
Moto Razr 2019: A foldable smartphone with no display crease - sohkamyung
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2019/11/moto-razr-2019-is-official-a-foldable-smartphone-with-no-display-crease/
======
noname120
Finding the actual patent it refers to was surprisingly hard so I spare you
the trouble: [1][2]

Note that an industrial design is also registered[3] but it doesn't look as
useful for understanding how it works.

[1]
[https://patents.google.com/patent/US10054990B1/en?oq=1005499...](https://patents.google.com/patent/US10054990B1/en?oq=10054990)

[2] [http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-
Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=H...](http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-
Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=10054990.PN.&OS=PN/10054990&RS=PN/10054990)

[3]
[https://www3.wipo.int/designdb/en/showData.jsp?qi=8-m9YGJqGI...](https://www3.wipo.int/designdb/en/showData.jsp?qi=8-m9YGJqGIoRySr7N2nK8KBO4Q2TbUrvZCn5hYDaWfEyI=&SOURCE=EMID&LANG=en&XML=86/05/005908605-0002.xml.gz&KEY=005908605-0002&NO=1&TOT=3416)

~~~
mtreis86
This is the image from that patent that shows how it works
[https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/b9/86/bc/ce509ae...](https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/b9/86/bc/ce509ae68f275f/US10054990-20180821-D00009.png)

~~~
zamadatix
Ironic that this is the first image the article shows when describing the
folding yet the comment thread was started to save people time from looking
around.

~~~
Atheb
Kinda shows how many people don't click on the article itself

------
hombre_fatal
Most interesting part is the patent picture that shows how they avoid a crease
in the screen: [https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-
content/uploads/2019/11/US000...](https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-
content/uploads/2019/11/US00000010054990B120180821_-_Google_Chrome.png)

~~~
codesnik
I wonder how this is even patentable.

~~~
arkades
The excellent engineers at Samsung failed to crack this problem. A little
while ago people were saying Motorola must just be showing advertising mock-
ups, because how could they solve the hinge problem that a Real(tm) cell phone
company could not, with all that engineering talent and R&D funding.

Maybe moving the hinges to the side and using sliding supporting plates is
more complicated and less obvious than it looks? Problems do tend to look a
lot simpler once someone else has solved them for you.

~~~
canada_dry
> Problems do tend to look a lot simpler _once someone else has solved them
> for you_

This is so true. I wonder if there's a law named for this phenomenon?

Off topic, but I find many managers fall into this trap. I.e. they don't
recognize the difference between when someone exceptionally bright solving a
problem very quickly and just moves on vs. a mediocre thinker who takes an
inordinate amount of time to solve a problem, but then advertises their
accomplishment like a metal of valor (and managers typically fall for it).

~~~
andsens
> This is so true. I wonder if there's a law named for this phenomenon?

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_of_Columbus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_of_Columbus)

> An egg of Columbus or Columbus' egg refers to a brilliant idea or discovery
> that seems simple or easy after the fact. The expression refers to an
> apocryphal story, dating from at least the 15th century, in which it is said
> that Christopher Columbus, having been told that discovering the Americas
> was inevitable and no great accomplishment, challenges his critics to make
> an egg stand on its tip. After his challengers give up, Columbus does it
> himself by tapping the egg on the table to flatten its tip.

------
seanalltogether
Flip phones were an important design constraint when phones featured physical
hardware buttons. It was easier to flip open a phone to unlock it then press
the weird key combos that some phones used.

With touch screens this is no longer a problem, and the design constraint for
a flip phone is less relevant. If anything it now increases the time to unlock
a phone if you have to flip it open first then authenticate with thumbprint or
face scanner.

~~~
hawski
Flip phones are also smaller when folded, so they are more pocketable. That
alone is more important for me than most considerations.

~~~
ceejayoz
Smaller in one dimension. Thicker in the other.

~~~
lallysingh
Preferred that way, honestly. My galaxy s8 is too thin to hold easily for me.
Especially with the bezel-less curved-edge screen.

~~~
ilikehurdles
I miss being able to reach the upper half of my phone's screen with one hand.
We've normalized it a lot now, but compared to older smartphone generations it
is downright awkward to hold a phone today.

But I don't really miss flip phones per se. Just smaller smartphones. The
galaxy s4 was around the upper limit of how big I'd like my phone to be.

