Daily Authority: 😲 Brand new Motorola-ble

😁 Good day, and welcome back to the Daily Authority. Somehow it’s Monday again and nearly the end of February. Where has the time gone? Before I waste any more of it, let’s get straight into today’s top story from MWC 2023.

Motorola brought the conceptual heat to a chilly Barcelona with its latest rollable phone concept. Dubbed the Motorola rizr, the phone caught Rita’s eye. Here are her thoughts after spending an afternoon with the device.

rizr basics

• Motorola showcased a concept rollable phone back in October 2022.
• This week, at MWC 2023, the company provided us with a working concept.
• Called the rizr rollable phone concept, the device has a wonderfully compact form factor, but when you need more display, it momentarily scrolls out extra screen and tucks away when you’re done.
• Rollable phones are generally more ergonomic in theory than foldables, and the rizr proves this in practice.

• The Motorola rizr’s party piece is its 5-inch 15:9 POLED display.
• In this form, the phone is tiny compared to modern flagships that often pack 6-inch-and-above displays.
• The screen also wraps around the back of the phone, covering a third of its rear plate.
• This “secondary” display can be used as an always-on notifications panel or a camera preview display.
• When the power button is tapped twice, most of this rear panel rolls up to the front of the phone.
• This extends the screen to a much roomier 22:9 6.5-inch panel.
• All in all, this process takes around three seconds.
• Notably, Android accommodates the larger display by realigning icons and stretching apps.
• At this size, the rizr feels much more like a traditional flagship.
• If you double-tap the power button once again, the screen retracts.
• “It can also drop down a little further to reveal the front-facing camera and speaker grille,” says Rita.

Questions remain

• Rollable phones have yet to hit the mass market, and many questions remain.
• The rizr packs a minor 3,000mAh battery, which may not be enough to power you through the day.
• There’s also doubt over the form factor’s ruggedness.
• Motorola kept the rizr in a case for the duration of Rita’s hands-on.
• “Without it, the display would be entirely bare on the bottom and back, meaning you couldn’t put it down on a surface without worrying about how many dust particles were on there,” she notes.
• As for when the rizr will debut, that remains unknown.
• Motorola’s 312 Labs division targets a “couple of years ahead,” but that remains to be seen.
• We had already seen concepts from LG and Oppo a few years ago, so the technology is there.
• But is it truly ready?
• Overall, we’re fully behind rollable phones and hope they land sooner rather than later.

Monday meme

No lessons or helpful links this week, just a glimpse into ChatGPT’s dread when we poke it with a keyboard.

Have a great day,

Andy Walker, Editor.