Motorola: ‘Moto Z’ Smartphone A Workable Modular Device, Ominous Internal Changes

After getting acquired by Google and then sold to Lenovo, there have been a lot of changes within Motorola. With the ‘Moto Z’ modular smartphone, what was once an iconic phone maker hopes that it will have enough wow factor to regain some of the fans that it has turned off. Unfortunately, rumblings within the company have convinced some that the future of Motorola could be looking very bleak.

When it comes to cellular phones, Motorola used to be one of the top dogs in the business, alongside Nokia and Blackberry. However, with the advent of smartphones propelled by the daunting marketing strategies by Samsung, Apple, and even Sony, Motorola got left behind. To make things worse, JR Raphael over at Computer World notes that the many changes in the executive level make it very likely that the Moto brand would become unrecognizable once everything is said and done.

As Raphael points out, when Lenovo acquired Motorola from Google in 2014, the tech company promised to maintain the “distinct brand identity” of the phone maker. However, it’s been two and a half years on, and it seems the fears of Motorola fans have been unfolding before their eyes.

“With each passing month, we're seeing more evidence that what's left of Motorola is mostly a name -- a thin shell of the company we once knew and loved, with a whole new creature living inside,” Raphael writes.

Then again, all might not be lost as Motorola is set to release the “Moto Z,” which is the definitive modular device that the company hopes will revive interest in the brand. The phone is meant to compete with the “LG G5,” which sports similar features.

As Wired reports, the phone is not completely modular since users won’t be able to changes things like the processor and the internal storage. However, with regards to the speaker, camera, casing and other aesthetic aspects of the “Moto Z,” users are free to do whatever they want. It can even come with a projector, though users shouldn’t expect top-notch quality.