Motorola, Aiming for Cutting Edge, Revives RAZR Brand

Motorola Mobility today unveiled its biggest news since being sold to Google in August — the return of the RAZR, which launched in 2004 and became (as CNN notes) "the best-selling cell phone brand of all time — until the iPhone came along" in 2007.

Unveiled at a press event with Verizon Wireless, the $299 (with a two-year contract) Droid RAZR smartphone will be offered exclusively by Verizon starting in early November.

At 7.1 millimeters, the phone (tagline: "Droid Strong. Razr Sharp") will be among the thinnest smartphones on the market, just like its predecessor. Motorola called it "as thin as a McDonald's french fry" in a tweet this morning. A press release describes it as "impossibly thin meets head-turning innovation."

"Motorola RAZR is an iconic brand, and one that originally revolutionized the mobile device industry by turning a functional necessity into an object of desire," stated Motorola Mobility CEO Sanjay Jha. "Now we’ve done it again with a head-turning, ultra-thin smartphone that offers users breathtaking speed, innovative apps and revolutionary accessories."

A free MotoCast app from Motorola lets DROID RAZR stream music, pictures and documents from home or work computers so the user's "content is always within reach. No uploading to a third party means no wasted time, and everything stays protected, right on your computer."

Motorola Mobility also revealed a new "smart music player" device called MOTOACTV. A rival to the Nike+ sport watch (and app on Apple devices), it's described as the "ultimate fusion of music and fitness."