Click above for more images
Beneath the exterior though, there are certain changes that we think will please many customers who are neutral about the phone:
Laptop Dock: The phone will be compatible with the Laptop dock (Lapdock 100). We’re pleased that the phone hasn’t gone for a model-specific dock (which just increases the expense) and in a reflection of changing times, a universal dock provides a far better fit with other products in the portfolio. At present, the actual usage of these items may be pretty limited, but we think this will be a major development in the next 5 years pertaining to both phones and tablets as their capabilities get closer to netbooks.
4.3 qHD Screen: The phone’s been upgraded too in many important departments. The original Atrix was getting a bit long in the tooth, but the current raft of improvements do take it up to top-of-market status. The screen is now 4.3″ and is featuring a qHD resolution which will make the consumption of media on this a joy to behold.
Dual Core Processor: Sensibly: the Atrix 2 will come with a dual core 1Ghz processor – rather than amp it up to the max, Motorola have gone for a stable performing model. No sweat with this: at present this will handle almost everything thrown at it, including the requisite apps for the dock.
8MP Camera with Flash: The camera model has been beefed up from the original Atrix and now is an 8MP version with the obligatory camera on the front for video calling. There are other interesting stats here, with the microSD card supporting 32GB allied to the 8GB already on the phone, and also the talktime claims: Motorola are citing 8.5 hours and 15.9 days standby, which would surely put this closer to the top and challenging top-end phones such as the Blackberries, which potentially make this very viable for the business market too.
Price and Release Date: The phone itself is pencilled in for a Q4 release, 2011 but only on AT&T in the United States first, but looking at the previous experience of the Atrix, it would be crazy not to release the phone around the rest of the world, with Motorola having a positive brand value for it’s family of Atrix phones. Arguably, the laptop dock offers something new, and whilst the phone does not directly sit onto it (rather connected by cable), there is potentially a whole raft of applications that are better suited to a physical keyboard as opposed to one on the tablet. Price-wise we’d expect to see some small discounts to the rest of the market, with the phone coming in at around the £400 mark SIM-Free.