Motorola RAZR V3 (pronounced "RA-zer", IPA:/ɹeɪzɚ/) is a thin clamshell mobile/cellular camera phone designed and manufactured by Motorola. The phone was initially regarded as an exclusive fashion phone, with a high price of $600 with service agreement and $800 without. However, in 2005 the phone entered the mass-market as a mid-priced phone. PC World put the RAZR at #12 in The 50 Greatest Gadgets of the Past 50 Years. Many versions of the V3 were released, and on May 15, 2007, Motorola announced the new RAZR², with a bigger external screen, better UI, faster processor (10x the speed of its predecessor) and Linux platform.

History

Product development began in July 2003 with sales starting the following year. By July 2005, Motorola reported to analysts that the RAZR V3 was the most popular clamshell, something that it owes almost entirely to its distinctive looks and small size.

Motorola released a CDMA version of the RAZR for Verizon Wireless, Cricket Communications, US Cellular, and ALLTEL on November 21, 2005, called the RAZR V3c. The V3c was adopted by Canadian carriers Bell Mobility and TELUS Mobility in February 2006. Changes in the CDMA version include a slightly thicker form factor (primarily due to a "bulge" around the camera lens), more internal memory (30 MB), a higher resolution 1.3 megapixel camera, and CDMA2000 1x EV-DO support. However, the V3c supports only 16-bit color, and its weight has increased from 95g to 99g. Another small detail is the "bump" that lifts the camera on its back.

Motorola announced the V1150, which was renamed as the RAZR V3x, a 3G phone with two cameras and support for microSD memory cards. Motorola has confirmed that the phone is not intended as the successor to the RAZR, and that "RAZR V3x" is simply a new name for the existing V1150. It has also been confirmed that the phone will be released in Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand — but not the US.

On March 10, 2006, the companies Cingular Wireless and T-Mobile USA temporarily stopped selling the RAZR, due to a technical glitch that caused the phone to drop calls or shut down. The glitch was reportedly resolved two months later.

On July 18, 2006 Motorola announced it had shipped the 50 millionth RAZR, making it the most popular cell phone of any kind.

On October 3, 2006, Sprint announced that they are going to start selling RAZRs, along with the SLVR and the new KRZR.

On May 15, 2007, Motorola announced the new RAZR 2, with a bigger screen, better UI, and Linux platform. it is $10.99

V3

The original RAZR V3 GPRS phone is carried by AT&T (formerly Cingular), Cincinnati Bell, T-Mobile,unicel Suncom Wireless and Centennial Wireless in the USA, Rogers Wireless and Fido in Canada, Telcel in Mexico, Optus and Telstra in Australia, Vodafone in New Zealand and Australia, Brasil Telecom GSM, Claro, Airtel, BPLmobile & Hutch in India Oi and TIM in Brazil and by many companies in other countries.