DIGIT-ARC read-only archive · snapshot: July 23, 2026

Motorola Unveils Bendy Phone, the Rizr Z8!!

36 posts · originally from https://geek.digit.in/community/threads/motorola-unveils-bendy-phone-the-rizr-z8.49353/

Kiran.dks
Kiran.dks Original post #1
Feb 13, 2007 at 11:23 AM
Motorola Unveils Bendy Phone, the Rizr Z8
Slides open and bends to bring the microphone closer to the user's mouth

I will try to get the pic of this sexy piece from motorola. Meanwhile if any one finds it, pl. post it.

Motorola Inc., the world's second-biggest mobile phone maker, on Monday introduced a new phone design, which slides open and bends to bring the microphone closer to the user's mouth.

The Rizr Z8, unveiled at the 3GSM wireless trade show in Barcelona, uses software from Symbian, which specializes in advanced cell phones and is more often found in phones from Nokia (NOK1V.HE: Quote, Profile , Research), Motorola's bigger rival.

The phone is one of Motorola's first new handsets after weak fourth quarter results put it under pressure to produce innovative designs to replace its aging slim Razr phone.

But Motorola shares fell more than 2 percent after it said the phone would not go on the market until April.


The new high-speed wireless Rizr Z8 slides open to reveal a keyboard and, unlike traditional sliders, it has an automatic hinge that tilts the keyboard and locks the phone into a V-shape to make it easier to talk into.

Oppenheimer analyst Lawrence Harris said that while many investors had not expected new phones in the current quarter, others were likely unhappy the phone will not arrive sooner.

"While these phones will certainly help ... results beginning in the second quarter and in the second half of the year, the results for the first quarter will be determined by what's out there in the market place right now," Harris said.

Harris said it was a good sign that Motorola was moving beyond the Razr, which started the trend for thin phones, because slimness has become so common among rivals.

"They're doing something different and that's what Motorola needs to do," said Harris. "The market is getting more competitive and being thin is not enough."

The Rizr Z8 will also support television-quality video play back and has a slot for a memory card with up to 4 gigabytes of storage space, Motorola said.

The product will be Motorola's fourth phone based on Symbian technology. Nokia is the biggest shareholder of Symbian, which also has investments from smaller handset makers Sony Ericsson and Samsung Electronics Co. and network equipment maker Ericsson.

Motorola also said on Monday it would bring out new versions of its Q phone, which has a miniature computer keyboard, starting in the second quarter.

The company, which also sells equipment for wireless networks, said it agreed with MTC Namibia to test wind and solar power systems to support the African service provider's more remote wireless broadcast towers.

Motorola said the trial would run from April until July.

News Courtesy: PCMAG
koolbluez
Feb 13, 2007 at 11:25 AM
Nice.
3G Symbian smartphone with 2 megapixel camera with 8x zoom and LED light, 240x320 pixels, 16m colours screen, video record and playback capabilities, 90MB of internal memory, expandable to 4GB with microSD cards, a comprehensive media player, data GPRS + UMTS + HSDPA (up to 3.6Mbit/sec), stereo A2DP AVRCP Bluetooth.
Curves inward when slid out. 5hrs talktime on 3G.
Pics here :)

*www.mobiletracker.net/images/motorola-rizr-z8-open.jpg*www.mobilegazette.com/handsets/motorola/motorola-rizr-z8/motorola-rizr-z8-open.jpg​
Check this too.
R
rahul_becks23 #3
Feb 13, 2007 at 11:30 AM
motorola rocks better than any other .......... except blueberry n a few...
mail2and
Feb 13, 2007 at 12:55 PM
rahul_becks23 said:
motorola rocks better than any other .......... except blueberry n a few...

