Zhiny: Motorola Zante Looks Even Shinier than You Know Who, Also Runs on EDGE
Here's the Zante, up close and lustrously yours. Today we got plenty of fresh technical information about this Motorola-flavored Sidekick plus two new pretty pics. One of them above, the other after the jump, showing its funky purple sliding keyboard.
Context & Ripple Effects
Motorola spent the first half of 2007 doubling down on design-led hardware: the slim RAZR Z followed the original RAZR playbook, and the RAZR2 launch in May positioned a sleeker icon as the company's flagship statement. The Zante extends that same design-first approach onto borrowed ground — it is a Motorola-flavored Sidekick, revealed here up close with new shots of its purple sliding keyboard.
First-order effects
- Motorola now has a branded device inside the Sidekick line, meaning its name sits on a slider-keyboard form factor it did not originate rather than only on its own RAZR family.
- The confirmed EDGE spec frames the Zante as a messaging-centric feature phone at reveal time, defining what the device can and cannot be sold as.
Second-order effects
- Carriers and retailers get two distinct Motorola design stories on shelves simultaneously — RAZR2's ultra-slim flip and the Zante's Sidekick-style slider — forcing the company to keep each brand identity from cannibalizing the other.
- The Sidekick platform gains a second hardware identity through Motorola's styling, giving the category a brand-licensing dimension alongside whatever the original Sidekick maker ships itself.
Third-order effects
- If Motorola keeps spreading its design language across outside platforms, handset competition shifts further from radio internals toward industrial design and brand equity — with EDGE-class connectivity treated as sufficient plumbing for style-led devices.
The trend: Mid-2000s handset rivalry is moving from core technology toward brand and design licensing, as established names stamp their identities onto form factors other companies pioneered.