When it comes to Android versus iOS, most folks in America associate Google’s OS with Verizon, while Apple’s Jesus Phone is seen as something you get from AT&T. That hasn’t stopped AT&T from offering high end Android devices however. The first Motorola Atrix, and the subsequent Atrix 2 that launched just 10 months later, pushed the limit of what Android was capable of. Anyone remember the lapdock? Now there’s rumors flying around the internets that there will be an Atrix 3, codenamed Dinara. A picture of said device was leaked to the folks at The Verge, and we have to admit … we’re both impressed and let down. Starting with the good bits, it’s about time that a smartphone other than the Galaxy Nexus shipped without front facing buttons. Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich was made so that the face of a mobile phone doesn’t need to get marred by a confusing strip of four capacitive buttons that are put in different order depending on the device maker.
But then there’s the bad. The design of the device, that rounded look, looks incredibly boring. Plus there’s the horrible AT&T logo that’s always there to remind you of what network you’re using, just in case you don’t remember. And look at the theme on this thing, it’s MotoBLUR plus a handful of widgets. Now that Google owns Motorola, can’t Andy Rubin issue a decree that Motorola will go with stock Android from this point forward? Anyway, this is a leak after all, which means things are subject to change.
So when will the Atrix 3 be announced and how will it cost? Those are great questions, but an even more important one is why would AT&T offer a new Atrix when they’re also going to sell Samsung’s Galaxy S III? Put yourself in AT&T shoes, does the Atrix 3 even need to exist?