In 2021, Motorola announced the creation from the Motorola 312 Labs innovation group, a team dedicated to exploring the unknown to usher in radically different mobile solutions and technologies both in the near and distant future. Although this team works closely with our product development team, their role and focus are different. So to help explain what they do, here are 4 important facts about Motorola 312 Labs:
Motorola 312 Labs is not a real laboratory
Motorola 312 Labs is not a physical lab, but one of our global internal teams dedicated to innovating for the future. Staffed by global research, design and engineering experts focused on pioneering product development, Motorola 312 Labs’ mission is to solve consumer problems by exploring the unknown and turning conceptual ideas into reality.
The team is made up of experts from around the world, not just Chicago
Motorola innovation is deeply rooted in Chicago, Illinois, where it has been headquartered since its founding. And while the name “312” was chosen because it is one of Chicago’s most popular phone codes, the Motorola 312 Labs team is actually made up of employees from all over the world, including the United States, Brazil, China, and India. In tune with the values instilled by the Lenovo Office of Product DiversityIn creating the group, leaders recognized the importance of incorporating team members from all backgrounds, disciplines, and geographies to ensure diversity in organizational ideas and results.
Even though the group was only recently announced in 2021, Motorola has spent years bringing amazing innovations to the market like shatterproof displays, moto mods, and the foldable razr. And many of the experts behind these innovations play critical roles in the work that Motorola 312 Labs does today. In fact, some even had a hand in defining the original RAZR.
Designs, advanced displays, AR and VR, and much more: Motorola 312 Labs explores it all
The best thing about Motorola 312 Labs is that by being outside of Motorola’s product development process, the team is free to explore and imagine any new type of mobile technology, even technologies that don’t exist yet. Currently, the team is focused on some key research areas, such as the connected ecosystem of the future, the evolution of the metaverse, the exploration of new and unique mobile and wearable designs, the advancement of displays and augmented reality technologies, and virtual reality. They also work closely with teams across Lenovo to ensure that we draw on as much experience and collaboration as possible in researching, developing, and executing these unique innovations.
Since its official creation, the group has presented to the world two unique designs: the 5G XR neckband and the rollable smartphone concept.
Of the many emerging technology spaces Motorola 312 Labs is exploring, one, in particular, is reimagining device designs to solve customer problems and enable new experiences.
In 2022, we present, in collaboration with Lenovo and Verizon, a hands-free 5G XR neckband designed to deliver high-bandwidth, ultra-low-latency connectivity, and power for AR and VR headsets. The device redefines the role of the smartphone by allowing users to display content on more immersive screens around them, while offering better portability, longer life and a higher quality user experience in more places.
But the team did not stop there. 2022 also marked a major milestone for Motorola and the group, as Introducing a New Rollable Smartphone Proof of Concept. This concept builds on the display and mechanical innovations we’re introducing in our foldable devices, and projects where the exciting space of dynamic designs can go. When retracted, the Rollable’s pocket-sized design is smaller than most high-end devices on the market. When expanded, it offers a 6.5″ display for immersive gaming, streaming, and productivity, while when retracted, it’s perfect for the full Android experience on the go. This concept device provides endless opportunities for content creation and entertainment, while offering the new flexibility of a small immersive display device.
As a Lenovo company, the Motorola 312 Labs team works closely with their counterparts across the company to integrate the work we do into other facets of Lenovo’s business, such as PCs. Employing similar rollable technology to elevate multitasking and browsing capabilities while maintaining a compact size, Lenovo also introduced the concept of rollable PC laptops late last year.
The Motorola 312 Labs team is always working on more projects and concepts that push the boundaries of what’s possible, so stay tuned for future innovations.