Event Coverage

Motorola at CES 2011: (M)powered Devices

By Aloysius Low - 6 Jan 2011

(Motorola)-powered Devices

(Motorola)-powered Devices

With the start of the new year comes new things, and Motorola has formally split into two separate companies, Motorola Solutions and Motorola Mobility. The latter will now be focused entirely on the mobile side of things, while leaving the former to government and enterprise business. So it's apt that Motorola Mobility starts off their Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2011 events with the launch of four new products together with their new "Life M-Powered" slogan.

Sanjay Jha, Chairman and CEO of Motorola Mobility, on stage and introducing the new products that Motorola will be launching (or have launched).

The Motorola Atrix 4G

First up is the Motorola Atrix (which if you do the maths, it's Matrix, get it?), a 4G phone that's exclusive to AT&T in the US. It's not limited to just the US market though, as the phone will also be launching for Bell in Canada and for Orange in the UK. This is interesting though, since the phone has 4G capabilities while the UK doesn't have a 4G network at all. This means there will be a 3G version. Which also means there will be a good chance we will see the Atrix 4G in Singapore some time in the future.

One of the main features of the Atrix 4G and in our opinion, one of the coolest features we've seen so far, is that the Atrix 4G can be docked and turned into a desktop computer. That's right, the phone has a hidden OS that we're guessing is Linux-based and has a desktop version of Mozilla's Firefox included. You can even install add-ons from what we've seen.

When docked, the phone turns into a control device for your new larger screen.

The UI makes it quite easy for watching videos when docked on to TV set.

When docked and in Webtop mode, you can use the desktop version of Mozilla's Firefox browser. You can even install add-ons!

If a desktop version is not for you, then Motorola has a notebook dock that features a 11.6-inch screen and a battery for 8 hours of use. It also charges your phone when its plugged in, and allows you to type with a physical keyboard and use the phone with a larger screen when you need to do some work. Crazy as it sounds, it's a pretty cool concept that we've only heard before in the now dead Palm Foleo (though in the Foleo's case, the companion smartphone wasn't docked).

Once docked into the Laptop Dock, you can now control the phone with the trackpad. Also, you can still access your phone functions as seen on the screen.

You dock the Atrix 4G at the back. Like this.

 

Join HWZ's Telegram channel here and catch all the latest tech news!
Our articles may contain affiliate links. If you buy through these links, we may earn a small commission.