Google Inc's Motorola Mobility on Wednesday unveiled three smartphones to help it compete with bigger rivals Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co for the holiday shopping season.
Verizon Wireless, the biggest U.S. mobile provider, will sell all three devices - the Droid Razr HD, the Droid Razr Maxx HD and the Droid Razr M, the companies said.
The smartphones will use Google's Android software. Motorola showed off the phones at a press event in New York, its first big media gathering since Google bought Motorola in May.
Together the devices would be Motorola's "big family launch" for this holiday season, Motorola Mobility Chief Executive Dennis Woodside told Reuters.
The executive said the phones would go on sale at 30 other carriers around the world besides Verizon Wireless, which has an exclusive U.S. deal with Motorola for the devices.
Google has disclosed little about its plans for Motorola, which it bought primarily to use the company's rich portfolio of patents to defend itself in legal battles with rivals. It will keep Motorola as a separate subsidiary so that other Android phone makers, such as Samsung, do not assume Motorola will have an advantage in accessing Android technology.
Woodside said the Razr brand -- lauded in 2005 as iconic but became unfashionable a few years later and then was resurrected by Motorola last year -- will again be a key part of Motorola's strategy going forward.
"That's clearly going to be a big focus for us over the next couple of years," he said. The executive also noted that Motorola plans to bring out "much fewer" phones than the 27 devices it made in the year before the merger closed.
Motorola's product launch on Wednesday was part of a flurry of mobile device launches ahead of the holiday season throughout the industry. Earlier in the day, Nokia Oyj and Microsoft Corp unveiled their flagship phone, the Lumia 920, which uses the latest Windows Phone operating software. Nokia did not announce any wireless operator partners for its device.
Amazon.com Inc is expected to unwrap new Kindle Fire tablets on Thursday, and Apple is expected to unveil the latest version of its seminal iPhone on September 12.
Motorola Mobility's Droid Razr HD boasts a 4.7 inch screen with a sharper picture than Motorola's previous phones. Verizon Wireless did not announce pricing but said the device will be available in time for the holidays.
The Razr M is a smaller phone for more cost-conscious consumers, with a 4.3 inch display that covers most of the front of the phone. That device will be available for $99.99 when it goes on sale at Verizon Wireless stores next week.
The Droid Razr Maxx HD will have similar features to the Razr HD but will boast a longer battery life. Motorola promised that the device could run for 21 hours of phone calls or 13 hours of video viewing.
Google Chairman Eric Schmidt told the audience that consumers are now activating as many as 1.3 million Android phones every day. Motorola rival Samsung is the biggest maker of phones based on Android.
Verizon Wireless is a venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group PlcCopyright Thomson Reuters 2012
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