Motorola

Background

Motorola, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois. It was founded in 1928 as Galvin Manufacturing Corporation by brothers Paul and Joseph Galvin. The company changed its name to Motorola in 1947. After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, the company split into two independent public companies, Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions, on January 4, 2011. The reorganization was structured with Motorola Solutions legally succeeding Motorola, Inc., and Motorola Mobility being spun off.

Motorola designed and sold wireless network equipment such as cellular transmission base stations and signal amplifiers. Motorola's home and broadcast network products included set-top boxes, digital video recorders, and network equipment used to enable video broadcasting, computer telephony, and high-definition television. Its business and government customers consisted mainly of wireless voice and broadband systems (used to build private networks), and, public safety communications systems like Astro and Dimetra. These businesses, except for set-top boxes and cable modems, became part of Motorola Solutions.

Motorola's wireless telephone handset division was a pioneer in cellular telephones. Also known as the Personal Communication Sector (PCS) prior to 2004, it pioneered the "mobile phone" with DynaTAC, "flip phone" with the MicroTAC as well as the "clam phone" with the StarTAC in the mid-1990s. It had staged a resurgence by the mid-2000s with the RAZR, but lost market share in the second half of that decade. Later it focused on smartphones using Google's open-source Android mobile operating system. The first phone to use Android 2.0 "Eclair", the Motorola Droid, was released in 2009 (the GSM version launched a month later, in Europe, as the Motorola Milestone). The handset division, along with the cable set-top box and modem businesses, were later spun off into Motorola Mobility.

1st Logo (2001-2003)

Visuals:

Startup: There is the Motorola logo flip in.
Shutdown: Same as before, but in reverse.

Technique: Monochrome graphic animation.

Audio: None.

Audio Variant: On later phones like the T190, a 4-note arpeggio for both the startup and shutdown was used.

Availability: It first appeared on the Timeport series of phones. It also appeared on the T190, C200.

2nd Logo (2001)

Visuals:

Startup: There is the Motorola logo. After a while the circle expands as the "M" dissolves into particles which morph into the logo of the V-Series line of phones, a lowercase "v" with a dot next to it.
Shutdown: A reverse version of the startup animation.
Shutdown (V.2): A still version of the V-Series logo.

Technique: Monochrome graphic animation.

Audio:

Startup: A square-tone ascending arpeggio.
Shutdown: A descending version of the arpeggio.

Availability: It only appeared on the V66 and V60, and the V.2 shutdown was seen on the V66 (International).

3rd Logo (2001-2004)

Visuals:

Startup: There is the Motorola logo, this time filled-out. A radial wipe then comes out and changes the logo to the "MOTOROLA" text.
Shutdown: Same animation from before, but in reverse order.

Variant: On the V70, the colors are inverted due to the device's display.

Technique: Monochrome graphic animation.

Audio: Same as before.

Audio Variants:

On the C300, the 4-note square-tone arpeggio (as described in the 1st logo) was used.

Availability: Seen on Motorola phones starting with the V66i. It also appeared on the C300 and V70.

4th Logo (2002-2003)

Visuals:

Startup: There is the Motorola logo and a person. The person carries a graffiti can and sprays the logo, changing it into an artwork of the same man carrying a phone. The person turns back into view and smiles.
Shutdown: There is the same person on a skateboard peeling off the graffiti back into the Motorola logo.

Variants:

The phone design may be different depending on the model.
Since the release of the C350, the animation has been improved with color capabilities.

Technique: Graphic animation.

Audio: A re-arranged version of the arpeggio, with a more realistic MIDI bell instrument.

Availability: Seen on Motorola phones starting with the C33x series of phones. The color version appeared on the C155 and C350.

5th Logo (2003-2006)

Visuals:

Startup: There is an orange/yellow flower background. Lights are seen shining through the center while "HELLOMOTO" comes out rotating. At the end, the screen changes into the Motorola logo in a plain orange background.
Shutdown: Nearly the same animation in reverse, but without the "HELLOMOTO" text.

Technique: Color graphic animation.

Audio: The arpeggio from before.

Audio Variants:

Earlier models used the square-wave arpeggio.
Starting with the V525, a realtone rearrangement of the arpeggio theme with ethereal synthesizers is used.