Have you ever used a Motorola fone?!?!?! Even Alcatel, Sagem and Bird have a better OS than Motorola has for its fones.
Kiran.dks
Feb 13, 2007 at 1:31 PM
Good pics koolbluez. But I really wonder whether the bending towards the mouth is really needed considering the developments in mics reception quality now-a-days. More mechanism involved implies more chance for wear & tear.
nishanth_che
Feb 13, 2007 at 2:17 PM
Looks like a nice concept,the bending might help while having conversations in noisy places.
Ankur Gupta
Feb 13, 2007 at 2:46 PM
mail2and said:
Have you ever used a Motorola fone?!?!?! Even Alcatel, Sagem and Bird have a better OS than Motorola has for its fones.

Agree with that completely.....
blueshift
Feb 13, 2007 at 5:41 PM
Doesn't look that bad. The features are nice.
Tech Geek
Feb 13, 2007 at 5:42 PM
Nice one
Pathik
Pathik #10
Feb 13, 2007 at 5:44 PM
motorola ui sux bigtime
B
brutality9k #11
Feb 13, 2007 at 5:47 PM
pathiks said:
motorola ui sux bigtime

Judging by the screenshots & pics of the phone, looks like Motorola is learning something. The UI of their touch screen phones such as Moto Ming etc doesn't suck that much
Pathik
Pathik #12
Feb 13, 2007 at 5:54 PM
i think motorola uses linux based oses in all its touchscreens
koolbluez
koolbluez #13
Feb 13, 2007 at 6:32 PM
Well. there is a linux phone comin up pretty soon.. somethin by the name GreenPhone

*www.sciam.com/media/gallery/4FC8D268-E7F2-99DF-3F0F121691683831_5.jpg​
Ganeshkumar
Feb 13, 2007 at 7:01 PM
mail2and said:
Have you ever used a Motorola fone?!?!?! Even Alcatel, Sagem and Bird have a better OS than Motorola has for its fones.

I too agree... I dont like it... even they can increase Display resolution in basic model.... even 10k Mobiles have Dull display...
Pathik
Pathik #15
Feb 13, 2007 at 7:20 PM
yup @ koolbluez... it was posted sometime back on this forum...
koolbluez
koolbluez #16
Feb 13, 2007 at 7:30 PM
^^^ well, that was me only ;)
Kiran.dks
Kiran.dks #17
Feb 13, 2007 at 8:19 PM
Green Phone! Whtz the colour man? Too fancy! Think of SE W800i with deep orange colour. Most of the people were upset with the colour and preferred sexy counterpart K750i. ;-)
koolbluez
koolbluez #18
Feb 13, 2007 at 8:23 PM
Not meee... kool orange.. sporty color... gels well with the off-white.
Kiran.dks
Kiran.dks #19
Feb 13, 2007 at 11:17 PM
koolbluez said:
Not meee... kool orange.. sporty color... gels well with the off-white.

Ok..That's your taste! :p
R
rahul_becks23 #20
Feb 14, 2007 at 4:34 AM
@mail2and
@ankurgupta.me
@pathiks
@Ganeshkumar

hey ............... heres how my phone (L7) looks ..............

*suprfile.com/src/2/5x2lp55/aero.jpg
(except everything is in english)

now , i dont think its bad for phone thats less than 10k , is it ? FU
mail2and
mail2and #21
Feb 14, 2007 at 12:29 PM
rahul_becks23 said:
@mail2and
@ankurgupta.me
@pathiks
@Ganeshkumar

hey mf*kers ............... heres how my phone (L7) looks ..............

*suprfile.com/src/2/5x2lp55/aero.jpg
(except everything is in english)

now , i dont think its bad for phone thats less than 10k , is it ? FU

It's easy sitting behind monitors abusing someone. It's a shame that you can't even take the screenshot of the UI your phone. Tsk Tsk.

By UI, I do not mean the themes. By UI, I mean the menu system, the contacts management system etc. Go to anyone with a rational mind, and show him a Motorola fone. You'll get your answer.

Here is my phone, bought inside of 11k.

*img185.imageshack.us/img185/6996/screenshot0002pm4.jpg

*img475.imageshack.us/img475/9439/screenshot0006oq6.jpg

*img475.imageshack.us/img475/9630/screenshot0004uv0.jpg

*img166.imageshack.us/img166/1692/screenshot0005ms3.jpg
R
rahul_becks23 #22
Feb 14, 2007 at 12:50 PM
well , thats shi* for 11k .......................... my phone is only 8K and its a lot better than urs.............. and I MEAN IT .

And thats cuz i have an L7 , a W550i , a 6670 n a 6681 at home , i have seen it all................. but nothing beats my L7 still at that price range

............ AND THATS CONFIRMED BY DIGIT ITSELF............see the last phones review and u'll know what am talkin about buddy............

and u told that i have only shown the theme and not the UI .......... HOW IN THE HELL can one show the UI ........... a UI can only be known by working on it................and what the hell r u doing ............. u r urself showing ur theme........... LMAO , i got nothing to say .

i havent seen a dumber shi* post than that ...............and i know that u will start writing more dumb things in the next post ......... so , keep writing ...............and Peace .
gxsaurav
gxsaurav #23
Feb 14, 2007 at 1:33 PM
rahul_becks23 said:
well , thats shi* for 11k .......................... my phone is only 8K and its a lot better than urs.............. and I MEAN IT .

And thats cuz i have an L7 , a W550i , a 6670 n a 6681 at home , i have seen it all................. but nothing beats my L7 still at that price range

............ AND THATS CONFIRMED BY DIGIT ITSELF............see the last phones review and u'll know what am talkin about buddy............

and u told that i have only shown the theme and not the UI .......... HOW IN THE HELL can one show the UI ........... a UI can only be known by working on it................and what the hell r u doing ............. u r urself showing ur theme........... LMAO , i got nothing to say .

i havent seen a dumber shi* post than that ...............and i know that u will start writing more dumb things in the next post ......... so , keep writing ...............and Peace .

:D True to eminem style

L7 does have a bad UI, both in theme & functionality. I would advice you to use the UI of Sony Ericsson phones & Symbian Phones once. Symbian Phones are complex.....to many clicks to open something & tooo many icons on desktop, SE is better in my prespective.

Hey andy, what the....I use MacOS X theme on my black K750i & U use Vista theme on your white E50:D when did this change of OS taste happened.

& by the way, can u plz tell weather it suppots keypad shortcuts, like to open Messege Application I can simply tilt the joystick up->keypad 5>keypad 1>1, how is it like in E50, i have used N70 only which is closest to that E50 UI i find
R
rahul_becks23 #24
Feb 14, 2007 at 1:44 PM
well , i think this motorola UI thing will never go of this country's people.
ok , its done n all........... and yeah , Shady style............
Peace .
mail2and
mail2and #25
Feb 14, 2007 at 1:58 PM
rahul_becks23 said:
well , thats shi* for 11k .......................... my phone is only 8K and its a lot better than urs.............. and I MEAN IT .

And thats cuz i have an L7 , a W550i , a 6670 n a 6681 at home , i have seen it all................. but nothing beats my L7 still at that price range

............ AND THATS CONFIRMED BY DIGIT ITSELF............see the last phones review and u'll know what am talkin about buddy............

and u told that i have only shown the theme and not the UI .......... HOW IN THE HELL can one show the UI ........... a UI can only be known by working on it................and what the hell r u doing ............. u r urself showing ur theme........... LMAO , i got nothing to say .

i havent seen a dumber shi* post than that ...............and i know that u will start writing more dumb things in the next post ......... so , keep writing ...............and Peace .

Your writing style confirms how much you know about UIs and cell phones. :) I was not showing off my theme. Rather I was showing the menu, the application manager, the office suite and the desktop standy applications. Who said I was showing off the theme?

I haven't seen any one except you who says Motorola has a better UI than Symbian 3rd edition!

As for my phone, it has Symbian 3rd edition, EDGE, 240x320 resolution, 235 mhz processor, very good speaker in 11k.
__________
rahul_becks23 said:
well , i think this motorola UI thing will never go of this country's people.
ok , its done n all........... and yeah , Shady style............
Peace .

Yes, that is because this country's people are rational. It's evident in itself that Motorola only sells in the US.
__________
gx_saurav said:
Hey andy, what the....I use MacOS X theme on my black K750i & U use Vista theme on your white E50:D when did this change of OS taste happened.

I used that theme when i got the phone, as I liked it.Now I use another theme by the same guy who made the vista theme.

Well, 3rd edition phones have standby apps on top. So, I guess there is no need for shortcuts. I message quite a bit, and haven't set a shortcut, yet.
R
rahul_becks23 #26
Feb 14, 2007 at 1:58 PM
mail2and said:
Your writing style confirms how much you know about UIs and cell phones. :) I was not showing off my theme. Rather I was showed the menu, the application manager, the office suite and the desktop standy applications. Who said I was showing off the theme?

OK , then what was i doing.........??? showing off my as* ........... :)

mail2and said:
I haven't seen any one except you who says Motorola has a better UI than Symbian 3rd edition!

When did i f*ckin SAY THAT ???


mail2and said:
Yes, that is because this country's people are rational. It's evident in itself that Motorola only sells in the US.

US and rest of the world ........... except some developing nations :)
koolbluez
koolbluez #27
Feb 14, 2007 at 2:06 PM
Dunno much about the L7. But this is what a Google search got of the UI...
Not my sayins... I didn't use the phone.
*www.mobile-review.com/review/image/motorola/l7/pic17-1.jpg *www.mobile-review.com/review/image/motorola/l7/pic16.jpg *www.mobile-review.com/review/image/motorola/l7/pic16-1.jpg *www.mobile-review.com/review/image/motorola/l7/pic30-3.jpg *www.mobile-review.com/review/image/motorola/l7/pic30-2.jpg *www.mobile-review.com/review/image/motorola/l7/pic29-3.jpg *www.mobile-review.com/review/image/motorola/l7/pic29-1.jpg *www.mobile-review.com/review/image/motorola/l7/pic29.jpg *www.mobile-review.com/review/image/motorola/l7/pic29-2.jpg *www.mobile-review.com/review/image/motorola/l7/pic30.jpg

Source: *www.mobile-review.com/review/motorola-l7-en.shtml

The L7 uses the previous version of the Motorola user interface (the new version supports AA fonts for example and an updated MiB web browser among other things), but existing RAZR users will probably feel at home with it. The Motorola fonts and icons are pretty ugly, and the interface has a lot of reduntant or badly placed options, but overall it's functional and yes, it is fast. The Contacts application for example is very nice when you are trying to find a contact, but when you are creating a new contact it feels irky. Having to change from iTap to Tap text input manually for each and every application on the phone is a major hassle too, while the GPRS connection screen is a real mess. Needless to say, I am not a fan of the Motorola UI.
I wish the bad things ended here, but unfortunately they continue: the web browser in that phone is the worst piece of software I have ever experienced. MiB 2.2.1 is just buggy and runs out of memory even if you feed it a 10 KB page (including images). It works ok as a WML browser, but it's completely hopeless as a basic HTML browser (most of the competitive phones use better browsers). This is why I decided to install Opera Mini on the L7, only to find out that Java is running slower than on other handsets! Opera Mini takes forever to boot up for example and I can see lag when I open its menus. Bluetooth and GPRS were equally under-performing. I never got more than 20 KB/sec with Bluetooth (which is rather low), while I never got more than 1 KB/sec with GPRS (it's supposed to max out at around 3-4 KB/sec)! Finally, Motorola's Bluetooth stack is locked in a way that only accepts file exchange with a few filetypes only. This proved extremely annoying and given the fact that this package comes without a USB cable or a microSD card, it became even more annoying early in my testing.
Usability, UI and fonts are so '90s
Terribly bad web browser

