Motorola's Muddle - the Motorola SLVRlite and SLVRcam

Discontined (launched Motorola L2 and L6)
11th March 2005

Prepare to be confused.. because Motorola certainly are. At this year's CeBIT, amongst a raft of other handset they announced the SLVRlite V270 and SLVRcam V280. Or is it the SLVRlite V280 and SLVRcam V270. Not even Motorola's own press materials are consistent - and press releases are published and then vanish.

We believe that the handset on the right is called SLVRlite V270, and the one on the left the SLVRcam V280. However, according to this document from Motorola it isn't.. but GSMArena's specs for the V270 and V280 are pretty comprehensive and we'd sooner trust them than Motorola's muddled PR department.

Essentially, these two handsets are two very slimline units at just 11mm thick and around 85 grams. The V280 (that's the phone on the left.. we think) has a VGA resolution camera. The other one doesn't. Both phones have Bluetooth, MP3 playback and an email client and push-to-talk, according to GSMArena.

But really, if Motorola can't get the name right, then nobody else will. Motorola SLVRlite V270 is an incredibly long winded and confusing name that blows Motorola's naming convention out of the water. No.. it's not really the same as the SLVR, it's just a very thin handset. It's not a clamshell, although V-series phones typically are (apart from the SLVR). And if the RAZR is a V3, SLVR is V8 and PEBL V6, why on earth are these handsets called V270 and V280.

We feel that Motorola have tried to cash in on the strong product identity of the RAZR and come up with a muddled product line that will probably cause their brand more harm than good. Why buy a high end handset like the SLVR when you can be a cheap one like the V270? And try explaining the different between a SLVR, SLVRlite and SLVRcam in a retail environment and it's likely to be a frustrating experience.

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