I am an avid cell phone enthusiast. My brief history of phones, in chronological order from most recent:
- HTC Evo – Droid, 4g, Sprint
- BlackBerry Bold 9000 – RIM, 3g, Sprint
- iPhone 3GS – Apple, 3GS, ATT
- BlackBerry Curve 8560 – RIM, 3g, Sprint
- iPhone 3G – Apple, 3GS, ATT
- iPhone – Apple, ATT
- Motorola Sliver – Sprint
- Motorola V3 – Sprint
- Motorola V60 – Sprint
- Motorola V620 – Nextel
- Motorola – clamshell model – can’t remember/find the model #
In the past, my work dictated annual visits to Japan or Singapore, which for me meant an electronics shopping spree compliments of work! I can’t recall a trip where I did not return with one unlocked phone for me and at least 1 other person on each visit. Now that my international travel days are done (for now), I am left to view others’ blogs/news coverage of the latest cell innovations happening overseas (since they are always 3-5 years ahead of the US as far as phone features).
This year’s CES brought me the phone I couldn’t wait to make mine… the Motorola Atrix.
It’s funny because since iPhone, I never saw myself returning to the Motorola fold. They used to be THE hallmark of cool when they came out with the slim form factor of the V series. Their phone OS and UI however, technically speaking, blew chunks! Even after being a faithful moto-fan, I still had difficulties finding key system items when I needed to tweak them. And then along came Apple – which blew the market away.
So, what makes this phone so cool? Start with a dual, and yes, I said DUAL core processor, 5MP camera (a bit weak now given my Evo has an 8MP camera), 720p HD video (with 1080p coming with a future software update) and purported Talk Time of up to 8 h 40 min (2G) / Up to 9 h (3G). Follow-it up with the most seamless and transitional experience one could imagine or hope for, Motorola actually realizes the full mobile experience that we have already defined in our mind’s eye. From using your phone, to docking it to your monitor and a bluetooth keyboard, to picking it up and docking it to a laptop case (that charges the phone while you use it) to a media dock that hooks up to your tv with a remote. A video says a thousand words so check out my video of the demo (taken on my HTC Evo) here: http://qik.com/video/27878445
Now the one and ONLY reason I do not yet own this phone (besides it’s not yet available until March 1st): Motorola has limited its release to AT&T
Are you frickin’ kidding me?! the WORST carrier for data feeds, speeds and pricing plans (not to mention their horrendous “customer service”) and they bring a DUAL CORE processing phone capable of lapping the next two generations of iPhone to the crappiest of crap carriers? Unbelievable. That said, I will be purchasing an unlocked version of this phone and will take it to my Sprint $89.99 unlimited everything plan.
gadgetwarriorprincess 
The demo clip impressed me. But it assumes a PC universe…any idea if this phone will work with Mac and other Apple products?
Ah…not really. Technically, it doesn’t assume anything but an Android universe. The “laptop” is really just a shell comprised of a docking station + battery charger + monitor + keyboard. The OS running the whole thing is not in the laptop at all, but the Atrix itself. The phone is designed to recognize it’s “docked” state and render on the monitor a different aka “webtop” view (optimiized view for the larger monitor) vs. the normal “phone” view. So while the docking station gives the user a “desktop” look and feel, it’s all just Android under the covers. Speaking of which, motorola announced today that all of their high-end phones would support “webtop” by the end of the year.
IMHO, AT&T’s pricing strategy is probably the biggest threat to the Atrix actually gaining significat market traction. First, it’s AT&T – enough said, right? Add on top of that the high data pricing plans (again, for a data network that is still underdeveloped) and forcing subscribers to pay for the enhanced data plan ($20/month) + tethering (+$20/month), the phone’s price point starts to quickly overwhelm the “cool factor”.
[…] feature reminds me of similar promises Motorola’s Atrix held with its debut at CES 2011 – ability to seamlessly move from one environment to the next, […]