Availability: First appeared on the E365. Later models that are seen having this screen include the V600, V300, V303, and V500.

6th Logo (2003)

Visuals: There is a glowing Motorola logo over a black background. Lights then pass through the logo.

Technique: Color graphic animation.

Audio:

Startup: Another rearrangement of the arpeggio, with a more glossy bell instrument.
Shutdown: Descending version similar to before, with an extra glissando added.

Audio Variants:

On the C550, a different rearrangement of the startup was used.
On the V690, another different rearrangement was used, this time with a more guitar-like tone.

Availability: Seen on Motorola phones starting with the E380. It was also seen on the C250, C450, C550 and V690.

7th Logo (2003)

Visuals: There is an orange photo grid forming of a woman carrying a Motorola phone. The Motorola logo is also seen at the beginning.

Technique: Color animation.

Audio: The second rearrangement of the arpeggio.

Availability: Seen on the T720.

8th Logo (2003)

Visuals: There is the Motorola logo in blue emerging over a bright background, then the letters of "MOTOROLA" appear flashing in one-by-one.

Technique: Color animation.

Audio: Unknown due to lack of evidence; might have the arpeggio from the above logos.

Availability: Seen on the A760.

9th Logo (2003)

Visuals: On a black background, there are three blue lights appear. These meet and swirl around forming the Motorola logo in white.

Technique: Color animation.

Audio: The realtone arpeggio from before.

Availability: Seen on A835 and A1000.

10th Logo (2004-2010)

1:1 ratio.
3:4 ratio.

Visuals: There are multiple circles of different colors - in the background there are multiple circles with different shades of blue, with the one in the center having a bold white outline and a white/light blue gradient inside. In this circle, there are other circles of different colors. One of the circles is shown sticking outside this circle, having a light shade of blue with the blue Motorola logo at the center. In between these circles, there's the text "HELLOMOTO" in white with a blue outline. The circles then move into a grid of multiple circles of different colors, and the "HELLOMOTO" text is seen stretching out of view during one frame. The grid's colors ripple out in predominantly in blue. Then the Motorola logo emerges from the center, with the circles growing out from it. The grid then clears up as it leaves the Motorola logo on a white background.

Variants:

On several early models, including the original RAZR V3, the logo transitions into a blue background with the Motorola logo by growing circles appearing from the right.
On several carriers, like Cingular Wireless, the same transition appears, with the blue screen changed to the carrier's animation.

Technique: Animated sequence stored in the phone's ROM.

Audio:

A bubbling rhythm is heard while a 5-note ascending bell theme plays, with a gap between the fourth and final notes.
The shutdown might have a descending version of the theme.

Audio Variants: Several carriers might have their theme playing with the animation, either in full, or parts of it.

Availability:

Seen on many Motorola devices from the era, with the earliest dating to the E398 and RAZR V3. It also appears on other RAZR models from the period up to the RAZR V3xx.
Though higher-end devices would discontinue this animation by 2007, this animation made its appearance on most budget and MediaTek-powered phones until 2010.

11th Logo (2007-2010)

The Motorola logo.
The Hellomoto logo.

Visuals: On a black background is the glossy Motorola logo in purple. An aurora-like purple light passes through the logo. After a while, the logo fades out into the "HELLOMOTO" text in white with a purple border, as a trail of smoke appears and vanishes.

Variant: Later models do not have the "HELLOMOTO" animation.

Technique: CGI-animated sequence stored in the phone's ROM.

Audio:

A synth note, followed by a 4-note plucked synth.
The shutdown usually has a "ping" sound.

Audio Variants: Several carriers, like China Telecom, have their theme playing over the animation.

Availability: Seen on many upper-end Motorola devices from the late 2000s, with the animation being introduced with the 2007 RAZR2 and ROKR models. Also appears on most of Motorola's Linux-powered devices.

12th Logo (2010-2012)

Visuals: On a black background is the red Motorola logo. White ripple waves then come out of the logo as it slightly zooms back.

Technique: Animated sequence stored in the phone's ROM.

Audio: Same as before.

Availability: Seen on most Motorola WX and EX prefixed feature phones of the era.

Motorola

Motorola Mobility

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