Photos: Motorola unveils 2GHz Intel-powered RAZRi
Summary: Motorola's first Intel-powered Android handset will be making its way to Europe in October for an as-yet undisclosed sum, but can it take on its ARM-based rivals?
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The RAZRi also has dedicated hardware controls on the side of the device.
Shown above is a dedicated camera shutter button, volume rocker, and power button.
On a side note, it has been quite a while since I've seen visible screws down the side of a phone.
On the other side of the handset there is a microSD slot, SIM slot and micro USB port.
Image: Ben Woods
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Talkback
Wait for me!
Like all new smartphones, the price is a secret. But it's coming in February, so don't buy anything until then.
Really? Sounds terrific!
And back to the moto...
This phone is actually quite exciting; sure it's a pain that they couldn't bring jelly bean to market on time, but it's also quite understandable given the change in architecture. I have no doubt that the two behemoth's of App-Sung will crush it harder than a fruit fly. However there's some good ideas here. Why not try an atom processor? At the end of the day the only thing that matters is battery life vs performance, and frankly we have no idea how well these chips are working in the wild, so it's going to be interesting to watch.
I'm trying not to get too excited about the open bootloader; at the moment there's nothing sensible to dual boot with, but with firefox and nokia both planning to bring linux based OS, and Linux distros like ubuntu hovering in the wings it could well be the first "open" handset from the open handset mob. Presumably, the open bootloader would support booting from the memory card if they only include 8gb internal (otherwise it's kind of pointless, unless you have very little data) However, the key is "where possible" - read "we already know we can't in X"
As for the hardware we'll have to wait and see - 8gb is worrying; when you're fitting an 8mp camera, such a small amount of flash only suggests a cost cutting exercise. And let's be honest, we've long reached the point where a 5mp camera with good lenses and sensor blows the pants of a crappy 8mp on the mobile platform.
For now I'll not hold my breath, but i still have a lot of faith in the old crew - nokia and moto.
Ah decissions decissions; with new android, ios and windows phones comming so close together, I've never been more on the fence about my next mobile phone. With bug all difference in features advetised, i think this one is going to come down to gut feelings with the devices in my hands... You know unless one of them cottons on to the fact that I'd sooner have more battery life than be one millimeter thinner than last year's model *cough App-Sung cough *
News Flash
Nearly
My information may be out of date, but as of may that was the state of affairs, and I've not found any news from them to contradict this.
Dude
No different from Apple
So don't buy any 7" tablets until we release ours, which will be some time between now and never. If you really want to buy something today, buy the iPad.
Thank you,
Apple Marketing Department
c/o Robert Hahn
Toddy
Of course Apple announced it the way they announce everything
This is how Apple announces their products, by "leaking" them.
I've already explained this to you.
Why?!
Sounds Great!
Motorola might be hedging its bet with "Intel Inside" this smartphone,
Two for the price of one. But, the RAM needs to be bigger for the duality.
Well...
Rather, Intel has been pushing very hard to get into the mobile business. Like Microsoft, they've found themselves too PC centric. They need a major brand to establish Intel on the phone, and can't really run into power or performance issues, or they fail entirely. They're only real mainstream option is Android. Certainly won't get Samsung using them -- they're in the ARM camp by design.
But Motorola is a good choice. Now backed by Google of course, and they have done more innovation recently than anyone else, even Apple. They have the smartphone with the largest battery, the RAZR MAXX... a great platform for Intel.
Intel may still have issues. The 2Ghz peak sounds power hungry, even for a 22nm chip. And it's single core, with all of Android now dual or quad. Still an interesting experiment.
ARM only, yes, but, for now...
It's only a matter of time, and, with increasing popularity of the Atom smartphones, MS will be creating an Intel-based WP8 OS, if they haven't already been doing so.
Hazydave .. yes & no
You'd have a big point if we were talking tablets or notebooks - but this is a smartphone: i can't see a single-core being a major impediment. Granted, if it gets to the point where many of the app's being released for the Android store are multi-thread optimized .. yeah, then you can say a single core is going to be the bottleneck; definitely. But all told, and again, i really don't see it as a major (..yet).
Personally, i like this Intel/Motorola combo. This phone is bound to be great competition for the iPhone, WP8, Samsung variants & RIM's OS10. This is the type of release that is always good for Jane & Joe Public: more competition in a hotted up marketplace / industry space.
I foresee this device doing some great business for Motorola (aka Google).
Lastly, i will agree with you that a single-core, 22nm chip is gonna be a battery sapping, heat generating whopper. I hope (actually expect) that Intel's next iteration for later Motorola models will be at least dual core - and with heat & power minimization central to their design.
Nice post! +10
I doubt it
You are right though, they will release something worth buying in the non too distant future.
fine cpu 2 g
I'm excited about an x86 phone
There's more, you lazy bums
http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/18/motorola-razr-i/
...and it is worth waiting for. The specs are good, for sure, but the biggest advantage to the combo is battery life. It's supposed to much better with a 2,000mAh battery and the thing optimized for browsing - hopefully closer to the good old days when a phone didn't have to be plugged in for two days.
It's priced at about $550 SIM-free and will show up in Europe next month.
Of course, if this is a bust, I'm in for Robert's phone.