Sunday, May 20, 2007

Is Motorola's cell phone revamp enough?

NEW YORK-- Motorola is adding considerable new features to its slick cell phone designs. But critics wonder whether the new phone capabilities will be enough to light a fire under the increasingly troubled consumer electronics giant.

Motorola, the second-largest handset maker in the world behind Nokia, has been struggling to regain its footing in an increasingly competitive market for the past several quarters. For the first quarter of 2007, the company reported a net loss as prices on phones continued to plunge.

Chief Executive Officer Ed Zander, who ended a bitter proxy fight with billionaire shareholder activist Carl Icahn last week, was on hand at an event here Tuesday to show off the company's five new handsets. Zander has been promising a new set of products that will help the company regain profitability.

Motorola's latest products, which will all be available this summer, clearly take the company in a new direction. Instead of concentrating solely on style and design, it has added more functionality such as 3G, or third-generation, network support and multimedia features.