Moto phones let you snap on speaker, projectors, power
There hasn’t been a NEW YORK ton of innovation in the smartphone space lately, and folks are holding onto their handsets longer.
Is a smartphone design that lets you add new features and functions by snapping in accessory modules the answer to incremental progress?
Lenovo-owned Motorola is the latest hardware maker that believes so. At its showcase Lenovo Tech World event in San Francisco on Thursday, the company unveiled two new smartphones: the Moto Z Droid Edition and the Moto Z Force Droid Edition, both exclusive to Verizon Wireless and both available in the U.S. this summer. These appear to be capable phones in their own right, with robust Qualcomm Snapdragon processors, 5.5-inch QuadHD displays, fingerprint readers, microSD slots, fast charging and other state-of-the-art specs. The chief difference among them is that the aluminum and stainless steel Moto Z is razor thin, while the thicker Moto Z Force boasts a display that Motorola claims is shatter- and crack-proof should you drop it.
But the two phones also accommodate so-called Moto Mods, an array of magnetic connectors along the back of the phone that enable you to snap on an accessory such as a JBL loudspeaker. Or a projector capable of projecting an image onto a wall of up to 70 inches. Or a power pack that Motorola says can add up to 22 hours of juice onto what Moto insists are already long-life battery devices (up to 30 hours on Moto Z and up to 40 hours on Moto Z Force.) Motorola is also working with such partners as Kate Spade New York, Tumi and Incipio to dress up the Mods from a fashion point of view.