Motorola announces sequel to Razr

NEW YORK: Motorola is hoping to revive its deteriorating business prospects with some slick new phones.

At an event here Tuesday, the company announced a sequel to its hit Razr phone; an update to the Motorola Q, its rival to the BlackBerry; and a new line of phones designed to play music, video and games.

The phones are at the more expensive end of the market and work on high-speed third-generation wireless networks popular in Europe and Asia and gaining in the United States.

The Razr 2 is a follow-up to the original Razr, introduced in 2004. Motorola said that in a few weeks, it would sell its 100 millionth Razr phone.

The new version is two millimeters thinner than the original, has a second screen on the outside, and has more memory and an improved user interface. The Razr 2 also features Motorola's new "Crystal Talk" technology, in which the volume of a phone call automatically increases with the background noise.

Today in Business

Tyco to pay $3 billion to settle suits

Canada's Thomson agrees to buy Reuters

For Thomson, a combination with Reuters is the next step in expanding its lucrative service business.

The phone will be available later this summer.

Motorola also unveiled the Q8 and Q9 - an update to the Q, a keyboard-equipped e-mail messaging phone. The new Qs are thinner, with more memory and better cameras.

Motorola also displayed a new music phone, the Rokr Z6, to better compete with the leader in that category, Sony Ericsson, which has sold 17 million Walkman phones