~~~
entropicdrifter
The Galaxy S4 was pretty much the perfect phone for me. Just the right size
for my small hands, replaceable battery, rootable OS, and plenty of power and
storage expandability for the time.

------
gwicks56
The nostalgia factor of these for people who owned one years ago, and are now
earning enough to waste money on one will be high.

Not going to lie, I want one, even though I appreciate my Pixel 3 camera
nearly every day, and this has a rubbish camera.

It is good to finally see some innovation occurring in the Android hardware
space however, although it remains to be seen how the software will cope.

~~~
russfink
You can keep this phone in your pocket without worrying that your car keys
with scratch the face. There are many advantages to a flip phone.

~~~
entropicdrifter
Not to mention the lack of glass covering the screen means a screen protector
in general is likely unnecessary. No hassle of dealing with stupid air bubbles
or the inevitable edge chipping of the protector (which is somehow always way
weaker than the screen itself anyhow)

------
dijit
Nobody talking about the price? $1,500 is more than any base iPhone- that's a
really heavy price tag for a brand that has been dormant for so long.

~~~
mac_was
Taking into consideration issues which iPhones and nostalgia this is perfect
time for an iconic brand to enter the market

~~~
bonestamp2
> Nostalgia

It's true, I was so excited as I scrolled down the page and convinced myself
that I'd get one just because I loved my RAZR from 2005. But then I got to the
$1500 price tag.

Now, I bought a $1350 phone a couple months ago so it's not that I wouldn't
pay $1500 for a phone. The problem is everything that this phone is not (and
that my other phone is). The folding screen is cool, and this is the perfect
application for it. But, I think they're going to have trouble getting $1500
for someone's main phone if it only has one camera lens.

There will no doubt be some diehards, and if they can get the price of this
down to typical Android flagship pricing then they might see some traction.
But at $1500, it's going to be a very limited market (and maybe that's their
goal).

~~~
ss3000
> But, I think they're going to have trouble getting $1500 for someone's main
> phone if it only has one camera lens.

Has it really come to this?

I'd gladly buy a phone with a single mediocre camera as a daily driver if all
the other specs are flagship-class (which sadly the Razr's are not) and if it
means saving a few hundred bucks off the hardware and R&D of the latest and
greatest camera tech.

Am I in the minority now?

~~~
TomMarius
I would never pay that much money for a phone without a very good camera. A
cheaper phone with mediocre camera, why not, but a $1500 phone must have a
_perfect_ camera.

------
d--b
I am waiting to see just how many times you can actually fold / unfold before
the screen breaks.

~~~
unityByFreedom
Maybe it will be a new feature, openable 10,000 times! Like battery life on
smartphones, which was never an issue for dumb phones.

~~~
dwoozle
It wasn’t an issue on dumb phones because dumb phones weren’t interesting
enough or good enough to use for six hours a day.

~~~
pjmlp
Apparently my Symbian phones didn't any issue lasting a couple of days.

C++, Java, Python, Camera, video, a multitasking OS, Internet access, lasting
two/three days on single charge.

Yet my first Android device, running Froyo, could hardly last a full day, in
spite of forked Java that was supposed to perform better than what Nokia and
Sony were delivering.

~~~
kalleboo
I always had to carry spare batteries for my Symbian devices, no way did they
last a couple of days under regular use. Same with my Sony Ericsson J2ME
phones. Running stuff like IRC, streaming radio, bluetooth headphones, really
sucked down the battery.

~~~
pjmlp
My very last one, Nokia 6120 classic did last a couple of days.

> The battery life of Nokia 6120 is impressive. To give you an example, a
> daily average of 5 minutes of calls and 20 SMS requires charging every four
> to five days. More demanding jobs, including active internet browsing in
> UMTS, will surely reduce durability to 2-3 days, but even so the phone does
> great. Charging takes about 2.5 hours.

[https://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_6120_classic-
review-161.php](https://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_6120_classic-review-161.php)

Try to do this with most mid range Android devices.

~~~
kalleboo
> _a daily average of 5 minutes of calls and 20 SMS requires charging every
> four to five days_

I literally laughed out loud at that.

Modern smartphones have fantastic battery life if you switch off data and use
them like dumbphones. When I travel sometimes I leave my home SIM with data
off in an old iPhone and it easily lasts a week.

~~~
pjmlp
Most people still follow such patterns, not everyone is glued on their phone
24x7.

I am yet to own an Android device that lasts more than 3 days.

~~~
kalleboo
Do you literally switch off data, or just not use it? All those background
connections for push notifications, etc take a huge toll.

My iPhone 11 Pro Max lasts 2 days with decently heavy use if I'm not going
totally crazy on it, I haven't used Android in ages though.

~~~
pjmlp
Data is only switched on when required, we are far away from flatrates over
here.

------
zubspace
I must say that Motorola really has some great products to offer. I was
recently looking for a cheap replacement for my old Android phone and found
the Moto G7 Power, which is awesome in my eyes. No bullshit stock android, a
nice large screen and it runs on a single charge more than 6 days in my case
[1]. It's crazy.

The camera is bad though, but that's one of the reasons why smart phones get
more expensive each year. I won't buy into this ultra-resolution, low-light,
AI photo craze.

IMO they should focus on that low-price segment and they will own the market.
I don't see any value in foldable screen gimmicks.

[1] [https://imgur.com/a/jWCEfpO](https://imgur.com/a/jWCEfpO)

~~~
lower
The problem with Motorola is the complete lack of software support. I have a
G5+ and Motorola announced in March that it will not receive security updates
anymore. That's just two years after the phone's release. It seems that
Motorola doesn't care about software at all. The security patch level of my
G5+ has been out of date by several months for practically all of the phone's
life.

~~~
chrisdfrey
Most Android OEMs stop updating their phones after 2 years, no? That's not a
problem exclusive to Motorola.

~~~
lower
All Android One phones get security updates for at least three years. Samsung
decreases the frequency of security updates after two years, but still
provides some. Google updates its phones for quite a bit longer. Of all the
phones I've had, Motorola has been the worst by far with respect to updates.

------
buro9
I like the form factor, but didn't need it to be a continuous screen. A clam
shell with a distinct screen in each half would be more durable and would
surely bring the price down too.

~~~
epanchin
It did to get media attention.

Also your idea sounds pretty bad. No wide screen videos, and why not just put
a keyboard in the bottom half to reduce costs further?

~~~
glaberficken
i think the idea is to make the os extend across screens much as you do on a
desktop 2 screen setup not have individual screens. you could do it by making
the 2 screens have no bezel on the side they meet and then making a clever
hinge that brings those screens within 1mm of touching when unfolded

~~~
piva00
People complain about a notch on an almost invisible place on their screens,
having any kind of line running between two screens is very likely a no-no for
designers.

------
legohead
Curious about the screen durability. In a testing of the Samsung fold phone
[1], a fingernail was enough to leave a horrible scratch on these bendable
screen surfaces...

[1] [https://youtu.be/tZBk_Hb-X0w?t=245](https://youtu.be/tZBk_Hb-X0w?t=245)

~~~
breck
Interesting video, thanks for sharing.

Along the lines of your question, is anyone reading a display engineer who can
shed some light on why we are seeing foldables now? What have been recent
engineering developments that make these things feasible now, and should we
expect the number of these foldable screens to be growing exponentially for
sometime?

------
thdrdt
What I like most about this is the long screen. Reading articles on it looks
really nice. Fold it and it fits any pocket.

I can understand the high price, but I imagine most people will wait for a
cheaper version.

~~~
Anarch157a
I'm old and my vision is not what it used to be. Most sites optimize for young
people's vsion in portrait, making them dificult to me, so I usually browse in
landscape. Super long and narrow phones for me are a big no-no, I don't want
to read articles 2 lines at a time.

~~~
thdrdt
Then I guess a foldable like Samsung's is perfect for you. Smartphone pocket
size, tablet screen size.

------
mancerayder
It's a shame that competition based on displays (and large size) is all the
rage, but the battery tech is in the stone age by comparison. Like, who wants
a battery that stays charged under average load more than a day, or a battery
that doesn't diminish in capacity after 8 months?

~~~
CivBase
> the battery tech is in the stone age by comparison

Is this really the case? Legit question. I'm not very familiar with the state
of battery tech, but I remember the release of that massive Energizer phone
and I don't think I'd be comfortable trading that much size for a better
battery.

~~~
zamadatix
The Energizer phone never released, it was cancelled.

My first smartphone was a Note 2. I put a 10 amp hour zero lemon battery on
that, was great. I did the same thing with the Note 4. Nowadays everyone makes
it ridiculous to swap a battery and I don't like the "wrap around style" but
thankfully phones with 4-5 amp hour batteries with more efficient SoCs are
available these days so it's not as bad.

I'd still love to see a large format phone with a 6-7 amp hour battery built
in though. It would barely be any thicker and would mean once a week charge
for me.

------
dragosmocrii
Hello, Moto!

Ah, the nostalgia! Used to own a V3X, and although really liked the device,
quality wise it didn't last for more than a year (buttons needed to be pressed
harder, the soft touch would peel off, etc)

------
trevyn
(For reference, the Motorola brand is now owned by Lenovo, so presumably this
could be considered a Lenovo phone.)

------
koyote
I once owned the original Razr (about 1-2 years after it was originally
released). It was most definitely the worst phone I have ever owned, my first
being the Nokia 3210 way back:

The keyboard was unusable, the UI was ugly and slow, bluetooth did not work
properly. There were just so many issues. I remember it being released in
Europe and it was one of the most expensive phones at the time; about a year
or two later it was sold for peanuts.

All that being said, this phone runs android and does look quite cool. It
might be a great phone at 1/6 of its price some day.

~~~
bgarbiak
It was a big hit in the US, where Nokia was non existent. For a lot of folks
this was their very first mobile phone, I’d say the equivalent of Nokia
3210/3310 in Europe. But yeah, unlike Nokia this wasn’t the best device on the
market.

~~~
swebs
>the US, where Nokia was non existent

That's completely false. Nokia was by for the largest cell phone brand in the
US in the early 2000s.

~~~
jsjohnst
Agree completely. Nokia 6190, 8290, 5190, 3390, 2190, etc etc were all very
popular US phones between 1998 - 2003. Malls were covered in accessory stores
selling interchangeable face plates to customize the look of the phone to
literally anything the heart desired.

~~~
hombre_fatal
I'm experiencing the Gell-Mann effect in this comments section where HNers
recollect events just 15 years ago yet say things like "Nokia was nonexistent
in USA" and "people didn't really text / use flip phones much".

It makes me question any HN historian chiming in on the past when people are
so wrong about such a recent era.

Man, this was the era that was so ubiquitous with flip phone usage that "free
ringtones" were the biggest spamsite genre of the time and entire kiosks at
the mall existed to sell you custom faceplates and vajazzling decor for your
phone.

I think one thing at play is that people regularly extrapolate their
microscopic local experience into broad wisdom about the world. Nobody in
their social circle had a Nokia? It was dead in USA. Nobody in their social
circle texted much? Nobody did. They don't like spinach? Kids would never eat
salad (which I just saw in another thread). Maybe it's a bug in the human
software.

~~~
jsjohnst
See my comment below to sibling. I think the real problem here is lack of
exact timeline memory. The RAZR didn’t come out until 2004, not early 2000s.
That said, very much agree with what you said about folks insisting on things
that they are simply misremembering (or never knew in the first place and
instead apply own biases).

------
kijin
The dimensions cited in the article (172mm x 72mm x 14mm) don't tell the whole
story for a vertically foldable smartphone. That's the unfolded height. I
don't see the folded height anywhere in the article, but once you use that
figure to calculate the volume it won't be anywhere near "over double the
volume" of the old Razr.

~~~
Someone
I don’t see how the volume could decrease in the bended state.

    
    
      172 x 72 x 14 = 173376
      53 x 98 x 13.9 = 72196.6
      173376 / 72196.6 ~= 2.4
    

(original Razr dimensions from
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_Razr](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_Razr))

~~~
kijin
In the folded state, the phone is 14mm thick throughout, but its height is
significantly less than 172mm.

In the unfolded state, only the lip at the bottom remains 14mm thick. The rest
is 7mm thick.

172 x 72 x 14 is a meaningless figure because it combines maximum dimensions
from two different states. The fact that the lip at the bottom doesn't unfold
probably adds to the confusion.

Edit: According to updated figures from GSM Arena, the folded height is 94mm
-- even shorter than the old Razr. So the actual volume (ignoring curves) is
94 x 72 x 14 = 94,752mm^3 = only 31% bigger than the old one.

------
exikyut
Woow. Ok, so this is going to get buried, but...

...while looking at the article I just spied "09JAN19" on the back of the
display in the 5th image in the 3rd gallery (the teardown one).

Motorola have been working away at this for over a year.

And (probably...?) successfully kept it a secret.

And watched while Samsung's fold thing blew up.

With their own display probably already set in stone.

And it looks like they have a winner on their hands.

Hahh.

~~~
tinodotim
>while looking at the article I just spied "09JAN19" on the back of the
display

>Motorola have been working away at this for over a year.

>And (probably...?) successfully kept it a secret.

They didn't. January 16th:
[https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2019/1/16/18185101/m...](https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2019/1/16/18185101/motorola-
razr-smartphone-fold-price-verizon-lenovo)

January 21th: [https://www.theverge.com/2019/1/21/18191330/motorola-razr-
le...](https://www.theverge.com/2019/1/21/18191330/motorola-razr-lenovo-
remake-foldable-smartphone)

Rumoured initial release of February 2019 and the Snapdragon 710 that is in
devices for over 1.5? years already I wouldn't be surprised if similar
problems as Samsung's lead to that late release now.

~~~
sergiomattei
Their behind-the-scenes video shows them working on it for over 4 years:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74KHL9UWqr8&feature=youtu.be](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74KHL9UWqr8&feature=youtu.be)

------
redisman
I'm all in on smaller phones coming back but I'm none in for the >$1k price
points.

~~~
tiborsaas
Spending more than $200 on a phone is a waste of money.

~~~
redisman
I just built a very capable gaming PC for 1/3 of the price of this phone that
does the same things my $200 old iPhone does.

~~~
immigrantsheep
Was that sarcasm? Or did you spent $500 on a gaming PC that's as powerful as
your $200 iPhone? I'm confused.

~~~
tiborsaas
Of course it was. He implies that it can't possibly as good as an $1000+ one.
Thing is, the returns are diminishing beyond a certain money spent. The $800+
difference to me is ridiculous if you look closely what you get for the extra
money.

I optimized for battery life in my last purchase, now I charge 2x / week,
brings back the old Nokia memories from the 90s :)

------
i4t
Just give me physical buttons...

------
snops
Quite suprising Motorola couldn't push the navigation bar down slightly, that
wastes a lot of space at the bottom. I know the article says android needs a
rectangular navigation bar, but a lot of phones with rounded corners on the
display just crop the navigation bar (e.g. Oneplus).

Would this have been possible with that much larger bottom curve, or are there
parts of the Android UI that would be cut off? The little hint that comes up
to switch to portrait/landscape mode comes to mind.

------
jpincheira
I had the phone, and I love the form factor. I wish Apple could come up with
something like this, as I could not move from iOS, to be honest.

~~~
ianai
They can’t, I think, because Moto patented adding a budge to keep the display
from creasing?

------
kranner
Photos of the FCC specimen seem like there is distortion around the hinge. I
wonder if straight lines would render straight on this display.

------
GuyOnMySpace
I don't give a damn about the phone itself, but if they include the old golf
game from the original RAZR...I'm in.

------
archon-99
But, i can see the crease in those screenshots >_>

Foldable displays are probably the future, but they need to be actual value
(like a significantly larger display) for them to properly take off. Waiting
to see the next generation Samsung phones, should be interesting once they get
the form factor right.

------
yalogin
The novelty will wear off quickly. The phone’s success will depend on the
software. It’s thin and so going full screen makes no sense. Will it let me
multitask with movie playing half and note editing in the other? How is the
long thin screen going to make it better than a regular phone?

------
roadbeats
Recently I wanted to replace my iPhone 6 with a smaller & lighter alternative,
and found myself looking at bigger phones marketed as “small smartphones”. A
quick reddit search brought me results of people asking for small smartphones.
For some reason, noone is working on it though.

~~~
kipchak
The 2018 palm phone is interesting but probably too small for its own good.

~~~
roadbeats
It's not sold outside US unfortunately. And the battery is not sufficient as I
heard.

------
transfire
If I could have two phones tied to the same cell account, then this phone
would be a great daily workhorse. But I'd still want another with a good
camera and good sound for the weekends. Alas, the phone is expensive enough,
and I don't want two phone numbers.

~~~
jsjohnst
Getting a carrier to do this adhoc is likely difficult, but technically it’s
possible now. The Apple Watch for example does this and the carrier feature it
leveraged to do it existed long before Apple used it for the watch. Under the
hood, it’s still two different numbers, but the second one is masked by the
carrier.

------
keiferski
I’m still waiting for someone to make a modern, smartphone version of the
Matrix phone. Nokia re-released it last year, but it’s not a smartphone.

[https://youtu.be/Lweuy1X9Tcg](https://youtu.be/Lweuy1X9Tcg)

------
Digit-Al
I'm kinda curious about the second screen. The author was wondering if it was
a new Android feature or a Motorola feature. I'm wondering if it's driven by a
separate processor running Android Wear.

------
pcurve
Given that my 6" phone fix ok in pocket, this is a tough call. It's half the
height, but also double the thickness.

Putting on external case also means casing on both sides when folded. Hrm.

------
hestefisk
I had one of these. It was really nice hardware but the OS / UI horribly
complex (bit like Blackberry with multi layered menus) and battery life wasn’t
great.

~~~
noja
The fifth picture shows it running android.

~~~
mft_
The new version runs Android; the original certainly didn’t.

~~~
noja
The article is about the new model, not the one from ten years ago.

------
Bud
This is a great idea, because everyone wants a screen that is 438 times as
tall as it is wide.

------
Ancalagon
I'm not so sure I would want to associate a modern, $1500 phone with an old
razr. I can sense the nostalgia marketing tactic they are playing at but
honestly I remember those phones for feeling cheap and breaking easily (and
often).

Also, $1500 for a flip phone (that admittedly has a cool foldable screen
that), this feels like a joke to me.

------
meerita
A 1400 dollars phone that cannot compete with an 1000 iPhone/Samsung?
Delusional.

------
sabujp
if there ever was a star trek communicator this was it. I used to have a dark
blue moto razr and was probably the best flip phone i ever had, it was usable
in both the US and abroad and very durable

------
cryptozeus
Good concept but at $1500 it better blow samsung and pixel out of the way.

------
Humphrey
Did anybody else remember calling these Gatorolla's?

------
dwags
Hopefully, phone belt clips come back into fashion too

------
jonny383
That screen will be toast after a year or 2,500 folds.

~~~
m0xte
I don’t know why you’re downvoted because it’s true. It’s going to go snap
like a 1980s lunch box hinge.

Apple got rid of as much mechanical stuff as possible. There was a good reason
for it.

~~~
monocasa
Eh, my RAZR v3 is still a champ.

------
HNLurker2
How things haven't changed since 90s. The watch (Rolex) we wear is electronics
and the flipphone now it's now an advanced Electronic with cool screen

------
warrenmiller
will gaming be difficult with that chin?

------
atulvi
Not ideal for video calls. That's a serious design oversight.

~~~
jackbrookes
Why? It has a selfie cam just like any other phone

~~~
atulvi
No it doesn't. It has one camera. You can only do video calls in the mini
screen.

~~~
dimensi0nal
There's a selfie camera in the notch.

------
shogunshuriken
Just Good Old memories

------
koonsolo
I will never buy a Motorola phone.

Back in the early 2000's, my then girlfriend received a Motorola cellphone for
her birthday. Her sister bought the same model a week later. The thing worked
fine, but some time after the guarantee period expired, the screen flipped
upside down. Very strange problem to have. Exactly a week later, the same
thing happend to her sisters phone.

Since then, that brand leaves a very bad taste in my mouth.

~~~
aembleton
Motorola has changed hands twice since then. They are now part of Lenovo. The
only thing that is the same is the brand name.

~~~
garaetjjte
They acquired whole phone division though, not just brand. E.g. inventor
specified in this patent also have patents for Motorola hinged/sliding devices
back to 2006, so it seems Lenovo didn't bought their corpse only for brand,
like with HMD/Nokia.

------
fphhotchips
Who _asked_ for this? _Why?_ Who has a problem with the current height of
phones? What will this enable? Did Motorola hit some kind of pocket-height-
limit for their dream of an ultra tall phone?

I'll be happy if this becomes the CmdrTaco comment for the 2020 revival of the
Moto Razr, but I doubt it.

~~~
freedomben
Who asked for the iPhone before it was made? Who asked Alexander Graham Bell
for the first telephone?

If you always wait for someone to ask for stuff, you'll always be chasing tail
lights.

~~~
faissaloo
Those things were useful, this is not.

~~~
function_seven
I'd say that this is useful in the same way that flip phones were useful 15
years ago. They provide more space than a candybar phone when in use, and take
up less space when pocketed. And the screen is protected from your keys or
other items in your pocket.

If I had a magic wand, I'd use it to fold my 6S and get something half as tall
and twice as thick.

