Motorola Conquers Everest

Written by Adam Gosling

Thursday, 24 May 2007

The MOTO Z8 won't be available in Australia until later this year, but world record holding climber Rod Baber has one already and he'[s using it to make calls from the top of Mount Everest. It's a far cry from anything Tenzing and Hillary could have imagined when they made the first successful ascent of the world's tallest mountain in 1953, but it's amazing how much difference 50 years can make. In the intervening years, the company points out, Motorola has also provided the technology for the first call from the moon, although that communication wasn't achieved with a handset you can buy off the shelf like British climber Rod Baber's phone call from the highest peak of Mount Everest at 5.37am (local time) on Monday 21 May. Baber used a Motorola MOTO Z8 to place the call to a special voicemail account. he also sent a text message to John Barlow of Motorola. These set world records for the highest-ever land-based mobile phone call and text message. Calling from  8848 meters (29,035 feet) Baber described the view, his feelings and what he would do once he was back down at base camp. He then made a second call to his wife and two children. "Everest symbolises the greatest challenge to any climber. To reach the summit and achieve world records with Motorola is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity", said Baber from Everest Base Camp. "My MOTO Z8 has totally enhanced the experience up here, giving me the added confidence and peace of mind to know that friends, family and even help were just a phone call away." Baber's text message, which was written by John Barlow as the winner of an internal competition at Motorola, read: "One small text for man, one giant leap for mobilekind - thanks Motorola". "We famously provided the technology that communicated the first words from the moon, and now we're pleased to say we were the first to provide a mobile call from the top of the world. This challenge was a true test of man and machine for Rod and MOTO Z8," said Allen Burnes, corporate vice president, Motorola Mobile Devices, Europe, Middle East, Africa and India. At 29, Rod Baber gained the world record for climbing the highest point of every European country. The record was completed in 835 days from the first summit of Hvanndalshnukar in Iceland to Mt Ararat in Turkey (47 sovereign states in total). This record knocked more than four and a half years from the previous record. He also holds the world record for climbing more of the world's highest points than any other person. This includes the summit of Mt Aconcagua in Argentina at the age of 24. His passion for travel has carried him through more than 60 countries around the world, including four major trips to the Himalayas. www.motorola.com/everestclimb www.motorola.com Related news items Tiny Rugged UMPC WIth Vista -10/10/2007 Consumers Want FMC: Companies Don't See The Benefit -02/10/2007 Nokia Buys Map Company For US$8 Billion -02/10/2007 Seven In Unwired Takeover Bid -26/09/2007 Ultra-Mobile Sales Ready To Rocket -16/09/2007 Newer news items Acer Elbows Into Third Place -27/08/2007 Lenovo Investigates Packard Bell Acquisition -07/08/2007 Motorola Nudged Out Of Second Place -04/08/2007 Intel Moves To Ease OLPC Conscience -16/07/2007 Changing Fortunes For Smartphone Makers -03/07/2007 Older news items New Motorola Phones Announced -15/05/2007 Microsoft Reports Record Profit -29/04/2007 Is A Palm Sale Imminent? -20/03/2007 Nokia Hopes To Nix Qualcomm Patents -20/03/2007 Huawei CDMA Revenues Grow 30% -13/03/2007 Tag This Now: