Inside the Motorola headquarters in Chicago: between secret projects and the future | Video
The world of tech has never stopped, it has obviously decelerated at certain moments and even now it lives in shocks and crises that certainly do not leave maximum freedom of movement to producers, small and large. But one thing is certain: being able to tell certain stories live, for us insiders, is priceless. It doesn’t matter how good the webcam and speaker system is that projects us in a video call within the various digital frames.
Finally the companies in the sector – like Motorola – they return to open their doors, even the somewhat secret ones, waiting for China to return to a sort of normality that envisages foreign journalists and fewer restrictions. And then a light suitcase, passport and off you go at the winged house headquarters in Chicago to learn more about their present and, above all, the future.
BEYOND TECHNOLOGY AND SPECIFICATIONS
All tech producers are keen to emphasize the positive numbers and the only good news, but we know that the coin always has a double face. Motorola, for example, in recent years has experienced a “tired” moment in its long history and, now, is looking for the right keys to climb the global rankings and position itself higher. This objective is certainly not unattainable, also because in some markets such as the South American one they are already racing at full speed (in Brazil they are in fact in second place overall).
The truth, however, is not hidden, in these days face to face with the company I have greatly appreciated the sincerity: staying close to the top for several decades is perhaps not possible, certain downturns are physiological and with mobile technology that is evolving so rapidly it is necessary deal with some ups and downs. For those who have a very long history like that of Motorola – probably the only survivor worthily among the more “dated” ones – already being there and still being able to have your say is a great victory.
Technology was the focus of one of the Chicago meeting sessions, but not as you would expect. In fact, Motorola is keen to reiterate that they have no desire to chase “tech and specs“, or” technologies and technical specifications. “This certainly does not mean that they do not intend to innovate and evolve, rather not to feed that frenetic marathon in which you only look at RAM memory, milliamps, processors and who knows what else. The focus thus shifts to functions, on fine-tuning “the machines” at 360 degrees and bringing an added value that is truly perceivable by users. Have they already succeeded? Not yet, in my opinion, but the path they have (recently) taken could be the right one.
WIDE SHOULDERS (THANKS TO LENOVO)
Their goal is to bring the brand back up, in a more appropriate position, and do so by following a path that includes several steps in addition to the “simple” deployment of a convincing, complete and up-to-date line-up. This second half of 2022 will therefore see Motorola very active, on several fronts, even the most experimental one. In fact, I think of the more particular projects that they are carrying out with the rest of the group, one above all the combination of smartphones and signed VR glasses. Lenovo.
In recent months, in fact, Motorola has become a partner of San Diego Padres, a team of the American baseball league (MLB) that will have a “Hall of Fame” room where you can play with augmented reality. the system, which I myself was lucky enough to try, however, does not include any heavy “PC backpack” or hardware connected by a thousand cables, the brain is an Edge 30 Pro. The latter connects with a type-C cable to the ThinkReality A3 from Lenovo, based on the Snapdragon XR1 platform and with two 1080p stereoscopic displays that project a field of view of over 50 degrees.
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Two light devices (the glasses are under 130g) and able to already offer a good quality of play and reactivity, I personally enjoyed launching and trying to hit the objectives, rediscovering a pleasant VR and finally up to my expectations. Maybe it was the recent experience with Snapchat’s Spectacles 4 that threw me a bit in despair … Beyond that, it is clear that being within such a strong group as Lenovo opens doors. which for other competitors are non-existent or more complex.
Experience and the know how acquired in the computing field, in fact, it is also reflected on the “Ready For” platform, a desktop environment available on many of the latest high and medium-high-end Motorola that is evolving in a more than tempting direction. Already now it is one of the best mobile software of its kind, but the next releases could start to make a real difference.
5G IN FULL SPECTRUM
The beauty of talking about 5G in the United States is that the mmWave spectrum is not a chimera but a reality, which means dealing with true fifth generation networks that have been talked about so much in recent years. Motorola has always been at the forefront of developing new connectivity technologies and, also for this reason, many of its devices are ready for a switch as soon as the European infrastructures are adequate.
What does it mean? The Moto Edge 30 Pro that followed me in this trip (do not miss the video you find at the beginning and at the end of this article), for example, is already able to reach the 4 Gbps in download. Supersonic speeds by our standards, and there are currently no operators offering them, but as we get there, some will be more ready than others.
In any case, it is not a mere race of speed, 5G with very low latency allows us to open up new scenarios and the miniaturization of modems and antennas is already making it possible to create new solutions (also in the IoT field). One of these is the so-called “5G Neckband“, basically a smartphone (Motorola) without a screen that is worn around the neck and tracks the position of the wearer millimetrically. In one of the demos we took part in, for example, the NeckBand is activated and connected to an audio system with more speaker distributed around a room allowed a modulation of the sound that chases those who wear it around the neck.
I’m sorry I can’t tell you more for sure they will be interesting months for the sector and there will certainly be news.
- Motorola Edge 30 Pro is available online from Euronics at 697 euros.
Motorola Edge 30 Pro is available onto 770 euros. (update July 07, 2022, 4:17 pm)
