Moto launches new RAZR

Motorola’s quest for the replacement to the RAZR culminated today in the unveiling of a device called the RAZR2, which improves upon the industrial design and slimness that made the original RAZR a 100 million-strong device.

Moto shaved 2 mm off the original RAZR design and added several new bells and whistles such as a faster processor and increased storage, an HTML browser, video-calling and its new CrystalTalk technology, which automatically adjust audio levels to compensate for surrounding noise. But essentially the design is the same of the original RAZR with its large screen and ultra-flat parallelogram profile.

“This device takes the world’s best-selling feature-phone to the next level,” Moto CEO Ed Zander said in a statement. “Combining groundbreaking new features and an even slimmer exterior than the original icon, the RAZR2 is capable of giving consumers the ultimate mobile experience.”

Motorola unveiled what it had billed as its new “Media Monster,” leading up today’s new product line showcased in New York. The phone is actually the Motorola Z8, a phone it revealed at the 3GSM World Congress earlier this year. The phone is certainly not unimpressive, though--with an expandable memory slot up to 32 GB, it’s designed for intensive multimedia usage including full feature film playback. In fact, the first devices will ship with the Universal Pictures Film The Bourne Identity included on a 512 MB memory card.

The Z8 will debut in Europe and Asia in June. The first RAZR2 devices will appear the following month, in UMTS-HSDPA, CDMA EV-DO and GSM/GRPS configurations.