Motorola is using an 11-second video with no sound to tease a “big announcement” coming next month during an event at its Chicago headquarters.
A description underneath the video, which you can see below, offers some clues. Make of these what you will: “Mark your calendar. On August 2, we’re making a big announcement at Motorola’s HQ in Chicago. Say “hello” to a whole new way to connect, stream, download, video chat, and more. Are you ready?”
The consensus speculation is this event will likely shed some official light on the Moto Z3 and/or the Motorola One Power. Motorola gave a statement to The Verge that can be read along those lines, which says the device maker’s news will “change the way people use and interact with their phones.”
Ok, so a phone announcement. Then again, maybe not. The teaser description for the Aug. 2 event, which kicks off at 2 p.m. and promises “a whole new way to connect,” could also be read as hinting at something else that’s not necessarily a phone.
That’s what got the folks at Android Authority, for example, wondering if we might be talking about some sort of new Moto Mod here. Or perhaps a Motorola-branded smart speaker along the lines of the Amazon Echo Show.
There’s not much else to go on. It will certainly be interesting to see the company try to make a splash, especially as it comes during a busy time on the calendar that also has Samsung unveiling the Galaxy Note 9 in New York on Aug. 9, the week after Motorola’s event.
And of course there’s Apple coming just a few weeks after that, with details of the next iPhones likely getting unveiled in early September.
Not much is known for sure at the moment about the Motorola One Power, though there have been some mentions of a possible notch and expansive screen. A flagship Moto Z3 is said to be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chip with a possible dual-camera array.
All that said, as Tom’s Guide correctly notes, Motorola will face an uphill battle with whatever phone or phones they talk about Aug. 2. “Motorola’s biggest challenge will be overcoming the Apple-Samsung onslaught. Those companies are the only smartphone makers to generate profits in the industry and all others seem to be fighting for scraps. While Motorola’s new handsets might be innovative, they could be overshadowed when Samsung holds its own press event just a week later to unveil the Galaxy Note 9.”
