One of the companies struggling most in this hard economy is Motorola. They are always making headlines with their layoffs and their mobile department splitting off from the rest of the company. Now, I am sure the economy has some part in their hardships but I am pretty convinced Motorola itself is not exactly innocent. I cannot remember the last handset coming out of Motorola that even remotely excited me, since of course, the Razr (you know you loved it the first time you saw it too). 

Now, that was like 5 years ago, which, in the mobile industry is really equivalent to 20 years.  So now the people over there at Motorola have to be thinking how to get back in the game.  It is definitely not too late for them, they were not sidelined as long as Palm was, and we all know that Palm is as big as ever. So what does Motorola have to do to become relevant again?

Well, if these leaked pictures are real, Motorola might have a bright future. However, we all know that in today’s world, hardware is important but not nearly as crucial as the OS, the App store, and the phone’s specs. So I thought I would compile a little list of what this beautiful device must offer if it wants to play in the game like the iPhone or Pre and not sit on the bench like the Storm.

Based on the picture, this device has a nice massive touch screen, kinda like the Touch HD. What it better not have taken from the Touch HD is its Windows OS. According to the rumors this monster runs Android, which is exactly what it needs. The rumors also list a 5mp camera, which I cannot believe I am going to say this, is a little lame in today’s 8 and 12 mp camera phones world. The phone will supposedly be called the Zine HD, which needs some work in my opinion. It will also have the ability to  record HD video like the Omnia HD, and it will have 16gb of built in memory. 

We do not know much more about this powerhouse, but I thought I would make up a few things that should be on its list. Full turn by turn assisted GPS is a must. The camera must have a strong serious flash with all the standard bells and whistles, face recognition, smile recognition, auto focus, photo editing capabilities, do I really need to go on? This phone should have a second front facing camera for video conferencing, and the ability to use VOIP out of the box. 

Other things I could think of that would get my juices flowing are perhaps WIMAX, a 3.5 mm headphone jack (yes, apparently I need to mention this, don’t ask me, ask Google), an expansion slot so it can compete with the N97 in terms of storage,  A2Dp, and finally something we have yet to see in the most recent handsets, an incredibly long lasting battery.

OK, some of these are pretty far fetched, but desperate times call for desperate measures, and if I am associating Motorola with the Razr, there are no times more desperate than these. Let’s wish them luck!

-Hillel