Motorola and Verizon Wireless introduced a triple threat of new Droids at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, including one dubbed "the thinnest and most powerful 4G LTE QWERTY smartphone."
The Droid 4 has been given that auspicious, audacious title, and offers access to a 4G network that spans 200 million people in 190 markets. It is expected to work at speeds of 5 to 12 megabits per second and upload speeds of 2 to 5 Mbps.
How thin are we talking? Somehow, they've crammed a a five-row QWERTY keyboard with edge-lit keys into half an inch. And inside,it has a dual-core 1.2 GHz processor and 1 GB of RAM, as well as 16 GB of internal memory, with support for up to a 32 GB microSD card. It's meant to appeal to business users, with its "government-grade encryption to keep data secure." For those who don't want to carry more gear, it comes with an 8-megapixel camera with 1080p HD video capture. The mirror mode allows user to display images and video on an HDTV.
It's built to be a little tough, with a scratch and scrape resistant glass 4-inch qHD display and water-repellent nanocoating just in case you spill something on it. (And wipe quickly. Very, very quickly.) Underneath the screen, MotoCast allows for "remote streaming of photos, videos, music, documents, presentations and more from home or office computers." As is practically a norm now, it can also be used as a 4G LTE mobile hotspot that can support up to 8 other Wi-Fi'd devices.
It'll be available in a few weeks, and while it'll be powered by Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread, it is on the list to be upgraded to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.
The other two new Droids, the Razr in Purple and Razr Maxx, will also run on the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE network and be on the same upgrade schedule.
For fans of the Baltimore Ravens or Prince (or anyone who happens to just like a little variety in their smartphone color), the Razr in Purple will be a treat, but it'll be basically the same Droid Razr that's been out for awhile, which is to say it's been well received and reviewed. With the usual 2-year obligation, it'll run you $200 when it comes out in the next few weeks.
Finally, in a few weeks, we'll see the Droid Razr Maxx, which Motorola is calling "the overachiever" of the Razr family for its 21 hours of talk-time and petite figure: 8.99 mm (here in the U.S., that means 0.3 inches). It comes with 32 GB of total memory and will cost $300 with a new two-year customer agreement.
More smartphone news from CES 2012:
- The Lumia 900: Nokia’s first 4G LTE Windows Phone device
- The Asus Padfone is made to be devoured by a tablet
- LG Spectrum 4G phone has high-def display
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