Motorola unveils new phone that slides and bends

The Rizr Z8, unveiled at the 3GSM wireless trade show in Barcelona, Spain, uses software from Symbian, which specializes in advanced cell phones and is more often found in phones from Nokia, Motorola's bigger rival.

The phone is one of Motorola's first new handsets after weak fourth-quarter results put it under pressure to produce innovative designs to replace its aging slim Razr phone. The phone will be available in April.

The new high-speed wireless Rizr Z8 slides open to reveal a keyboard and, unlike traditional sliders, it has an automatic hinge that tilts the keyboard and locks the phone into a V-shape to make it easier to talk into.

Oppenheimer analyst Lawrence Harris said that while many investors had not expected new phones in the current quarter, others were likely unhappy the phone will not arrive sooner.

"While these phones will certainly help...results beginning in the second quarter and in the second half of the year, the results for the first quarter will be determined by what's out there in the marketplace right now," Harris said.

Harris said it was a good sign that Motorola was moving beyond the Razr, which started the trend for thin phones, because slimness has become so common among rivals.

"They're doing something different and that's what Motorola needs to do," said Harris. "The market is getting more competitive and being thin is not enough."

The Rizr Z8 will also support television-quality video playback and has a slot for a memory card with up to 4GB of storage space, Motorola said.

The product will be Motorola's fourth phone based on Symbian technology. Nokia is the biggest shareholder of Symbian, which also has investments from smaller handset makers Sony Ericsson and Samsung Electronics and network equipment maker Ericsson.

Motorola also said on Monday it would bring out new versions of its Q phone, which has a miniature computer keyboard, starting in the second quarter.

The company, which also sells equipment for wireless networks, said it agreed with MTC Namibia to test wind and solar power systems to support the African service provider's more remote wireless broadcast towers.

Motorola said the trial would run from April until July.