innovation

Features

Motorola’s history of innovation: the original RAZR

April 24, 2012 : BY Motorola

If you’ve had a long relationship with Motorola devices, chances are that you toted a MOTORAZR around in your pocket. We’re not talking about the DROID RAZR by Motorola you’ve come to know and love, we’re throwing it back to the original RAZR.

The super-stylish MOTORAZR set a trend for cell flip-phones– starting with its launch in 2004, starting the trend of thin being in. More than 130 million devices were sold, making it the best-selling flip-phone of all time.

But, there’s more to this beloved device than flipping-to-answer and text messaging with T9 word. Innovation was at the heart of the MOTORAZR. The 13.9 mm thin phone used aircraft-grade aluminum to achieve several design and engineering innovations, including a nickel-plated keypad. It was sturdy, strong and stylish.

Our history of innovation didn’t start or stop with the MOTORAZR. Visit our decades of milestones on Facebook to take a peek at the advances that Motorola has made and tell us your favorite MOTORAZR memory in the comments.

Tagged as: flip phone, heritage, history, innovation, motorola, original razr, razr

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Features

Motorola Milestones: The Motorola DynaTAC, the world’s first commercial handheld cellular phone

April 4, 2012 : BY Motorola

Think about how easy it to make a phone call, text someone or look up the score of a game, all with the click of a button? Smartphone technology has made it incredibly easy to connect with people across the world and Motorola continues to deliver innovative technology with the new DROID RAZR MAXX by Motorola, the longest talk time of any 4G smartphone. But in 1983, one hour of talk time and eight hours of standby time with a LED display was a truly revolutionary invention.

On September 21, 1983, the United States Federal Communication Commission approved the the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X, the world’s first commercial portable cellular phone. Available to consumers shortly after in 1984,  the DynaTAC 8000X weighed 28 ounces and was 13 x 1.75 x 3.5 inches in dimension. Compare that to the DROID RAZR by Motorola which weighs 127 grams and is 130.7 x 68.9 x 7.1 mm and you see how far technology has progressed.

Not familiar with the Motorola DynaTACR 800X? There are some photos above. We also encourage you to check out our Facebook Timeline, where you’ll find photos and stories from more than 50 of our most historic milestones.  Look closely for your chance to win a DROID RAZR MAXX by Motorola! Official Rules are right here.

Tagged as: contest, droid razr, droid razr maxx, heritage, history, innovation, motorola, razr maxx

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Features

At Motorola Mobility, Engineering is in our blood

February 24, 2012 : BY Motorola

It’s National Engineers Week and we’re celebrating the many contributions of our engineers at Motorola over the past 84 years.

Motorola was a true pioneer in personal communications. We introduced the world’s first commercial portable cellular phone. We even invented the groundbreaking Six Sigma quality improvement process, which became a worldwide standard for excellence. Check out this Motorola timeline to see many of our accomplishments over the decades, and read an excerpt from our archives below.

This video features some of our current innovators discussing their passion for what they do and reflecting on the role engineering has played throughout history:

Watch Video

 In the 1960s, one of the U. S. space program’s most ambitious goals was to land a man on the moon and return him safely to Earth. In 1968, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) began manned Apollo flights that led to the first lunar landing in July 1969. Apollo 11 was particularly significant for hundreds of Motorolans involved in designing, testing and producing its sophisticated electronics.

Motorola supplied thousands of semiconductor devices, ground-based tracking and checkout equipment, and 12 on-board tracking and communications units. An “up-data link” in the Apollo’s command module received signals from Earth to relay to other on-board systems. A Motorola transponder received and transmitted voice and television signals and scientific data.

Aboard Apollo’s lunar excursion module (LEM), a Motorola transceiver sent radio signals to three Earth-based receiving stations where Motorola FM demodulators converted them for radio and television broadcast. Motorola equipment enabled millions of people to watch and listen on July 20, 1969, as astronaut Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon–250,000 miles (400,000 km) away–and announced, “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

Tagged as: engineer, engineering, innovation, milestones, motorola, motorola firsts, motorola milestones, motorola mobility

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Features

Motorola was there

September 26, 2011 : BY Motorola

Photo credit: Leo Burnett

Remember when Neil Armstrong took that giant step for mankind on the moon? How about when cellphones first came on the scene? What about the first tablet that ran on Honeycomb, Google’s tablet-specific Android operating system?

We remember those milestones because we were a part of them.

For more than 80 years Motorola has been on the forefront of technology, continually developing innovative ways of connecting people to each other and the world around them.

It all started with cars and took off from there. Here are just a few things we’ve done:

  • 1930 – The Motorola radio was one of the first commercially-successful car radios.
  • 1940s – We made remote communication possible during World War II with our Handie-Talkie SCR536.
  • 1969 – It was our parts that made it possible for Neil Armstrong’s famous words to be heard.
  • 1983 – Motorola’s DynaTAC is the phone you remember from the 80s and also the very first commercial handheld cellphone.
  • 2009 – We introduced the world’s Verizon’s first smartphone powered by Android. You know it as DROID by Motorola.

We’re responsible for a number of firsts, and we don’t plan on stopping any time soon.

Be sure to check out the Motorola Heritage site to see more. We have cool photos, videos and even an interactive timeline of accomplishments.

Tagged as: innovation, man on moon, motorola heritage, motorola history, technology

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