BARCELONA – Motorola Rizr was one of the protagonists of the Mobile World Congress 2023. Motorola’s “rollable” smartphone in fact won the hearts of all visitors who were able to admire it behind a protective case, watching it unroll and roll up again for all four days of the fair.
The luckiest ones – including us – have instead touched this fascinating innovation first-hand, which for now is only a prototype. Well yes, you can’t run out and buy the Rizr yet. Right now we have to be satisfied with the few minutes spent in its company, minutes that have allowed us to discover its main functions.
Motorola Rizr: lo smartphone rollable
From closed Motorola Rizr offer a 5-inch display on which you can do everything: watch videos, read emails, use social networks and much more. But when you need more space, press the power button twice and, as if by magic, you find yourself with a 6.5-inch OLED screen. This means more space available when needed. And yes, the interface adapts automatically so you don’t have to worry about anything, with any application and of course not even with the homepage.
But the extra portion of the display, the one that emerges from nowhere, where do they keep it hidden? I mean, where does this panel roll up?
Actually there is nothing hidden.
In fact, the screen “slides” onto the back of the smartphone, and stays there.
This means that, in the compact version, you will have the main display and a small display on the back, display that can be used to show a preview of the shot to the subject of a photo, to attract the attention of children with an animated smiley or to check the time and notifications when you’re not using it. You can even use it to accept or reject calls.
The ThinkPhone: the smartphone for those who work
Jutta Penze, EMEA Marketing Director at Motorola
Motorola Rizr is a fascinating prototype, the ThinkPhone is instead the intriguing present of the company. It was to tell us about it Jutta Peinze, EMEA Marketing Director at Motorola.
A quick introduction and then Jutta placed on the table in front of us the ThinkPhone. Or rather, his ThinkPhone, because that’s the smartphone he works with today.
This device, which was created to meet the needs of companies, aims to become the only smartphone in workers’ pockets: “Often people have the phone they use for work and then their personal one. We want them to use only one, but to get to this result we have to give him a very good one. And what makes a smartphone great? Safety first. We have security updates for 4 years. And then the durability, certification according to military standards. It can drop you in the mud and still work, so you don’t have to go to your IT Manager and explain to them that you broke another smartphone.”
And then we have an aramid fiber and aluminum body, Gorilla Glass Victus and hardware designed to support any work activity. Because in the end the ThinkPhone is this: a smartphone for productivity. Witness the choice of name, with “Think” which recalls the Lenovo series of the same name, the one that over the years we have learned to associate with work, performance, the ability to keep our data safe. On board then we have Ready For, which helps smartphones and PCs communicate with each other to further facilitate your work; the software also allows you to use your phone as a webcam, so you can have higher quality and a more satisfying angle.
The ThinkPhone is already available on the market and, as you may have guessed, is devoted to B2B. Surprisingly, however, there are many private users who have expressed interest in this device that you can buy directly on the Motorola website 999,90 €.
What about other smartphones?
At MWC 2023 there is also room for the company’s other smartphones, starting fromEdge 30 Fusion in the Viva Magenta colour. Indeed, “coloring” does not best define this device since the finish is not smooth and boring but well-kept and slightly rubberized. Pleasant to the touch.
Some might think it was a gamble. I mean, who would ever buy it? Jutta Penze however he explains that “Italians have always been more open to colors than other countries and now we have reached a point where it is absolutely acceptable for men to choose shades like this. […] We listened to consumers’ wishes and discovered that what they want most is to express themselves. And they can’t do it with a black phone.“
For the future so we have to expect colorful and gaudy smartphones, that they are able to tell something from their owner, to transmit a message.
But this is just one example of the attention that Motorola pays to the demands of its consumers. Even the second generation of Motorola Razr, the company’s brochure, was born taking into account the feedback and needs of the final target, just like its predecessor.
“We were the first to include 5G in a brochure – Peinze tells us – Consumers need speed in devices like this. Why? Because they use it for streaming, for video calls… It’s illogical not to have 5G. For us, innovation is this: having the right device based on what the user wants and needs to do with it.“