File photo (MGN)By PETER SVENSSON
AP Technology Writer
NEW YORK (AP) - Motorola is
broadening the use of its Razr brand to a family of smartphones in its
first major product launch under new owner Google.
Verizon Wireless started
taking pre-orders Wednesday for the first of the new phones, the Droid
Razr M. It's a cheaper, smaller phone than the Razr that Motorola
Mobility launched last year. The Razr is the name of the wildly popular
clamshell phone launched in 2004. Motorola hasn't had a hit since then.
The $99 Razr M will be in stores next week.
Motorola is following up
with the launch of two high-end models, the Razr HD and Razr Maxx HD,
later this year. It's emphasizing long battery life - up to 21 hours of
talk time for the Maxx HD, or 10 hours of video streaming.
The new phones will run on
Google's Android operating system. It will ship with an older version,
Ice Cream Sandwich, and can be upgraded later to the latest one, Jelly
Bean.
Google Inc. bought Motorola
for $12.4 billion in May. Though it's a pioneer in the cell phone
industry, Motorola has been struggling in recent years. In buying
Motorola, Google was mostly seeking a patent portfolio that might help
Android phone makers fend off lawsuits from Apple. Samsung lost one such
lawsuit in Silicon Valley last month.
Motorola's announcement
came on the same day Nokia Corp. announced new phones based on the next
version of Windows. Apple is expected to reveal the iPhone 5 next week,
making for a tough season for competitors.
Google's stock fell 32 cents to close Wednesday at $680.72.
