Well, it's not an absolute surprise, we saw this model as an unnamed prototype floating around last month, but Motorola just officially took the wraps off of their new MotoRAZR MAXX, a purtiful followup to the V3x. At a mere 0.6-inches thick, the MAXX shaves a whole 0.2-inches off of the V3x. The new phone also adds EDGE and HSDPA in addition to the already speedy UMTS, making this handset much more likely to show up in the EDGE-friendly USA. Moto has included Bluetooth 2.0+ Enhanced Data Rate, 50MB of internal storage, a microSD slot for expansion and the snazzy glass front and touch sensitive music controls of launch buddy KRZR K1m. The 2.2-inch QVGA display is, of course, always welcome, as are the 2.0 megapixel and VGA cameras the phone has. Also, as a nice embellishment on the lot, the phone's details glow blue when receiving a call. Motorola is planning to release the phone to unknown markets and carriers in this half of 2006, our fingers are duly crossed.

Remember The Boy Genius, the dude who scored those CDMA Q shots way back in the year 2005? He's back, and hooked us up with some shots of Motorola's Canary, what we understand to be the true successor to the RAZR. Contrary to prior reports that this thing would run Windows Mobile, you can plainly see that it doesn't; we understand it uses the same software build as the RAZR V3x, which might imply it's a UMTS device as well. A second trustworthy source let us know that the device would pack a 2 megapixel camera, and would be positioned as Moto's new flagship phone due for Q4 2006 or Q1 2007 launch, which jibes with everything else we've been hearing, and starts to pull this picture together. More pics after the break!

P.S. It's worth noting, as we're told, that this phone is more or less just as thin as the original RAZR, just not as wide. And that's supposedly not a plastic exterior, but a soft-touch finish and aluminum detailing.