Nokia Looks Like a Better Investment Than Motorola

WITH NEW ENTRANTS, new victors and new losers, 2007 is already proving to be an interesting year when it comes to the battle of the handset makers. Nokia (NOK) turned in some impressive quarterly results despite slumping phone prices. Corporate raider Carl Icahn is stirring up the beehive at Motorola (MOT) and Steve Jobs is getting in on the act with the latest addition to the Apple (AAPL) family, the iPhone. For investors, cutting through all of the noise in this marketplace has become much more difficult. According to independent research firm ABI Research, mobile handset makers shipped nearly one billion handsets in 2006, up 23% from 2005. For 2007, A.G. Edwards analyst David Wong expects growth in the handset market to be in the 15% to 20% range. There are now some 2.5 billion mobile phone subscribers — that's roughly one out of every three people on the planet.

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Review: Motorola SLVR L7c multimedia candy bar

Sprint's rendition of the SLVR features EV-DO for streaming video and Bluetooth in a thin form. Does 3G networking keep it up to speed, or should you pass it by? Design The Motorola SLVR L7c could best be described as a candy-bar version of the RAZR. It bears the RAZR's etched metal keypad, as well as the matte black aluminum shell of the black RAZR model. Perhaps when the original SLVR L7 was released a year ago it was a comparably thin candy bar, but after Samsung's recent onslaught of emaciated phones, the SLVR feels thick and outdated. The 1.9-inch screen is plenty roomy, though resolution is a bit low and the color depth -- 65,000 colors, down from 262,000 on the original SLVR L7 -- hurts the overall pop of the screen. The screen also happens to be an oil magnet, especially when held it against our cheek during calls.

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Icahn details plan for Motorola

While Carl Icahn's announcement of a 1.4% stake in Motorola Inc. (NYSE:MOT) and his request for a board seat sent shockwaves through Motorola's corporate offices, his plans for Motorola appear to be less ambitious than some may have thought. According the Financial Times, Icahn is requesting one seat on the board of directors (with no ability to gain more seats) and a large share buyback. He has said nothing about changes in management or a break-up of the company. However, before they get too cozy, Motorola executives would do well to look to Icahn's battle for the break-up of Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX), which he eventually dropped. Icahn began that battle with a tiny stake and mild suggestions for change (similar to what he's done at Motorola) but rapidly expanded his position and sought larger changes.

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Motorola MOTORAZR V3xx 3G Phone Review

Here we go, then. No sooner are we used to HSDPA offering data speeds of 1.8Mbps than along comes a handset capable of supporting the next step on the HSDPA ladder, 3.6Mbps. Motorola’s MOTORAZR V3xx is currently available on the 3 network, and is the company’s first handset to sport this newly beefed up 3G speed-merchant flavour of HSDPA. Don’t get too excited too quickly about this, though. Three’s marketing people tell us that the network will be offering HSDPA some time this year, and hopefully in the first half of the year, but they aren’t being any more specific than that. In the mean time, standard 3G is what you’ll get which is fast, but not super-duper, rival-your-home-broadband-speed fast. Now, once you get over all the hoop-la hooray of the fact that this phone may be able to connect to the Internet at a speed faster than your home computer and calm down a bit, you might start to see that there is a whole lot about the MOTORAZR V3xx that is nice, and some more that is a way behind what this leading light feature might lead you to desire from a handset.

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Motorola teams up with Ferrari for MotoRAZR MAXX V6

Although it's passing the checkered flag quite a few laps later than the McLaren-branded handsets we've seen of late, Ferrari has utilized that long-standing partnership with Motorola to kick out a flashy limited edition MotoRAZR MAXX, dubbed the V6 Ferrari. Although it's not like Ferrari to stop with just six cylinders, this handset sports a sleek, black finish, an unmistakable yellow Ferrari logo, two-megapixel camera, VGA webcam for video telephony, 50MB of internal memory, microSD expansion slot, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, USB 2.0 connectivity, and "OTA PC syncing" to boot. Additionally, you'll find HSDPA, EDGE, and GPRS options, and for that extra luxurious touch, you'll hear an F1 "roar" each time you switch the device on, images of the Ferrari F430 engine on the mini external display, and a Ferrari automobile on the internal display.

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Motorola unveils low budget handset for Sri Lankan market

Motorola Inc plans to introduce a low budget handset next month to popularize the use of cellular phones among less affluent people, officials said Monday. Sri Lankans can pick up a MotoFone F3 at 5,000 rupees, which comes equipped with 8 hour talk time and two-week standby time, the world's second largest mobile phone operator told reporters. The F3 boasts number of features such as a high quality speaker that is designed to be clear and loud, a display using a concept call electronic paper that consumes less power and clearer. "The phone has voice prompts," Robert Gagnon Managing Director Motorola's Mobile Devices in Emerging Markets said. A voice prompt makes it easier for first-time users to navigate, place a call and retrieve messages, he explained.

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Motorola to cut 3500 jobs and save $400m

NEW YORK: Motorola Inc said on Friday it plans to cut 3,500 jobs and save $400 million, aiming to return its operating margin to a double-digit percentage level in the second half of 2007. Shares in Motorola, the worlds second-biggest mobile phone maker, rose 3 percent after executives outlined the plan and said 2007 revenue estimates could beat Wall Street estimates. Investors were happy that Motorola saw recovery in sight, after it reported earlier on Friday a 48 percent drop in fourth quarter profit, hurt by lower phone prices. But despite the share rise, many analysts said they would hold their applause until they see Motorolas new products. I think youre seeing a little relief that things arent getting worse, that they think they can fix it, said Benjamin Halliburton, chief investment officer of Tradition Capital Management, which has 220,000 Motorola shares and 281,000 shares of Nokia among its $450 million of assets.

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