Source: *www.osnews.com/story.php/16825/Cellphones-on-a-Budget-Reviews-of-the-SLVR-L7-and-LG-U8500/page2/

UI: not one of easiest phone menu systems to get around on.
Another one of those UI offerings from Motorola – need I say more?!
We all know (and strongly believe) that they should go back to the drawing board and come up with something better than what they’re still trying to flog us with. Comparing their phone systems with the likes of what Nokia or Sony Ericsson, or even Samsung or LG, uses on their product is really, in my opinion, no comparison.
Source: *www.mobique.com/motorola/l7/page6.php

All in all, Motorola UI gives the impression of being the least user-friendly of all user interfaces I have worked with so far. On top of that Motorola L7 reacts with significant delays, which back-pedals overall work.

Source: *www.gsmarena.com/motorola_slvr_l7-review-74p2.php
mail2and
mail2and #28
Feb 14, 2007 at 2:13 PM
rahul_becks23 said:
US and rest of the world ........... except some developing nations :)

Rest of the world? Lol. Go check out Motorola's sales figures. They just sell in the US. In Europe, they are a distant third or fourth. In Japan, you won't even get Motorola.

When did i f*ckin SAY THAT ???

Originally Posted by rahul_becks23
well , thats shi* for 11k .......................... my phone is only 8K and its a lot better than urs.............. and I MEAN IT .

Ahem..

__________
koolbluez said:
Dunno much about the L7. But this is what I got of the UI


Source: *www.mobile-review.com/review/motorola-l7-en.shtml

That's what I meant. Not considering the theme, the OS is very cumbersome to use. My friend had a E398, and he said there was just too many quirks. Hopefully, the new Motorola OS based on Linux and Symbian will be better, but knowing Motorola, I don't expect too much.
R
rahul_becks23 #29
Feb 14, 2007 at 2:16 PM
well, thats the classic cool default skin of motorola (its sweet) ............... like windows 98...................... and mine is a heavily modded n hacked one ........ and it looks like vista and yet not as troublesome as vista ............. its cool like the word coooooool ........ lol
__________
just tell me how to take mobile screenshots n i'll show u my UI........... alright?
Pathik
Pathik #30
Feb 14, 2007 at 8:56 PM
well just modding a sh1t ui and using some theme doesnt make it a better one... go use a symbian s60 b4 u post crap here again... there s a whole lot of diff btwn looking cool and being user friendly...
mail2and
mail2and #31
Feb 14, 2007 at 11:33 PM
@rahul_becks23-

Check out the links koolbluez posted.
gxsaurav
gxsaurav #32
Feb 15, 2007 at 12:11 AM
I have used a Moto L7, my friend is using it from the last 2 months & other then the slimness he is fed of it. Takes too many clicks to do anything & the camera is also not that good. Rahul...moto UI at its default state sux right now, but they are learning something & changing it with the new phones...admit it, it's not the best yet, but it can be if done properly
Kiran.dks
Kiran.dks #33
Feb 15, 2007 at 10:09 AM
Motorola is doing well in design of the body. Razr is the best example. Very sleek & sexy. Their all recent models are also good in design. They are not doing well in user interface. Too many clicks to do something and also confusing options hidden in unusual locations. They are realizing it and hopefully they will improve in this area too.
rajasekharan
Feb 16, 2007 at 6:09 AM
my first introduction to phone was motorola c300 or so . it was good it was a basic phone , i used for 2 years . but then sony came and since then i never touched another brands :). but my first motorola did what its meant to . i could call and message neatly :). dono about recent ones .
.
....... #35
Feb 20, 2007 at 2:47 PM
cool L7 theme , i havent seen a theme like that on a very low cost phone .
Pathik
Pathik #36
Feb 20, 2007 at 7:42 PM
fishy fresh stock :D
__________
fishy fresh stock :D