It’s shaping up to be a big week for Verizon Wireless on the smartphone front.
First, jump into the DeLorean and ride back to 2003 because Motorola is rolling out an homage to the best-selling clamshell phone of all time, the Razr. But this isn’t your grandfather’s, er, older brother’s, Razr? The new Droid Razr – measuring 7.1 mm thin – is being called the world’s thinnest 4G LTE smartphone. It runs on Android 2.3 (Gingerbread); has 1GB of RAM; 32GB memory, with 16GB onboard and a 16GB microSD card pre-installed; and a pair of cameras – the rear-facing one is 8MP.
The Razr has a nice-sized, 4.3-inch touchscreen with a display that Motorola says has more colors than most LCD HDTVs. It’s the first smartphone that can stream movies and TV shows through Netflix with up to HD resolution. The device also comes with MotoCast, the new, free app that lets you stream or download music, pictures and more from your PC to your phone.
The Droid Razr enters the market as one of the most expensive smartphones, at $300 with a new, two-year service agreement. It can be pre-ordered beginning Oct. 27 and will become available in early November.
The Razr could be overshadowed, though, as early as Tuesday night. Google is slated to announce the update to its Android operating system, version 3.0, codenamed Ice Cream Sandwich, in Hong Kong (Wednesday morning local time). Ice Cream Sandwich blends the best of the Android smartphone and tablets operating systems.
Samsung will be at the media event, and is widely expected to formally introduce the Nexus Prime, a device most anticipate will be the first smartphone to run on Android ICS. There’s been speculation that it will be a Verizon Wireless exclusive in the U.S.
