Back in 2021, Motorola announced the creation of our Motorola 312 Labs innovation group, a team dedicated to exploring the unknown to usher in radically different mobile solutions and technologies in both the near and distant future. While this team works closely with our product development team, their role and focus is different. So to help explain what they do, here are 4 fast facts about Motorola 312 Labs:
Motorola 312 Labs isn’t an actual lab
Motorola 312 Labs is not a single physical lab, but rather one of our global internal teams whose focus is on innovating for the future. Comprising global research, design and engineering experts focused on first-of-its-kind product development, Motorola 312 Labs’ mission is to solve consumer pain points by exploring the unknown and turning conceptual ideas into a reality.
The team is comprised of experts from across the globe, not just Chicago
Motorola’s innovation has deep roots in Chicago, IL, being headquartered in the city since its founding. And while the name “312” was chosen as it’s one of Chicago’s most well-known telephone area codes, the Motorola 312 Labs team is actually comprised of employees based across the globe including the United States, Brazil, China, and India. In alignment with the values instilled by Lenovo’s Product Diversity Office, when building the group, leaders recognized the importance of bringing in team members from all backgrounds, disciplines and geographies to ensure diversity in the ideas and outputs from the organization.
Despite only just announcing the group in 2021, Motorola has brought incredible innovation to the market for years such as shatterproof screens, moto mods and the foldable razr. And many of the experts responsible for these innovations play a critical role in the work Motorola 312 Labs does today. In fact, some even played a part in defining the original RAZR.
Form factors, advanced displays, AR & VR, and more. Motorola 312 Labs explores it all
The best thing about Motorola 312 Labs is that since it lives outside of Motorola’s existing product development pipeline, the team is free to explore and imagine any new kind of mobile technology – even technologies that don’t exist yet. Today, the team is focused on a few key research areas including the connected ecosystem of the future, metaverse evolution, exploring new and unique mobile form factors and wearables, advancing displays, and AR & VR technologies. They also work closely with teams all across Lenovo to ensure we’re leveraging as much expertise and collaboration as possible when researching, developing, and executing these unique innovations.
Since its official creation, the group has introduced two unique form factors to the world: the 5G XR neckband and rollable smartphone concept
Of the many emerging technology spaces Motorola 312 Labs explores, one, in particular, is reimagining device form factors to solve customer pain points and enable new experiences.
In 2022, we introduced in partnership with Lenovo and Verizon, a hands-free, 5G XR neckband built for delivering high bandwidth, ultra-low latency connectivity and power to AR glasses and VR goggles. The device redefines the role of the smartphone by allowing users to display content to more immersive screens around them, in turn offering better portability, longer-lasting and a higher quality user experience in more places.
But the team didn’t stop there. Last year, also marked a pivotal milestone for Motorola and the group as we introduced a new Rollable smartphone proof of concept. This concept builds upon the display and mechanical innovations we delivered in our foldable devices, and projects where the exciting space of dynamic form factors can go. When retracted, the Rollable concept’s super pocketable form is smaller than most other premium devices on the market. The expanded state provides a 6.5” screen for immersive gaming, content streaming, and productivity, while the retracted size is perfect for enjoying the full Android experience on-the-go. The concept device provides endless opportunities for content creation and entertainment while offering the newfound flexibility of a small device with a wraparound screen.
As a Lenovo company, the Motorola 312 Labs team works closely with our peers across the company to integrate the work we do into other facets of the Lenovo business, like PCs. Employing similar rollable technology to elevate multi-tasking and browsing capabilities while retaining a compact size, Lenovo also debuted the Rollable laptop PC concept late last year.
The Motorola 312 Labs team is always working on more projects and concepts that push the boundaries of what’s possible, stay tuned for more innovations of the future.
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