011 will get upgraded to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean before the end of the year, but for those users who aren't so lucky? They'll get a $100 credit toward any new Motorola device announced today, including the Droid RAZR HD, the Droid RAZR Maxx HD, and — perhaps most enticingly — the $99 Droid RAZR M. We haven't heard anything on how to claim your money off (or your free dollar, in the RAZR M's case), but for more on Motorola's announcements today follow our liveblog of the event.

Motorola has just announced the Droid RAZR HD, updating its old flagship with a larger 4.7-inch screen, HD display, and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. The RAZR HD comes with a 2,500mAh battery, a bit under the 3,300mAh RAZR Maxx but well above the 1,780mAh of the original RAZR. As with the first Droid RAZR, it will come with a higher-capacity Maxx variant. The company also touted the RAZR HD's 1.5GHz dual-core processor and preinstalled Chrome browser, along with its LTE capacity. Outside the battery, screen, and processor, the specs aren't too different from those of the original Droid RAZR. The phone comes with a Super AMOLED screen, albeit a higher-resolution one, and the same 8-megapixel rear camera. Like the RAZR, it includes 1GB of RAM and 16GB of internal memory, expandable by microSD.

A Jelly Bean update should be available at some point, but for now, it's starting with Ice Cream Sandwich. As a good-faith gesture, versions of the RAZR HD running Jelly Bean are being shown off at the event. Motorola will also be offering a developer edition with an unlockable bootloader. Pricing hasn't yet been announced, but the device should be in stores "before the holidays."