Google
Inc's Motorola Mobility on Wednesday unveiled three smartphones to
help it compete with bigger rivals Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co
for the holiday shopping season.
Verizon
Wireless, the biggest U.S. mobile provider, will sell all three devices
- the Droid Razr HD, the Droid Razr Maxx HD and the Droid Razr M, the
companies said.
The smartphones will use Google's Android
software. Motorola showed off the phones at a press event in New York,
its first big media gathering since Google bought Motorola in May.
Together
the devices would be Motorola's "big family launch" for this holiday
season, Motorola Mobility Chief Executive Dennis Woodside told Reuters.
The
executive said the phones would go on sale at 30 other carriers around
the world besides Verizon Wireless, which has an exclusive U.S. deal
with Motorola for the devices.
Google has disclosed little about
its plans for Motorola, which it bought primarily to use the company's
rich portfolio of patents to defend itself in legal battles with rivals.
It will keep Motorola as a separate subsidiary so that other Android
phone makers, such as Samsung, do not assume Motorola will have an
advantage in accessing Android technology.
Woodside said the Razr
brand -- lauded in 2005 as iconic but became unfashionable a few years
later and then was resurrected by Motorola last year -- will again be a
key part of Motorola's strategy going forward.
"That's clearly
going to be a big focus for us over the next couple of years," he said.
The executive also noted that Motorola plans to bring out "much fewer"
phones than the 27 devices it made in the year before the merger closed.
Motorola's
product launch on Wednesday was part of a flurry of mobile device
launches ahead of the holiday season throughout the industry. Earlier in
the day, Nokia Oyj and Microsoft Corp unveiled
their flagship phone, the Lumia 920, which uses the latest Windows Phone
operating software. Nokia did not announce any wireless operator
partners for its device.
Amazon.com Inc
is expected to unwrap new Kindle Fire tablets on Thursday, and Apple is
expected to unveil the latest version of its seminal iPhone on
September 12.
Motorola Mobility's Droid Razr HD boasts a
4.7 inch screen with a sharper picture than Motorola's previous phones.
Verizon Wireless did not announce pricing but said the device will be
available in time for the holidays.
The Razr M is a smaller phone
for more cost-conscious consumers, with a 4.3 inch display that covers
most of the front of the phone. That device will be available for $99.99
when it goes on sale at Verizon Wireless stores next week.
The
Droid Razr Maxx HD will have similar features to the Razr HD but will
boast a longer battery life. Motorola promised that the device could run
for 21 hours of phone calls or 13 hours of video viewing.
Google
Chairman Eric Schmidt told the audience that consumers are now
activating as many as 1.3 million Android phones every day. Motorola
rival Samsung is the biggest maker of phones based on Android.
Verizon Wireless is a venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group Plc
Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012
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