Motorola Mobility has been through a pretty rough, or rather time-consuming, transition since being acquired by Google. As such, the company in question hasn’t really managed to launch a 2013 flagship phone just yet. Yet nor has it been idle. Motorola has been working on a new range of smartphones expected to hit the shelves by the end of the year. One handset in particular has already been officially announced – the Moto X – but in truth, this gadget doesn’t really qualify as a top-tier smartphone.
The good news about the Moto X is that, despite it’s mid-range characteristics, the handset will offer numerous customization options. It is also expected to become available for purchase in the U.S. via multiple carriers. In other words, the X will not be a Verizon exclusive device. However, this doesn’t mean that the collaboration between the manufacturer and the aforementioned carrier has come to an end. In fact, plenty of leaks have recently emerged, indicating that Motorola and Big Red are indeed going to release a new smartphone lineup, exclusively on Verizon’s network.
Although not all the information we’re about to provide below comes from official sources, leaks and rumors often reflect reality. That said, assuming that you want to find out more about this mysterious Verizon line-up, here’s what we (think we) know.
Motorola Droid Ultra Family at Verizon – Latest Leaks and Rumors
It all started roughly a couple of weeks ago with a tweet from the famous leaker “@evleaks”. According to the initial bits of information provided by the source, Verizon was set to launch two new smartphones on its network, dubbed the “Droid RAZR Ultra” and “RAZR M Ultra”. Later on, whispers about an inevitable “MAXX” variant of the RAZR Ultra have also surfaced.
Although information about hardware, price and availability was missing at that time, the tweet revealed that the collaboration between Verizon and Motorola is not over. More so, the carrier will continue to use the “Droid” moniker, just as Motorola is going to retain the “RAZR” name-tag for some of its devices.
Shortly after this particular piece of the puzzle was revealed, Motorola also somewhat confirmed the existence of the Ultra family. More precisely, what looked to be a Droid Ultra placeholder page has been briefly spotted on the manufacturer’s official website. There were no renders of the device anywhere in sight, but the text quoted below was enough to be categorized as a “confirmation” of the handset’s existence:
“Droid ULTRA – Think Thin. Available in a bunch of glossy colors, this high-grade DuPont™ Kevlar body proves you can be even thinner and still be tough as steel”
So once again, it looks like Verizon’s upcoming Droid RAZR flagship will provide high durability thanks to its Kevlar chassis. It could also offer a larger number of flavors.
Speaking of which, judging by the leaked images and renders that have emerged constantly during these past several days / weeks, the Ultra family could arrive in at least two colors: black and white.
A leaked photo allegedly depicting the white Ultra MAXX has, not long ago, been shared via the XDA Developers forums by a mysterious user. Following this encounter, TheUnlockr came into play as well. The aforementioned source (in collaboration with @evleaks) has provided a rendered image of what seems to be the non-Maxx Ultra, in glossy black, featuring the unmistakable Kevlar coating and Verizon’s branding on the back panel.
Motorola Droid Ultra Family – Rumored Specs
As mentioned above, spec-wise, the Moto X might not be the most impressive smartphone on the market. However, the situation should be different with the Ultra line-up. According to rumors, the Ultra will feature a 5 inch display boasting a resolution of 1080 x 1920, a Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor as well as 2 GB of RAM.
The main camera is rumored to feature a 10 MP “RBGC” sensor, with the additional “C” subpixel having the task of helping with exposure and white balance in various lighting conditions. @evleaks once again shared a couple of photos not long ago, claiming they were captured with RAZR Ultra’s 10 MP camera. Although the quality of these images is not really anything to write home about, we should note that Motorola is probably still tweaking the camera software, so it’s too early to judge.
The Ultra MAXX should offer the same overall hardware characteristics as its “regular” sibling, with the main difference being the larger battery.
As for the M Ultra / Mini, unfortunately there’s not much to say at this point, as not a lot of hardware-related information has surfaced during these past few weeks. Nevertheless, common sense dictates that the M Ultra should be a mid-range smartphone offered by Verizon at a lower price (a Motorola Droid RAZR M refresh if you will).
This is it for now, but we’re confident that more information will become available sooner rather than later. Until that happens, we invite you to leave a comment below and share your opinions regarding these Ultra-related leaks and rumors.
Vlad Andrici is editor for gforgames.com and writes about technology issues. Follow Vlad on Google Plus.