Motorola and Verizon Wireless Unveil Two Hot New Devices in NYC – Droid RAZR and MOTOACTV

Today, Verizon Wireless and Motorola held a joint event in New York City at which they announced two new devices.

It had been expected that we would see the next phone to carry the “Droid” moniker – the Droid RAZR. But when Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha took the stage, it was another unexpected device which was announced first – the MOTOACTV. While comparisons to the iPod Nano flowed freely, Moto is presenting this as an entirely new type of device – “your personal trainer and DJ”. Also on stage to accentuate the fitness aspect were Dean Karnazes, the “Ultramarathon Man”, and Bob Harper, of NBC’s “The Biggest Loser”.

The MOTOACTV is essentially a “smart watch”, weighing in at a mere 35 grams, and runs on Android (no indication of what version). It has a 600 mHz processor, and comes with either 8 GB or 16 GB of storage. But here’s where it gets interesting – the MOTOACTV is loaded with monitoring capability to really make this an all-in-one workout assistant. Sensors in the headphones monitor pulse; paces are tracked, as well as calories, and running / cycling / walking routes are charted by GPS. It can be worn on the wrist, or with an armband. Perhaps the most fascinating feature is a smart music player which gauges your workout performance against the music selection you’ve played while training; and can recommend the most productive songs for your training sessions. It will also sync with software on your desktop to allow further review and planning of your training program.

Next came the Droid RAZR, whose name immediately evokes memories of Motorola’s hyper-popular phone of the early 00’s. And it certainly lives up to its namesake in terms of its “razr-thin” design. This phone is, at 7.1 mm, the thinnest smartphone on the market. But it still packs a powerful wallop, with a 1.2 gHz processor, 1 GB of RAM on board, and a 4.3 inch super-AMOLED display. It’s also well-packaged, in a sleek curved frame, with a Gorilla glass screen, Splash Guard (a new Motorola waterproofing tech), and Kevlar back (another first), thus enabling it, as Jha told the audience, “to stand the back pocket test”. It’s all fueled by an 1800 mAmp battery, which “should last all day” (particularly in light of some new smart power-management technologies, which I’m eager to see), and comes with a full array of docking accessories, including a desktop dock, from which a full Firefox browser can be launched, among other applications.

One more new feature is MotoCast, which will allow streaming of media (not through the cloud) from your phone to desktop (and back). The MOTOACTV certainly looks like a winner, though priced a bit steeply at $249 / $299 for the 8 GB and 16 GB models, respectively. And they appear to have outdone themselves with the Droid RAZR, which is probably the best smartphone on the market, for a few more moments…until the Google press conference from Hong Kong…

Motorola Mobility Unveils MOTOACTVâ„¢ – The Ultimate Fusion of Music and Fitness

Oct. 18, 2011

LIBERTYVILLE, Ill. – Oct. 18, 2011 – Scorch more calories, shatter personal records and train even harder with MOTOACTV^â„¢, the new fitness device from Motorola Mobility, Inc. (NYSE:MMI). MOTOACTV is a lightweight, wearable fitness performance tracker and smart music player in one. Sync MOTOACTV with your PC, so you can check out the music you perform to best or track your workouts over extended time periods, set goals and even create workout competitions with your friends via the MOTOACTV Web Portal. And MOTOACTV features a touch-screen display so you can instantly launch a new workout or find that one song you’ve been dying to hear.

“We brought the features you love in your smartphone to the fitness world with a groundbreaking addition, MOTOACTV,” said Sanjay Jha, chairman and chief executive officer, Motorola Mobility. “Workout smarter without using multiple devices or even wires, with the first multi-activity music and fitness tracking device with the brains to push you beyond your limits.”

Stay on Top of Your Stats
We get it. You’re obsessed with your pace, number of calories burned, miles covered, personal records and fitness facts. MOTOACTV uses Motorola AccuSenseâ„¢ technology and GPS to ensure measurement accuracy of your performance. Your time, distance, speed, heart rate1 and calories burned are all measured, so you can reach your fitness or weight loss goals faster than ever.

Then, upload your workout to MOTOACTV.com to analyze the performance data tracked by the device and review useful, easy-to-understand charts, tools and programs that help you see your strengths and empower you to overcome challenges. You can also get workout tips and training plans from fitness experts at MOTOACTV.com and on your Androidâ„¢-powered smartphone with our free mobile app available via Android Marketâ„¢ and pre-installed on DROID RAZRâ„¢ by Motorola.

Run. Ride. Jam.
Heart pumping, thighs burning and five laps to go. You need a serious soundtrack to get you through. MOTOACTV can rock up to 4,000 of your favorite songs while tracking your every move, from the Rockies to the gym. Ultra-portable, you choose the way you want to wear MOTOACTV: strap it on your wrist or arm, clip it to your shirt or mount it on your bike during an outdoor ride².

Your playlist is more than just workout songs: they’re songs that push you to perform at your best. The smart music player learns what tracks motivate you most by measuring your performance against your music and then uses those songs to create your personal high-performance playlist.

On those days when your automatically generated high-performance playlist isn’t doing the trick, you can switch to FM radio for even more song variety. And if the music is really moving you, go that extra mile – MOTOACTV tracks your outdoor training via GPS.

Keep Connected, Keep Your Pace

Real athletes don’t wear earbuds, they rock sports headphones. Introducing innovative sports headphones with built-in heart rate monitors, durable design and crystal-clear audio, the Motorola SF700 wireless and Motorola SF500 wired headphones deliver exceptional sound quality and real-time audible readouts of your heart rate allowing you to track your performance without the uncomfortable squeeze of a chest strap.

MOTOACTV also gives you the option to stay connected to your Androidâ„¢-powered smartphone, so you can answer calls, receive texts and rock out via your headphones without breaking a stride.

In addition to working with MOTOACTV, the Bluetooth® wireless Motorola SF700 and wired Motorola SF500 sports headphones are compatible with mobile phones, music players and tablets from Motorola and other leading manufacturers.

MOTOACTV will rock your fitness goals with the following features:

• Ongoing tracking of fitness performance stats, including pace, distance, calories burned, and map of route covered, with automatic wireless syncing of workout data to MOTOACTV.com
• 8GB or 16GB of storage for endless playlists
• Sports a 1.6″ full-color touch-screen display that is sweat-proof, rain-resistant and scratch-resistant Corning® Gorilla® Glass that auto-adjusts for indoor or outdoor lighting
• Option to sync with the latest Android-powered smartphone to receive incoming calls and texts
• FM radio capabilities for more song variety
• Up to five hours of battery life for outdoor workouts, 10 hours indoors, and nearly two weeks on standby
• Supports both Bluetooth® 4.0 and ANT+ wireless connectivity for your existing fitness sensors and your future ones
• Size: 46mm x 46mm x 9.6 mm
• Weight: 35 g

Pricing and Availability
Beginning today, consumers can pre-order MOTOACTV at www.motorola.com, Amazon.com, Bestbuy.com®, REI.com and SportsAuthority.com. Starting on November 6, 2011, MOTOACTV will be available for sale at Best Buy®, Eastern Mountain Sports, REI, The Sports Authority and online at Amazon.com, with other retailers following shortly.

The exclusive launch carrier will be Verizon Wireless with availability in November.

The MSRP for MOTOACTV 8G is $249 and $299 for 16G. Motorola SF700 and Motorola SF500 sports headphones are sold separately and will be $149 and $99 MSRP respectively.

MOTOACTV will also be available in Latin America and Europe starting in Q1 2012. For more information about MOTOACTV, please visit MOTOACTV press kit.